Posted on 06/28/2004 2:58:22 PM PDT by Starve The Beast
Former President Bill Clinton had harsh words for the Bush administration at a fund-raiser Sunday in Las Vegas, arguing that Bush and his supporters are funneling the nation's wealth to the upper class while letting crucial programs suffer.
The Bush tax cuts have placed such a burden on the national budget that funds for after-school programs, police officers, benefits for troops and even national security measures have been compromised, Clinton said.
"I believe that this is a very important election," Clinton told a crowd of about 350 Democratic loyalists at the Rio. "You've got to understand that the new Republicans are way to the right of anybody you've ever had running this country before."
He said they "never saw a tax cut they didn't like."
"They basically don't care what happens to all these poor people because they think the only thing that really matters is to concentrate as much power and wealth in the hands of the good guys as possible, people who share their values," he said.
The $1,000-a-plate dinner, along with a private reception, raised an estimated $500,000 for the Democratic State Party, said party spokesman Jon Summers.
Yier Shi, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, responded to some of Clinton's criticism by saying that the Bush administration has fully funded money for police officers and increased money for education through the No Child Left Behind initiative.
"President Bush inherited a downward economy from President Clinton, and President Bush's tax relief for American families has finally seen results with 1.4 million new jobs being created this year," Shi said.
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., would increase spending by $1.9 trillion, Shi said.
"The best way to grow the economy is to put more money in people's pocketbooks and grow jobs," Shi said. "That's what President Bush is doing."
Clinton said Bush has convinced Americans that he can provide important services while cutting taxes.
"It sounded almost too good to be true, and sure enough, it was," Clinton said.
"They call themselves conservative," Clinton said. "I actually think they're rather radical. They make me look like Calvin Coolidge when it comes to the budget."
He pointed to massive cuts either instituted or proposed in the federal budget, saying public safety, education, defense and security is suffering.
He made several cracks about the budget, saying Republicans' spending habits made them look like "kids that get their trust fund too early," and saying that, now that he is in a higher income bracket, he gets more tax benefits from the administration.
"You know how mean they were to me, and all of the sudden I get out of the White House, get rich and I'm the most important person in the world to them," he joked.
Most Americans would vote for Kerry if they realized how many problems are going on, he said, asking the Democrats to spread his message.
"Your country is on the line, and this state -- this state -- can make all the difference," Clinton said of Nevada's five electoral votes.
If Kerry takes Nevada, Clinton said, "we'll probably win the election."
Clinton closed with remarks on Yucca Mountain, saying the Bush administration wooed Nevada voters with "sweet noises" and then turned their backs on the state.
"If you vote one more time for this administration, they will think you are voting to greenlight this," he said.
Clinton, who barely mentioned his newly released book, did sign a few copies when Democrats swarmed him after the speech.
Gwen Harper, a former teacher in the audience, said Clinton's argument helped "solidify" her support of Kerry.
"He always comes back with detail," she said of Clinton. "It comes off the cuff and it's wonderful."
I think he's doing a fine job as IMPEACHED and DISGRACED ex president, though.
(The fat cats of Vegas concerned about the poor they're robbing at the slots! That's a hoot!)
Not this same sorry line again.
He's also broken ground by being the first president in history to trash his successor. Jimmeh Carter never opened his big mouth to critize President Bush until the Slickster started it.
Precisely. As long as there have been US presidents, there has been a custom of stepping down quietly and not commenting on your successor. It's a classy tradition... which, I guess, explains why Clinton was the one to break with it.
Paging Dr. Freud. Dr. Sigmund Freud, please pick up the white courtesy phone. (And bring your own cigar. Trust us on that.)
Read the article. I didn't see where Clinton said Bush was "stealing from the poor to give to the rich". He may have implied it but apparently he is not stupid enough to actually say it. So the title of the article is wrong and, as usual, the editors screw up. I kind of wish he had because that would be a good opening for our side to explain taxation again and who pays for things.
Hey Bill! You can make a difference, DONATE the money from your book deal to charity!
So, just how much extra is Slick Willie volunteering to give the IRS over and above his tax cut? It might be worth the cost of his book and the wait in line just to ask him that.
As our great VP would say.....Buck Fill..... JJ
How? If they're poor they ain't got nuthin' to take!
In any case, it is about time the rich (aka "the productive," "the guy who signs the paychecks" etc.) got a little of his own back.
Say, isn't it a great thing Bush gushed all over The Nameless One at its portrait-unveiling?
Kissing up to the dims and appealing to their better natures always works really well for him.
< /chagrined sarcasm >
Dan
I wish someone would point out the ways in which welfare is actually harmful to welfare recipients (few things will destroy a person's character as surely as learning to expect and rely upon something which is neither earned nor deserved).
Yeah, LBJ's Great Society & War On Poverty really helped a lot, didn't they?
That's the Democrat's way........spend trillions of dollars & make the problem worse.
Donations for the "poor" through charitable organizations are up 70% over what they were during the Clinton administration. You let people handle their own money and they will help the poor, but the Dems would have you think that the evil Republicans are just a bunch of greedy, lying, gun toten, igits.
You are right, it is the standard Rat line. Nothing has changed. Clinton isn't the first one to say this, and won't be the last.
I don't have any quotes or links handy, but Carter regularly commented on Reagan, Bush41, and Bush 43.
Bush 41 to this day has never commented on Clinton, and reporters have regularly tried to get him too. Especially while Clinton was in office. He refused over and over to make any comment at all.
After four decades of this tripe it is really getting old.
It's OUR money, NOT the governments money.
As for National security, what is Dubya' supposed to do?
Look under the oval office desk for enlightenment as to how HE should handle national security Bill?
Then offer the option of spending trillions more to fix the problem which Trillions spent has created.
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