Bill Clinton: “Do you think that's a fair question? I mean, is that a fair question? Of course not, right? My State, at the end of…”

“Do you think that's a fair question? I mean, is that a fair question? Of course not, right? My State, at the end of World War II, had a per capita income that was 56 percent of the national average. While I was Governor, the last 6 years, we had a job growth rate higher than the national average. Our per capita income increased higher than the national average. We were nationally recognized for education reforms, for welfare reforms, for dramatic improvement. You should judge people based on where they started; now, that's a fair question. That sounds like the kind of thing that President Bush said to me in the campaign. And I also extended health care benefits to more pregnant women, more little children, improved health care to elderly people--those are things that I did do--and maintained taxes at the same percentage of income of my State when I left office as they were when I took office. So I think I did a pretty good job as Governor. And by the way, my fellow Governors, including the Governors of New England, once voted me the best Governor in the country. So I did the best I could. Now, having said that, I did not revolutionize the economy, wipe out all poverty, and end all problems. I plead guilty. But what I did do is just what I'm trying to do as President, which is to fix things. Now, what you have to decide is whether you think it is acceptable for the United States to continue to be the only advanced country in the world that cannot figure out how to give insurance to all of its people, whether it is acceptable for us to spend 14\1/2\ percent of our income on health care. No other country spends over 10 percent. Germany and Japan spend under 9 percent; they cover everybody, and we don't. We have to decide whether this is acceptable. Why does it happen? Because we spend so much more on insurance and paperwork and other things. That, to me, cannot be justified. And if we want to go on like we are, where more and more people lose their right to choose their doctor every year, more and more people are finding themselves uninsured, we can. Otherwise, we should decide what we're going to do about it and how we're going to do it. I don't pretend for a moment to have all the answers. All I can tell you is that I've done my best to find them with the help of a lot of brilliant people, most of them, by the way, from your part of the country, not from mine. They came up with the plan. We've worked very hard on it. But I think what we need to do is to talk about how we can solve this problem. That's what I've been in the business of doing all my life. The Economy Ginger Casey. President Clinton, do you feel, though, that the economy has turned around for working class people in this country?”