President of the U.S., 1993-2001; Former Democratic Governor (AR)
OpEd: Triangulation fails to defend party principles
The economy thrived on Clinton's watch. His foreign policy was competent and occasionally inspired, as in the Camp David Accords and in the Kosovo settlement. He presided over fiscal discipline and reform of government agencies. His appointments
were generally first-rate. But he failed to defend or advance his party's principles, reinforcing Republican ideology. His signature was "triangulation"--splitting the difference, simulating leadership often at the expense of his own party.
The economy thrived on Clinton's watch. His foreign policy was competent and occasionally inspired, as in the Camp David Accords and in the Kosovo settlement. He presided over fiscal discipline and reform of government agencies. His appointments
were generally first-rate. But he failed to defend or advance his party's principles, reinforcing Republican ideology. His signature was "triangulation"--splitting the difference, simulating leadership often at the expense of his own party.
1993: Motor Voter law to increase electoral participation
There are two complementary strategies for enhancing citizenship. One is reducing barriers and welcoming people into the process of participation; the other is giving them a reason to participate. More than a decade ago, there was great enthusiasm for th
new invention of the "Motor Vehicle" law signed by President Clinton in 1993. This law promotes voter registration at motor vehicle bureaus, welfare offices, and other retail government agencies. The entire psychology is circular. Competent government an
engagement of the people restores faith in the enterprise of government, and in turn restores the civic impulse. My friend Marshall Ganz, former director of organizing for the national farmworkers union, wrote an article for "The American Prospect" whose
title says it all: "Motor Voter or Motivated Voter?" Easing the process of registration is enhanced when people feel they have a reason to vote. At this writing, Marshall Ganz is director of organizer training for Barack Obama.
Who said this? "We know big government does not have all the answers. We know there's not a program for every problem. We have worked to give the American people a smaller, less bureaucratic government in Washington. And we have to give the American
people one that lives within its means. The era of big government is over."
George W. Bush? Actually, that was Bill Clinton, in his 1996 State of the Union address. Clinton added with pride, "Today our federal government is 200,000 employees smaller
than it was the day I took office as President."
The irony is that the rest of Clinton's speech went on to propose a long list of goals that only the government could achieve--clean up the environment, improve job security, restore educational
opportunity. His conceit was that he could combine smaller government and even disparagement of government with a commitment to more nimble government. But his headline message undermined the details of his program and his ability to win support for it
His 140 signing statements focused on judicial resolution
Pres. Clinton issued signing statements covering 140 laws over the eight years of his presidency, as compared with Pres. Bush, who objected to 232 laws during his four years in office. Pres. Bush, by contrast, has issued more signing statements than all
of his predecessors combined--challenging the constitutionality of more than 1,000 laws during his first six years in office.
The difference between the practice of Pres. Clinton and that of Pres. Bush is not simply one of volume--though that alone is
striking, particularly given that Pres. Clinton faced a hostile and adversarial Congress dominated by the opposing political party while President Bush for the first six years faced a docile and supportive Congress. Pres. Clinton's signing statements wer
based on well-settled principles of constitutional law and were guided by a desire to allow the judiciary to resolve issues of constitutional interpretation. Pres. Bush's signing statements, however, rest on legal theories regarding his own power.
Proposals by President Clinton not passed by Congress:
Health care reform
Campaign finance reform (1993)
Presidential Initiatives
Tried to get Ehud Barak of Israel and Yasser Arafat of the
Palestinian National Authority, to agree to a final settlement agreement.
Initiated the Don’t ask, don’t tell policy toward gays in the military, 1993.
Reversed a ban on senior
Sinn F‚in politicians entering the U.S.
Proposed a national challenge to end the racial divide in America, the One America Initiative.
Extraordinary rendition got approval for the first time in the
USA from the Clinton administration.
President Clinton’s Supreme Court appointments
Ruth Bader Ginsburg - 1993
Stephen Breyer - 1994
Source: Wikipedia entry on Bill Clinton
, Nov 11, 2007
Government matters, especially for big challenges
Government matters. American has 5 big challenges that require an aggressive response from government:
how to work with others to fight terror, the spread of WMD, and the consequences of failed states not just by opposing them militarily but also
with diplomacy, trade, and investment to build a world with more partners and fewer enemies;
how to restore our leadership in the global fight against climate change so that we do all we can and encourage China, India, & other developing nations with
rising energy use to join us;
how to increase economic opportunity and decrease income inequality at home;
how to reform health care to achieve universal coverage that can't be taken away, with enough cost reductions to remain competitive, and a
renewed emphasis on keeping people healthy, not just treating them when they are ill; and
how to move to a clean, more independent energy future in a way that increases our national security, combats climate change, & creates millions of new jobs.
[Clinton's list of accomplishments] has a New Democrat bent, a tendency to favor cash and tax credits over the establishment of new federal bureaucracies. Indeed, in his 8 years in office, Clinton only created one new bureaucracy--AmeriCorps--and that
program was semi-private, and run almost entirely through the states. "He was more effective than any other President, by far, in using the budget process to get what he wanted," said one pundit.
The government shutdowns had neutered the Republicans
in the annual negotiations with the President, robbing them of their most potent threat; but Clinton still had the veto, and the ability to delay the process and raise the prospect of yet another government shutdown.
The pundit said, "He had an
incredible feedback mechanism--if something didn't work, he tried something else. He would retreat, delay, come back with another proposal--get a half of what he wanted, a quarter, and eighth. But he'd almost always get something."
OpEd: Mastered legislative process in 1995 budget impasse
The 1995 budget impasse would prove a significant turning point in the history of the Clinton presidency: the first sign that he had figured out Washington's legislative process, the beginnings of what would become a total mastery of the
Republicans in the year-end budget negotiations. And it was in those negotiations--quietly, by dribs and drabs, with remarkable persistence over the years--that Clinton would get many of his most important programs enacted.
Source: The Natural, by Joe Klein, p.145-146
, Feb 11, 2003
Presidential pardon is absolute right; all Presidents use it
I want to make some general comments about pardons and commutations of sentences. Article II of the Constitution gives the President broad and unreviewable power to grant “Reprieves and Pardons” for all offenses. The exercise of executive clemency is
inherently controversial. The reason the Framers of our Constitution vested this broad power in the Executive Branch was to assure that the President would have the freedom to do what he deemed to be the right thing, regardless of how unpopular a
decision might be.
On January 20, 2001, I granted 140 pardons and issued 36 commutations. During my Presidency, I issued a total of approximately 450 pardons and commutations, compared to 406 issued by President Reagan during his two terms.
During his four years, President Carter issued 566 pardons and commutations, while in the same length of time President Bush granted 77. President Ford issued 409 during the slightly more than two years he was President.
Source: Editorial by Clinton in NY Times
, Feb 18, 2001
1993: Considered firing all 95 US Attorneys
[In early 1993, Clinton faced] the question of US Attorneys. The 95 US Attorneys throughout the country are like the Justice Department's field generals--they & their subordinates investigate crimes, charge criminals, and make sentencing recommendations.
Policy is set in Washington, but each US Attorney has broad discretion in interpretation of that policy. They're appointed by the President but serve a four-year term. Just before Pres. Clinton was inaugurated, we asked the Bush transition team to have
Pres. Bush send a letter to all political appointees, including US Attorneys, advising them that they should expect to be asked for their resignations effective Jan. 20. The Bush letter went out, but instead of saying "should", it said they "might" be
asked to resign.
The question was, Did we ask them all to resign? Ask only those in troubled offices to resign? Or leave everyone in place until we had a confirmed AG? In the end, we decided to wait for the appointment of Attorney General Janet Reno.
Ever since the Reagan Revolution of 1980, the dominant Republican argument has shifted from “less government is almost always better than more of it” to “government is always the problem.”
Our administration and the new Democratic party take a
different view. We say the era of big government is over, but we must not go back to an era of “every man for himself.”
The truth is, Americans don’t want our government gutted. We know from experience that there are some things that government must
or should do: protect us against enemies, foreign and domestic, come to our aid when disaster strikes, help fight crime, ensure the health and well-being of the weakest among us, restore and preserve the environment, ensure the safety
of our food, provide for the needs of those who have defended our country in uniform, provide everyone with access to quality education.
We don’t want our government in our face, but we do want it on our side when we need it, and quickly.
Voluntary public financing for all general elections.
Clinton adopted the manifesto, "A New Agenda for the New Decade":
Return Politics to the People At a time when much of the world is emulating American values and institutions, too many Americans have lost confidence in their political system. They are turned off by a partisan debate that often seems to revolve not around opposing philosophies but around contending sets of interest groups. They believe that our current system for financing campaigns gives disproportionate power to wealthy individuals and groups and exerts too much influence over legislative and regulatory outcomes.
The time for piecemeal reform is past. As campaign costs soar at every level, we need to move toward voluntary public financing of all general elections and press broadcasters to donate television time to candidates.
The Internet holds tremendous potential for making campaigns less expensive and more edifying and for engaging Americans directly in electoral politics.
We should promote the Internet as a new vehicle for political communication and champion online voting.
Goals for 2010
Introduce voluntary public financing for all general elections.
Allow properly regulated voter registration and voting online.
Implement civic education courses in every public school.
Source: The Hyde Park Declaration 00-DLC9 on Aug 1, 2000
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