Bill Clinton was right

Heritage Foundation ^ | August 24, 2006 | Robert Rector

[pipecorp]

To a large extent, Bill Clinton "got the values right" on welfare reform. And because he did, Clinton not only helped end welfare as we know it, but he helped end welfare as we know it before anyone even knew it.

IIRC, this "reform" was shoved down his throat, he did not embrace it.

revisionist history?

[Coldwater Creek]

Clinton's welfare reform must have been a one day stand, because the situation with the cradle to grave people here in memphis has only gotten worse.

[ClearCase_guy]

Critically, Clinton's rhetorical boldness helped create a climate where national leaders could finally acknowledge the obvious -- that unwed childbearing, not race, was at the heart of our nation's welfare problem.

Yes. Democrats always say this. Democrats always deny that race is a factor in poverty. Democrats always encourage sexual responsibility, and they always emphasize the importance of marriage between a man and a woman. Yup. They sure do.

And monkeys always fly out of my butt.

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

IIRC, this "reform" was shoved down his throat, he did not embrace it.

Correct. It wasn't until Dick Morris informed him he'd lose the '96 election if he continued blocking reform that he gave in.

[Northern Yankee]

Didn't Clinton veto the bill twice, and only signed it, kicking and screaming, because his political advisors told him it would help his re-election chances?

[Northern Yankee]

Spot on.

He went kicking and screaming, vowing that it was a bad bill.

[RexBeach]

OMG. Historical revisionism at its best.

Mr. Clinton was dragged to the welfare reform well by Republicans in the Congress. He kicked and screamed all the way.

I'll give the author this much, however: He sure can slice a cake thinly. My goodness, this is some mighty good parsing.

[presidio9]

IIRC, this "reform" was shoved down his throat, he did not embrace it.

Dicknose didn't have a choice. He had lost congress by then.

[Puppage]

He deserves more credit for the passage of welfare reform than most conservatives probably care to admit.

Credit? If I recall correctly he VETO'D that bill twice. The only reason he finally signed it was because there were enough votes to overturn his veto.

[Northern Yankee]

We must be on the same page... "Kicking and screaming".

A spade is still a spade no matter how many times you shuffle the deck.

[Always Right]

Yes Clinton only played lip-service to conservative ideas, but I wish our current President would even play lip service to conservative ideas. I would love to hear Bush say something like 'the era of big government is over'.

[OldFriend]

Unfortunately too many states have supplemented the welfare reform. Thereby undermining the entire process of getting people standing on their own.

[Leatherneck_MT]

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[wayoverontheright]

If Clinton was so "right" he must not have been aware of it himself. On more than one occaision after signing the bill, he stated in reference to welfare reform, "I think we went too far".

Welfare reform is the only thing from his administration that has passed the test of time, I'm sorry, giving him credit for being "right" would require for me that what he did wasn't totally political, and would require a degree of certainty on his part. If history isn't revised, Newt Gingrich is responsible for welfare reform.

[RexBeach]

You got it, NY. Bubba hated the idea, vetoed it and signed it into law with great reservations.

What a statesman!

[Waco]

Seems we have a Robert Rectem problem today.

[callthemlikeyouseethem]

[Ekoa]

This is turd polishing at it's finest.

[reagan_fanatic]

At one point in the speech, the president imagined what Martin Luther King, Jr. would say if he were "to reappear by my side today and give us a report card."

Sometimes, you need a little reminder like that to fully appreciate Mr. Clinton's massive ego and understand what his Presidency was really all about - self-absorbtion.