The Public Record
Bill Jefferson Clinton served as the 42nd President of the United States from January 20, 1993, to January 20, 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously held the position of Governor of Arkansas from 1983 to 1992. During his presidency, Clinton focused on several key policies, including welfare reform, economic growth, and healthcare reform. His administration is noted for achieving a budget surplus and for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
It depends on what else we do. We think we have some options to offset it, but it is ironic that the same people who filibustered the jobs program earlier this year are worried about a drag on the economy. They had a chance to put a half a…
Well, as you know, we had supported moving it up for 6 months. But in the conference committee there was a very strong demand to do some other things that made it very difficult not to put it back retroactively, apparently. For example…
I don't know how in the world we could ever make any decisions in this country if we made decisions on that basis.
We have a budget deficit, we have an investment deficit, and we clearly have a trust deficit in America.
I think it would be better, from the point of view of the public trust and also more binding on Congress, if we can pass a separate piece of legislation.
Nothing has done more to erode the confidence of the American people in our Government than our chronic failure to manage our finances.
It is essential to guarantee that the net deficit reduction achieved by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 is dedicated exclusively to reducing the deficit.
There are three other opportunities we're going to have to cut spending to continue to drive the deficit down.
We can say to the working poor, if you have children in your house and you work 40 hours a week, you will be lifted out of poverty.
They should think it's a price worth paying to get the deficit down and to get these incentives for the economy to grow.
We must go forward together; that there is no place for hatred or division.
As important as this plan is for reducing the budget and investment deficits, these Executive orders deal also with the trust deficit.
It will get straightened out if it passes, because once the bill passes, reality takes over and the rhetoric shrinks.
The deficit reduction order creates a deficit reduction trust fund, an account in the Treasury that guarantees that the savings from the reconciliation bill are dedicated exclusively to reducing the deficit.
The purpose of this order is to create a mechanism to monitor total costs of direct spending programs.
Let me say, I believe first of all that what the Republicans have done, they ran this Government for 12 years.
If we don't do it, this deficit will move up toward $500 billion and $600 million a year.
We are being given a chance now to demonstrate that vision and that will.
Politicians like Bill Clinton
