July 29, 2001

What Would Clinton Do?

By Dave Johnson

Reading today about the latest bad economic news I’mwondering what President Bush is planning to do about it.

Think for a minute about what President Clinton would bedoing at the very first hint of an economic slowdown. You know and I know that the guy would be whirling aroundthe country like an Arkansas tornado!

Clinton would have been in Silicon Valley 5 times by now, visiting with laid-off tech workers.
Clinton would already be part way through a series of national and regional town hall meetings.
Clinton would have called for a week-long televised business-labor summit.
Clinton would have proposed a series of economic stimulus bills.
Clinton would work to increase our education level by sponsoring programs trading civic volunteer time for college tuition grants
Clinton would have been working with world leaders to stabilize currencies and prop up weak neighboring economies.
Etc…

What Clinton Did

To end the last slowdown Clinton’s 1993 budget greatlyincreased the Earned Income Tax Credit (providing payments to lower-incomeworking families), provided economic programs for the lower and middle classand paid for it all with an increase on the top incomes which eliminated thedeficit and freed up money for investment while lowering interest rates. This ushered in the longest economicboom in our history. Everyeconomic group benefited, ESPECIALLY Bush’s top few (who whined about thetaxes while their incomes went up dramatically).

So what about Bush?

When it looked like a slowdown was starting earlier thisyear, I remember Bush couldn’t restrain his joy. You could tell he was just so happy tohave another thing he could blame on Clinton – with the bonus that theycould sell their tax cut as the cure (never mind that it was a huge tax cut forthe top 1% mostly taking effect years down the road.) On the rare occasions when his handlers let him near acamera Bush would “talk up” the slowdown. His cabinet was out telling business leaders that thingswere turning sour, doing everything they could to get that economy hurting.

Does Bush care?

So now the economy is hurting. And what is the Bush administration doing about it? Nothing. It’s like he hasn’t even noticed. Bush hasn’t given a single pressconference and almost no other public appearances in months! Worse than doing nothing, we’regetting fed right-wing ideological free-market religion while they allow thecorporations to define the entire agenda of the country. Greenspan says eliminate the minimumwage. Bush says put SocialSecurity money into the stock market. And meanwhile the IRS sends us letters containing Republican Partyslogans.

During the presidential campaign George W Bush said that hisguiding philosophy is “What Would Jesus Do?”

I wish he would consider changing this to “WhatWould Clinton Do?”