Open Left

Clinton's mixed record.

Not surprisingly, given my history in the Clinton White House, I have a somewhat different view. Not a totally positive view, because Bill Clinton was not nearly as progressive as I would have liked, and because by playing small ball on issues like school uniforms I think he missed a chance to really define the Democratic party as opposed to the crazies in Gingrichland. The free trade religion he espoused has proven to be dead wrong in improving the lives of the working class here or Mexico or anywhere else. Caving on welfare "reform" was just wrong.
But I think it is both wrong historically and wrong in terms of the broader progressive political agenda to be so dismissive of the accomplishments of the Clinton years, because there are important differences between Democrats, even more moderate Dems like Clinton, and Republicans- and if voters think those differences don't matter, we are screwed politically.
Just a quick recap of a few things that were done in the Clinton era: Family and Medical Leave. The '93 budget act, which dramatically raised taxes on the wealthy, dramatically cut them on the poor, and provided more money for progressive social programs than any other budget since LBJ. The only two gun control laws passed in the last 40 years. The only minimum wage increase passed in a two decade span. Standing up to and facing down Gingrich, at the height of his power and popularity, on the 1995 budget. Steady budget increases, year after year even aftert the Repubs took congress, in a variety of important federal programs like Head Start, education, and children's health care.  The SCHIP program. The Kennedy-Kassebaum health bill. Strong progressive appointees at the NLRB, FCC, OSHA, HHS, DOJ, Education Dept, and dozens of other really important agencies in making everyday folks lives better.
Is all of that really so trivial to the millions of people whose lives have been helped by these accomplishments that it can be summarily dismissed with a throw away line about v-chips and school uniforms? 

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by: Mike Lux @ Wed Aug 22, 2007 at 09:39:56 AM CDT