[originalbuckeye]

For all his faults (and they are EPIC), Bill Clinton was a pragmatist. The Republicans had control of the House for 6 of his 8 years in office. The fact that spending and welfare didn’t rise too much then is the result of Republican oversight. Clinton saw the tide turn and went along with it. Obama saw the tide turn and is openly defying the will of the people.

[ek_hornbeck]

Bill Clinton wasn't an ideologue, so as you say he went with the flow and cut spending/welfare even though it ran counter to some of his instincts. In this sense he's the mirror image of the moderate Republicans who go with the flow when liberal Democrats rule the roost.

I'm not sure whether Hillary is equally pragmatic on fiscal matters. On social and cultural issues as well as foreign policy she's much more of a radical ideologue than Bill was (in fact, many of Bill's worst moves were Hillary's pet projects). I haven't seen evidence one way or the other on economic issues, but my guess is that she's more along the lines of status quo crony capitalism than Bernie Sanders-style outright socialism.

[griswold3]

Bill Clinton was a pragmatist.

“The Era of Big Government is Over!” SOTU Jan 27, 1996