Bill Clinton: “A hundred percent of them have got--they've got mortgage savings, credit card savings, car payment savings, and anybody…”

“A hundred percent of them have got--they've got mortgage savings, credit card savings, car payment savings, and anybody that's got any kind of debt has saved money because we have chosen to get down to balancing the budget and then moving into the surpluses. Now, if our country were debt free, consider the potential advantages for the average citizen or even the low income worker. Assuming we still had sufficient funds to pay our obligations to the poor and to fulfill the basic Government functions, you would have higher business investment, less inflation, more money for real wage increases, and lower credit costs for all consumer items. Furthermore, if there were another global financial crisis, and we tried to change the rules to minimize this happening again and what would happen in Asia,. But no one can be absolutely sure because there's still a lot of leveraged money out there in the global economy. The next time that happened, the United States would not be competing for money in a very difficult environment. That would mean that our trading partners could get funds more readily at lower interest rates and it would cushion the shock of any downturn. That would also be good for our export-dependent industries. We've had--gosh, our agricultural sector and our airplane, our commercial airplane sector have really been hit hard by this financial crisis in Asia. So it would be better for us in that way, and it would be better for our trading partners. I believe that in a global economy, an economy that's as globalized as this one, the richest countries--the richest countries are better off almost imagining themselves as States do now in the American system, and the more they can be debt free, the better off they're going to be. Recovery of the Nation and Gore Candidacy Mr. Brownstein. Can I ask--I'll be thrown out of the ``Society of Political Reporters'' if I don't ask your sense of--great economy, Dow up, crime down, welfare down; yet, right track, sense of satisfaction with the direction the country is following. The Vice President, even though it's the year before, is trailing substantially. What do you think's going on? Is there a desire for change at the end of your two terms, tail end?”