From Julian Sanchez:
"...I've been surprised in conversation at how many D.C. conservatives who railed against him during his time in office now find themselves saying (usually quietly) that he wasn't so bad after all. Though maybe that's just the power of contrast."
Part of the reason may lie in Bruce Bartlett's commentary. The former Treasury offical under Reagan and Bush the Senior offers praise for Clinton's fiscal responsibility while at the same time criticizing the current administration for its lack of disciplne.
It's interesting that more and more conservatives are becoming disgusted with W. It seems the only ones who are interested in him these days are the Religious Right. Any other conservative with a brain is thinking this man ain't all he's cracked up to be.
Posted by Dennis at July 6, 2004 11:43 PMI must somewhat disagree. In his first term, Clinton was no fiscal conservative or even moderate. Apart from NAFTA, it was only after Gingrich's Contract With America "revolution" was riding Clinton's ass day in and day out that he was forced to be a fiscal moderate. Clinton wasn't planning on signing the welfare reform bill, until he realized that he wasn't gonna get re-elected if he didn't do it. That being said, for the most part Clinton did do a good job in this arena.
One of my criticisms of Bush is his big-government conservatism, which I don't really regard as conservative. The tax cuts were great (in fact, they weren't deep enough) but where were the spending cut? Bush hasn't vetoed a single spending bill, and it's getting out of control. He's giving liberal Democrats a run here.
Posted by: molotov at July 10, 2004 07:27 PMClinton Rocks!
Posted by: Luiz at July 8, 2004 01:42 AMThe most dreaded secret among conservatives and liberals alike is that Clinton was a moderate fiscal conservative, and an excellent one at that. While it's true that he raised taxes and espoused left-of-center values, his most prominent achievements are most notable for their conservative shade. Clinton was the president who took unprecedent steps to liberalize trade, who reduced the size of the government workforce, balanced the budget, and, by signing the welfare reform bill, instituted one of the most dramatic overhauls of a New Deal in the 20th, despite a storm of protest from his liberal base.
Clinton was a great President, even if he did call himself a Democrat.
[blogdad.blogspot.com]
Posted by: Penn at July 7, 2004 01:25 AM