Bill Clinton: “Well, I saw those stories. I got tickled this morning. I took a poll around the staff. We just had a 2-hour meeting on…”

“Well, I saw those stories. I got tickled this morning. I took a poll around the staff. We just had a 2-hour meeting on the budget, and I said, if the economy were bad who do you think would be blamed? [Laughter] I'm not so concerned about who gets the credit really. The American people get the credit, if they go back to work, if they're becoming more competitive, if they're investing their money. I do know this: Even going back after the election, from the time we announced our deficit reduction plan to the time it was presented, to the time it was enacted, to the present day, the steady, disciplined drop in interest rates has played a major, major role in helping millions of people to refinance their homes and businesses--last year we had a 19-year low in delinquencies in home mortgages--and getting all this investment for new jobs. So I believe our economic policies are stabilizing this country and contributing to this recovery. I think a lot of Americans have been working for years and years and years to be competitive in the global economy, and I think that is to their credit. I mean, we have a private sector economy. No person in public life can take credit for it. But if we hadn't done what we have done on the economic plan to drive interest rates down and to spur reinvestment, I don't think we'd be where we are on the economy.”