Bill Clinton fires up Dems before Obama's speech
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President Barack Obama stands with Former President Bill Clinton after Clinton's address to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012.
CHARLOTTE, NC — God is back in the Democratic platform and people rooting for President Barack Obama hope the dazzle is back in him.
With war ending, the health care system recast and the creaky economy overshadowing all, Obama takes the stage of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday to appeal for a second term before a huge prime-time audience. He’s got several tough acts to follow — his wife Michelle’s crowd-swooning speech of a few days ago, former President Bill Clinton’s rollicking turn on stage Wednesday night and his own soaring oratory of four years ago.
Clinton, the one-time “comeback kid,” offered a rousing defense of Obama’s economic stewardship in a speech setting up Obama’s moment to come. “He inherited a deeply damaged economy, put a floor under the crash, began the long hard road to recovery and laid the foundation for a more modern, more well-balanced economy that will produce millions of good new jobs,” said Clinton — the last president to see sustained growth, in the 1990s. “Conditions are improving and if you’ll renew the president’s contract, you will feel it.”
He also preached bipartisanship and a pullback from politics as “blood sport” — this near the end of back-to-back conventions that feasted on rhetorical red meat and even as he ripped the Republican agenda as a throwback to the past, a “double-down on trickle-down” economics that assumes tax cuts for the wealthy will help everyone down the ladder.
Obama watched Clinton’s speech from backstage, then strolled out and embraced him, bringing happy roars from the crowd in his first convention appearance and making for a spirited ending to a trying day for Democrats.
After passing their platform a day earlier in a smoothly scripted show of unity, Democrats reopened it to restore a reference to God that had been stripped out in earlier deliberations.
Republican rival Mitt Romney called quick attention to the omission, branding it as evidence that the Democrats are a “party that is increasingly out of touch with the mainstream.” White House aides said Obama himself ordered the party to get God back in. The platform also was altered to declare that Jerusalem “is and will remain the capital of Israel,” a view at odds with a carefully neutral U.S. policy but in tune with campaign sensibilities.
Citing a chance of thunderstorms, convention organizers scrapped plans for Obama to speak to an enormous crowd in a 74,000-seat outdoor stadium and shoehorned the event under the roof of the convention arena, holding up to 15,000. That meant no opportunity to reprise the massive show of support, excitement — and on-scene voter registration — from Obama’s 2008 acceptance speech before 84,000 in Denver. Republicans said Democrats made the switch because they feared the sight of empty seats.
For Obama, the evening speech provided one of his best opportunities not just to persuade undecided voters to swing his way in a tight election but to put fire in the belly of his supporters and get them to come out on Election Day. That wasn’t an issue in 2008, but the anemic recovery has raised questions about the motivation of Democrats as Obama seeks to become the first president since the Great Depression to win re-election with joblessness so high.
It was no accident the president devoted many stops on a pre-convention tour of battleground states to campus crowds of the sort that lifted him to the Democratic nomination and the presidency last time.
“Barack’s challenge here is to sort of wake up America and make them realize how serious this election is,” Democratic Rep. Sam Farr of California said in an interview at the convention. Judging from his town hall meetings in August, when only 15 or 20 people showed up instead of the usual hundreds, there is a “big apathy about politics right now,” regardless of party.
Farr added, “If we have an apathetic America, I’m terrified.”
Motivation was not an issue in the convention hall, at least not when Clinton spoke.
The hall rocked with cheers as Clinton strode onstage to Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop,” his 1992 campaign theme song, and he held the crowd rapt as he drifted off his prepared remarks for about 50 minutes.
He accused Republicans of proposing “the same old policies that got us into trouble in the first place” and led to a near financial meltdown. Those, he said, include efforts to provide “tax cuts for higher-income Americans, more money for defense than the Pentagon wants and ... deep cuts on programs that help the middle class and poor children.”
“As another president once said, ‘There they go again,’” Clinton said, paraphrasing Ronald Reagan, who often uttered “There you go again” as a rebuke to Democrats.
“In Tampa,” said Clinton, “the Republican argument against the president’s re-election was pretty simple: We left him a total mess, he hasn’t finished cleaning it up yet, so fire him and put us back in.”
Clinton’s speech marked the seventh consecutive convention in which he has spoken to party delegates, and the latest twist in a relationship with Obama that has veered from frosty to friendly. The two men clashed in 2008, when Obama outran Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former president’s wife, for the Democratic presidential nomination. Hillary Clinton, then a New York senator and now Obama’s secretary of state, was in East Timor as the party met but made a cameo appearance on the huge convention screens in a video that celebrated the 12 Democratic female senators now in office.
Party leaders did their best to draw as little attention as possible to the changes in the platform, making the switch even before the prayer that opened the second night of the convention.
They restored wording from the 2008 platform calling for a government that “gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential.”
The switch on Jerusalem puts it in line with what advisers said was the president’s personal view, if not the policy of his administration. “Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel,” it says. “The parties have agreed that Jerusalem is a matter for final status negotiations. It should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.”
Three times Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the convention chairman, called for a voice vote on the changes and each time the yes and no votes seemed to balance each other out. On the third attempt, Villaraigosa ruled the amendments were approved — triggering boos from many in the audience.
Woodward reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Ben Feller, Ken Thomas, Matt Michaels and Jim Kuhnhenn in Charlotte, Jennifer Agiesta, Jack Gillum and Josh Lederman in Washington, Kasie Hunt in Vermont, and Thomas Beaumont and Steve Peoples in Iowa contributed.
Sep 7, 2012 at 2:11 p.m.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_F...
This legislation, which passed in 2000 is one of the direct reasons the collapse happened in 07-08. It had very wide bi-partisan support, was signed by Bill Clinton with Paul Ryan casting a yes vote. For those interested, the Glass-Steagall act had very little, if anything, to do with the financial collapse. This piece of legislation, however, is.
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2000-1...
So, do we blame Clinton, Congress, The Fed, The banks? How about all of them. The banks and investment houses received exactly what they wanted, which was little oversight and lax enforcement. Why do you think Romney/Ryan will be any different?
Sep 7, 2012 at 2:04 p.m.
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916WI, perhaps you should ask people to consider why 89% of Republicans voted for John McCain in 2008. Was it because McCain is Republican?
You think that over.
Sep 7, 2012 at 12:59 p.m.
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916WI- I didn't vote for Al Gore (white guy) Bill Clinton (also white) I didn't and will not vote for Obama (black guy) ...give your ideas a rest. The guy needs to go, plain n simple!
Sep 7, 2012 at 11:14 a.m.
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A thought for the day:
How many American voters will vote for Obama, not because of his ideas and his positions on issues which directly affect the citizens of the country--but because he is BLACK?
What a sad fact!
Now think it over and discuss!
Sep 7, 2012 at 10:59 a.m.
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Yeah, Midnight Ride is off base. Though, I do concur, that the Clinton economy was a beneficiary of the dot-com bubble and the information age expansion. He is far from a pure messenger.
A lot of being a good fiscally responsible president, at least in the dimwit public eye, is the dumb luck of timing.
The real part of being a good fiscally responsible president is systemic. Good policy on taxation. Good regulation and oversight. While not monkeying with interest rates too much -because the unforeseen long term consequences outweigh the short-term benefits.
Our economy is dealing now with bad bi-partisan economic, deregulatory, interest rate finagling and tax-cut policy that goes back 30 years. Putting out the fire takes time. Obama just happens to be the guy there while this occurs.
lol- McCain and Palin would have been dandy in there. and Lolololol - Mittens and Paul intend to take us back to the failed policies that factored in the problem to begin with. Good to be rich already!
Sep 7, 2012 at 10:31 a.m.
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poobah, correct. My bad. George Whitfield would make more sense. That's what happens when a person posts in the wee hours of the morning! Regarding the question you asked, I hear what you're saying, but it's important to understand, I'm not a "republican" per say either. I believe the "left" has become so radical and off track with their principles, that it's made the "right" look much better than it deserves as well. That being said, I believe change has to occur this election to even have a chance of this country surviving the fallout from it. Until people wake up and understand that we've been educated by both sides to think that there are only two sides and every four years we're merely voting for politicians and not LEADERS.
Sep 7, 2012 at 10:29 a.m.
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Midnightride,
One other thing to note. The economy collapsed and demand dried up. That's what caused the businesses to close and the ones that stayed afloat to stop hiring. It doesn't matter if the president is conservative or liberal. Bill Clinton saw large job growth and he was certainly a liberal President.
Sep 7, 2012 at 10:27 a.m.
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Midnightride,
It's interesting how you blame the dot com bubble burst on Clinton so as to absolve GWB, but you place all of the job losses during the Obama administration squarely on the soldiers of the current President as though GWB's policies had nothing to do with it. That's a double standard.
Sep 7, 2012 at 9:32 a.m.
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mteg
Sep 6, 2012 at 4:12 p.m.
Suggest removal GreatPlain...I feel for your loss. I'm out over $50,000 still from my IRA...and I blame Obama
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Mteg, I know a lot of you patriots aren't financial geniuses, but the market was at 8200 when Obama took office, and over 13000 now. How are you still down?
If anything, the criticism over teacher pensions is damning of IRAs and 401ks. WRS is subject to market risk/reward which is shared with pensioners.
However, there are benefits to a collective retirement system (i.e. pensions) as opposed to every individual investor for themselves (IRA). That fancy list of investments and mutual funds that Fidelity gives y'all is way weaker than what us big boys get, and even what the WRS gets. There is a certain investments and a thing called classes of stock, which you won't be privvy to on your own.
So yes, -Surprise! the system is rigged against the individual small investor, of which - believe me - you all are.
High Fees and loads and lack of education, and you are at a disadvantage. It's gambling and the house (wealthy-me and Mittens, and Wall Street), almost always win. Easy money. Beautiful.
Really, how could you know about any of this, and educate yourself on the wide world of investments. You are supposed to be working. Likewise Teachers don't have a dern clue about investments, but their WRS does.
Yeah, a company match of your contributions is nice, but in this modern world it often doesn't overcome. If you are paying some crazy rate of interest on a credit card, (20% and onwards, yep -we've rigged that too- ) then you are better paying off debt rather than contributing to retirement.
You are welcome, again.
Sep 7, 2012 at 9:15 a.m.
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A thought for the day:
How many American voters will not vote for Obama, not because of his ideas and achievements-- which they really like -- but because he is BLACK?
What a sad fact!
Now think over and discuss!
Sep 7, 2012 at 9:11 a.m.
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Midnight Ride - Your comments -- just like Paul Ryan's lies -- have no credibility. You don't provide any sources or links to support your supposed facts, and we readers are not that stupid to fall for your contrived stats!
Did you go to the "Paul Ryan School of Faulty Economics?"
Sep 7, 2012 at 9:08 a.m.
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President Clinton talked about Paul Ryan’s Medicare lies: “takes some BRASS”
That’s a true statement:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/...
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/...
Paul Ryan know he was WRONG, because he HAS NOT responded to Clinton’s comment.
Paul, cat got your tongue?
Sep 7, 2012 at 8:51 a.m.
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Nice try however. For some of us who remember the Carter years, it's what we feel as a nation. The numbers can say whatever side wants them to say, but we are all hurting and struggling under Obama's failed leadership. That we feel and will vote accordingly.
Sep 7, 2012 at 8:49 a.m.
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mjoseph, lets debunk some of your left leaning fact-o-meter. Points in History to note.
Reagan up 14.7 million and landslide re-election true. However, Clinton enjoyed a .com revolution that had not yet been cut off at the knees by government regulations and when that happened the collapse occured for Bush.
Not to mention the Housing Act Clinton signed off on giving mortgages to people who couldn't afford it and threats of investigation by any bank that didn't comply.
The three months after Obama's election were the worst jobs decline in US history when business and business owners saw in Obama the real man of liberalism and Government overreach and buckled up shop.
Kennedy cut taxes like Reagan and raised employment with those policies that continued with Johnson.
Obama has lost 4 times as many jobs as gained but your little fact-o-meter isn't telling that story.
Sep 7, 2012 at 8:30 a.m.
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Mr Obama,
"He has blamed the people of living too well. We don't have inflation because the people are living too well, we have inflation because the goverment is living too well"
Ronald Reagan to Jimmy Carter.
Sep 7, 2012 at 8:28 a.m.
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With today's jobs report, Romney-Ryan will claim that Obama is not creating enough jobs.
Stay calm, take a deep breath and remember, Democratic Presidents have created more total jobs than Republican Presidents since 1961:
Democratic Presidents have created a combined 42 million jobs in that time.
Republican Presidents have created 24 million jobs in total.
That’s a whopping 72 percent more jobs created under Democratic Presidents.
Read the proven facts at:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/...
Obama-Biden for a stronger and better America!
Sep 7, 2012 at 7:46 a.m.
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Bush's trickle-down economics did not work.
Romney's trickle-down economics will not work.
We need to move forward, not back.
Vote for Obama-Biden, and help all Americans --not just Mr. Romney and his tax-cheating mega-rich friends.
Sep 7, 2012 at 7:22 a.m.
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matthew516, I can assure you that de Tocqueville's political philosophy did not inform our founding fathers in the creation of our Constitution. He was born in 1805.
Sep 7, 2012 at 7:07 a.m.
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matthew516, what is your position on the ease with which corporations can be formed and operated without concern for the public interest?
Sep 7, 2012 at 6:29 a.m.
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Greatplain.....it's not my argument, it's simply the reality of the situation. I see you chose not to frame the $4k that Walker "took" from you in a context that could be a little more revealing. That's probably for the best. I understand your line of thought though, regardless of the struggles of the middle class, whose tax dollars fund your salary, pension contributions, and HC premiums, their struggles should NEVER have a negative effect on your wealth. Here I was thinking it was the Republicans that were supposed to have the "I've got mine, screw you" mindset. How unpatroitic:(
Sep 7, 2012 at 6:25 a.m.
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Any President coming after Obama will need more then 4 years to fix the damage this dud has created in his one and only term.
Sep 7, 2012 at 5:33 a.m.
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I'd once like to hear from the mouths of these "leftists" that they've actually read the words of people like, de Tocqueville, John Locke, Plato or Jonathan Edwards. It's like they're afraid to acknowledge any of the historical philosophy that our founding fathers used to create the constitution for America in order to hold our government in check and preserve this country for generation after generation. Sadly, thanks to the twisted thinking of past presidents such as Wilson and FDR and now Obama, we're living in this post-constitutional era where the "left" is trying to re-write everything that made this country great. They want to replace the power of the people with the power of one, centralized government and that's right where we're going if Obama is allowed to remain in office. Sorry, I value the future of our kids and their kids too much for this to happen. I pray the American people wake up and take this country back before it's too late.
Sep 7, 2012 at 4:47 a.m.
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What a sad state of mind this country is in at this time. Bill Clinton was merely a defense attorney for Obama. I agree with you "mathew516", Obama has without question attempted to fundamentally change this country with his blatant disregard for the constitution. Obama fancies the political system of Red China where decisions get made by party fiat without the checks and balances of American constitutional government. He does believe he's God.
Sep 7, 2012 at 4:19 a.m.
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@RetiredAir Force; It's not Obama's job to fix anything. It's his job to LEAD and he's failed at that. It's his job to light the path for the people, rather than burn those paths out. He's attempted to fundamentally transform this country and that's dead wrong. We need a restoration. No more of this attempt to play God, he needs to go!
Sep 7, 2012 at 3:21 a.m.
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I happen to agree with President Clinton on a portion of his comments. He stated there was no way the current president, Obama, could fix the problems he found in 4 years.
Using this yard stick why vote for him again?
Under Obama our nation's debt is higher. Under Obama there has not been a budget for three years. Under Obama more people are unemployed. Under Obama more people are on food stamps. Under Obama more people are on government aide. Under Obama a new entitlement program was created when existing entitlement programs are causing budget problems. Under Obama our economic outlook has been downgraded.
Since he couldn't fix the problem he found during his first four years and now things are worse than before, there is no clear way to say he can somehow now fix things (that are worse) when he couldn't deliver his hope and change the first time.
Dem party insanity: doing the same thing again expecting different results.
Sep 6, 2012 at 11:55 p.m.
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fordfan: Thank your for your thoughtful comment. I believe some of the frustration also comes from the success of the Democratic Convention. It has been upbeat, and that is very frustrating to some. Also, many posters, I being one at times, tend to veer away from the article topic. Hard to follow.
Sep 6, 2012 at 11:09 p.m.
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greatplain
Sep 6, 2012 at 10:48 p.m.
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Great post. I suspect these people have an agenda that totally drives their logic. Your comments about teachers are right on target. If wislady and others like her had to admit the truth that you are right, they would lose perceived status so they cling to their false agenda while inflicting maximum verbal pain on those who care so much for our children and do so much for our nation’s future. Their beliefs do not represent any positive future for future generations - only anger, lack of appreciation and a clear show of disrespect for fellow citizens.
Sep 6, 2012 at 10:57 p.m.
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916Wi: Your argument says more about the failure of the trickle down approach to creating jobs. The private sector has failed its workers by shipping jobs overseas in the name of profit. Very unpatriotic.
Sep 6, 2012 at 10:54 p.m.
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Matthew - got it. Sorry that I jumped to conclusions. Go ahead and keep your birthday :)
Sep 6, 2012 at 10:53 p.m.
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mteg: What specifically did President Obama due to ruin your pension? Be specific. I lost my 25K in the mid-2000s due free reign granted to investment banks.
Sep 6, 2012 at 10:50 p.m.
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Fordfan.... My birthday is May 16th. That would be 5/16. Are you okay with that or would you like me to change my s/n?
Sep 6, 2012 at 10:48 p.m.
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wislady: Teachers and their unions are the SAME thing! C'mon! I'm an educator, and an active union member. The straw men you choose to believe are the people that work with kids everyday. They see their students' and families needs and lives. They have open hearts, and work for a better world the best way the know how...together.
Sep 6, 2012 at 10:25 p.m.
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http://gazettextra.com/photos/2012/sep/0...
Sep 6, 2012 at 10:10 p.m.
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matthew516 "16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Is this the message your name is trying to project in your comments?
Sep 6, 2012 at 10:05 p.m.
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What about Monica Lewinsky? Does Slick Willy still fire the ole' girl up these days? It's really painful to see this dope on live TV and actually buy into anything the guy says. He has no character, end of story. (which is why he's an Obama kind of guy as well..)
Sep 6, 2012 at 9:38 p.m.
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brotherkoch
Too bad you didn't inherit your daddy's brains.
Sep 6, 2012 at 8:59 p.m.
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Midnight – are you are member of the Psychological Projection Society of America (PPSA)?
Sep 6, 2012 at 8:48 p.m.
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I love the word Wealthy too. And Rich, Trust Fund Brat, Prosperous, FatCat, Loaded, Opulent,1%, Beneficiary etc. They are all beautiful.
I especially like when Midnight Ride and Patriots idolize me because I was smart enough to have a wealthy daddy. There's that word wealthy again.
Sep 6, 2012 at 8:27 p.m.
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I love the word wealthy. It's what we all aspire to be in America, land of equal opportunity not equal outcome.
Unless you're a Democrat, mooch and have others pony up for your existence.
The Democrats have handed this election on a silver platter to the Republicans this week.
Parading misguided women shouting hate, chaining us to Government with "we belong to it", hissing and booing at God, and showing us Obama has gone from Greek columns to a sweaty pavilion.
Sep 6, 2012 at 7:06 p.m.
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Clinton is not perfect - missed this one. More brass for Ryan! :)
http://www.thenation.com/blog/169757/exc...
Sep 6, 2012 at 6:57 p.m.
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brotherkoch
Name calling again, and for what reason?
Sep 6, 2012 at 4:59 p.m.
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In reading all the posts in this blog (and others like it), I can say that from where I'm watching and listening...that blaming the government for the troubles is only partially right.
Why does the business and corporate world get to say as much as they do and influence our society to such a degree that falls just short of civil war fomenting?
Simple...its the money!
We have deluded ourselves that monetary gain equals 'success'...what an empty bag to pin your hopes and dreams on.
The greediest of our fellow Americans are: White-Black-Flush with cash/securities-Struggling to make ends meet...they are US!
This is why we are so far into the spin cycle of partisan politics because we have lost the value of what we are put here to do...not acrue mountains of fiat money or 'investments'...
We are here to live out our lives in hopes of bettering ourselves and those we care for...while some more cash will help meet that goal, all too often the money becomes the reason we will tear each other up.
We have become little more than mercenaries for the 'almighty dollar'...who can take pride in having more or the most money? Many will step up and take all the money they can get...believing all the while that the paper with pictures and numbers will save them from themselves...fools.
Money will always be with us as an instrument of trade...Money is but a tool to use, not the goal.
Once money is seen for what it is, it is easy to grow beyond its false image that leads us to believe we need evermore of the worthless stuff.
Leave money to the fools who will worship anything that represents power they cant obtain...Be more than a Buck.
Sep 6, 2012 at 4:52 p.m.
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I think it's pointless trying to explain wage concessions, compensation arrangements and benefits that are bargained for to Winklady at this point.
Better just to sit back and enjoy the unabashed, blind patriotism and loyalty to the wealthy folk.
Sep 6, 2012 at 4:48 p.m.
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brotherkoch
Some of us actually put our own money away for retirement, not expecting or demanding that others fund our retirement.
Sep 6, 2012 at 4:41 p.m.
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careful Patriots. You're betchin and moaning about your IRA/401ks is actually making a good case for expansion of defined benefit plans in the private AND public sectors.
Us wealthy philanthropic Patriots would not like that idea. Got to keep you lesser Patriots desperate.
Sep 6, 2012 at 4:26 p.m.
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Gandalf......Who is blaming Obama for the plant closing?
Sep 6, 2012 at 4:25 p.m.
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greatplain
Sounds like you are the one who needs "peace". Paying into your OWN pension is not quite the same as actually LOSING that money from investments, your retirement is still YOURS. I wish I had only lost 4K! It has happened in years past, and likely (if you are young enough) will happen again.
Teachers don't have the market on tough times. People don't hate teachers, it's the union and the leaders.
Sep 6, 2012 at 4:24 p.m.
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greatplain.......I don't know?? It's hard to place a value on a number like that out of context. You say you're out $4K a year. Would that be coming out of $25K a year, $45K a year or $65K a year? Regardless of what it is, there are MANY members of the middle class that have also suffered because of this recession, and despite your bitterness toward the governor for what he "took" from you, I'm guessing there are many members of the middle class that would love to be in your financial situation even with the $4K factored out........
Sep 6, 2012 at 4:12 p.m.
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GreatPlain...I feel for your loss. I'm out over $50,000 still from my IRA...and I blame Obama.
Sep 6, 2012 at 4:07 p.m.
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wislady: I wish you peace, Sister. Colossians 1:9 .
Sep 6, 2012 at 4:03 p.m.
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916WI: I'm a public educator and I'm out 4K these last two years. Is that enough? I'm in the middle class, and blame Walker and the right wing legislature for my loss. Oh, yeah...Where are the jobs?
Right-leaning bloggers: I'm sorry you feel so angry. I'm like Big Dog. I don't agree with many of your views, but I don't hate you or Gov. Romney.
I do feel really HAPPY though! Go Michelle! Go Big Dog! Good luck, Mr. President.
Sep 6, 2012 at 4:01 p.m.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-13...
Hmm...
Sep 6, 2012 at 3:57 p.m.
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"Fresh off the false and politicized attack on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, today we’re hearing the know-nothings blame the subprime crisis on the Community Reinvestment Act — a 30-year-old law that was actually weakened by the Bush administration just as the worst lending wave began. This is even more ridiculous than blaming Freddie and Fannie.
The Community Reinvestment Act, passed in 1977, requires banks to lend in the low-income neighborhoods where they take deposits. Just the idea that a lending crisis created from 2004 to 2007 was caused by a 1977 law is silly. But it’s even more ridiculous when you consider that most subprime loans were made by firms that aren’t subject to the CRA. University of Michigan law professor Michael Barr testified back in February before the House Committee on Financial Services that 50% of subprime loans were made by mortgage service companies not subject comprehensive federal supervision and another 30% were made by affiliates of banks or thrifts which are not subject to routine supervision or examinations. As former Fed Governor Ned Gramlich said in an August, 2007, speech shortly before he passed away: “In the subprime market where we badly need supervision, a majority of loans are made with very little supervision. It is like a city with a murder law, but no cops on the beat.”
http://www.businessweek.com/investing/in...
"Finally, keep in mind that the Bush administration has been weakening CRA enforcement and the law’s reach since the day it took office. The CRA was at its strongest in the 1990s, under the Clinton administration, a period when subprime loans performed quite well. It was only after the Bush administration cut back on CRA enforcement that problems arose, a timing issue which should stop those blaming the law dead in their tracks. The Federal Reserve, too, did nothing but encourage the wild west of lending in recent years. It wasn’t until the middle of 2007 that the Fed decided it was time to crack down on abusive pratices in the subprime lending market. Oops!"
Sep 6, 2012 at 3:54 p.m.
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Third_eye wrote:"speech motivated the base but did not move the middle, which were sound asleep or glazed over by the details by the end of the speech."
Yes, that is true. People that are decided voters aren't going to be swayed by the conventions. As for the undecideds, they won't watch these conventions, and at best, they may catch drift of the overall tone- a feeling.
So yeah, it comes down to how a fuzzy theme is hashed from these conventions, and what sliver of this the undecideds pay attention to.
In that regard, the dems appear to be winning that convention battle for undecideds, for what little that is worth. the message that is getting out so far, for the non-attentive undecided perspective:
RNC: Extremists still hold too much clout. Akin-crowd etc. Ryan fibs. They all think Obama is a bad man.
DNC: Michelle Obama is da bomb. Bill is Bill.
overall more upbeat. + Obama will hold his own on the stand.
Sep 6, 2012 at 3:52 p.m.
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"In reminiscing today on the economic meltdown and the shared blame - oddly I don't see the public school teachers as even a blip of a factor. Its really weird (in a patriotic sort of way) that teachers, and correspondingly the students, are taking on such a sizeable sacrfice for the fallout."
It's "really weird" that you seem to be completely clueless as to the sizable sacrifice the majority of the middle class had to endure due to the recession we are in. Have you taken a moment to notice the unemployment rate, the percentage of Americans on government assistance or the completely devalued retirement accounts??
Sep 6, 2012 at 3:44 p.m.
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The only people that are better off now, the Obama family.
Sep 6, 2012 at 3:37 p.m.
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One theme running through the convention is that we are better off than we were 4 years ago. How do you sell that to an unemployed person? How do you sell that to a person that has not had a raise in 4 years and is forced to take 3 weeks of unpaid time off per year?
How do you sell that to a guy who commutes from Janesville to Kansas City or Ft. Wayne for work while his family stays in Janesville? (Many because they can not sell their home)
Just who is this WE that are better off?
Sep 6, 2012 at 3:36 p.m.
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Clinton was grandfather of the Community Re-Investment Act, along with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd that caused the housing collapse (although dems like to blame the GOP).
Sep 6, 2012 at 3:29 p.m.
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President Bill Clinton stated that Governor Mitt Romney said that Corporations are people. It was not Romney that said it, a Supreme Court ruling said it. (just picking at a nit)
As is his style President Clinton gave a great speech that was too long. Let's face it, only political junkies like myself and many here hung with the whole speech. My point is that the speech motivated the base but did not move the middle, which were sound asleep or glazed over by the details by the end of the speech.
Sep 6, 2012 at 3:03 p.m.
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In reminiscing today on the economic meltdown and the shared blame - oddly I don't see the public school teachers as even a blip of a factor. Its really weird (in a patriotic sort of way) that teachers, and correspondingly the students, are taking on such a sizeable sacrfice for the fallout.
That's all was Scotty's masterwork, and the alternate reality of the GOP.
Sep 6, 2012 at 2:51 p.m.
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Ha. Feduptaxpayer...this is EXACTLY what you are talking about:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rZCofcCb...
Sep 6, 2012 at 2:37 p.m.
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But let's not forget GWB-appointee, Christopher Cox. That was like the fox guarding the henhouse.
Interesting tale of how he gutted the SEC -note the date of the article is in the midst of the crisis -before the fallout and partisan revisionism of history took root.
http://upstart.bizjournals.com/executive...
A good article on GWBush white house back in the day of the meltdown.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/busine...
And then there is the tale of Lawrence B Lindsey, chief economic advisor to GWB 2001-2002. He forewarned Bush on the bubble in the markets. He was fired when he warned Bush of the exhorbinant cost of the Iraq War.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_B....
Carry on Patriots.
Sep 6, 2012 at 2:14 p.m.
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pharm - you are correct. Larry Summers is an idiot. And this not just brotherkoch talking here.
Lots of blame to be spread around for the economic meltdown. Reagan got the deregulatory-anything goes-pro-big monopoly train a-rolling. GHWB and Clinton got on board. GWB/Cheney threw more coals in and drove the train off the cliff.
And yes, Obama used some of these same deregulatory fools, (notably Larry Summers) as advisors too. Obama was wise to keep Bernanke on, and my Mittens a fool for disparaging him.
So yes - some Clinton was disingenuous in that speech on the finance. But he is correct in pointing out that taking things back to how things were done at 2008 (and even more backwards than that), as Romney Ryan propose - is sheer teabag lunacy.
I still luv ya though, Patriots.
Sep 6, 2012 at 1:45 p.m.
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"In December 1996, with the support of Chairman Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve Board issues a precedent-shattering decision permitting bank holding companies to own investment bank affiliates with up to 25 percent of their business in securities underwriting (up from 10 percent).
This expansion of the loophole created by the Fed's 1987 reinterpretation of Section 20 of Glass-Steagall effectively renders Glass-Steagall obsolete. Virtually any bank holding company wanting to engage in securities business would be able to stay under the 25 percent limit on revenue. However, the law remains on the books, and along with the Bank Holding Company Act, does impose other restrictions on banks, such as prohibiting them from owning insurance-underwriting companies.
In August 1997, the Fed eliminates many restrictions imposed on "Section 20 subsidiaries" by the 1987 and 1989 orders. The Board states that the risks of underwriting had proven to be "manageable," and says banks would have the right to acquire securities firms outright.
In 1997, Bankers Trust (now owned by Deutsche Bank) buys the investment bank Alex. Brown & Co., becoming the first U.S. bank to acquire a securities firm."
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/...
If you refuse to read an article because of where it is posted from, you(Dem/Rep) are ill informed. If you cannot trust yourself to see different viewpoints, that says a lot about your character.
Sep 6, 2012 at 1:38 p.m.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-21wrrmpx...
"Give me a break"
Sep 6, 2012 at 1:37 p.m.
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Huffington post, may as well tell us to look at Hitler's diary
Sep 6, 2012 at 1:36 p.m.
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Oh contraire poobah, MI and PA have moved from a solid blue Obama to just a leaning Obama. PA closed from 10 to only 4. MI has closed from 16 to only 6.
By the way, WI is now toss up with Romney up by 1.
Sep 6, 2012 at 1:30 p.m.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-s-...
Eyewitness account of Ryan hypocrisy.
Sep 6, 2012 at 1:06 p.m.
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The implosion of the Romney campaign begins...
"Republicans signaled this week that they might have given up hope in two important swing states.
The Romney campaign and conservative groups like Crossroads GPS have pulled TV ads in Michigan, Romney’s home state, according to the Detroit News." [ http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/0... ]
Sep 6, 2012 at 1:03 p.m.
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God was not being booed at the convention. Buckling to political pressure to put God back in the platform when there is already an entire section extolling the virtues of faith written into the platform is what was being booed. Faith is a strength in our diverse society, but different religions have different deities and by leaving out God there would be no discrimination in the platform. Unfortunately, the powers that be caved, and so now there is discriminatory language in the platform. It's a shame especially when you consider that the word "God" doesn't show up once in the Constitution.
Sep 6, 2012 at 12:59 p.m.
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whz bang.....Clinton did not sign the Glass Steagal Act. He signed the Grahm Leach Bliley Act which repealed Glass Steagal. He only signed it because he knew he did not have enough votes to over-ride it and he only did so because he got more provisions to protect home owners with the CRA. I remember watching the press conference where Clinton said this is going to be known as one of the biggest mistakes in our history...referring to GLB. We had 60 years of a stable economy after the passage of Glass Steagal and within 7 years of repeal we experienced the first economic crisis when the stock market fell in 2003. It is because of the repeal of Glass Steagal that we have had an unstable economy ever since. The mortgage crisis began with George Bush's American Dream Act which let banks loan money with no down payment. GS kept commercial and investment banking separate as well as insurance. When the 3 were able to combine, banks started giving out mortgages they knew were bad to get all of that closing cost money. They then turned around and took out insurance on the bad loans. Repealing GS is what has allowed banks and Wall Street to use their commercial customer’s money to make bad investments. Don't you like that our money is casino chips to them. After all, it's not their money they are losing, it's ours.
Sep 6, 2012 at 12:38 p.m.
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Callitasiseeit - don't worry, just make loots of money and the world your grandchildren inherit will be just fine.
Sep 6, 2012 at 12:37 p.m.
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CallitasIseeit, since you seem to like stories about morality, or the lack thereof, read the following excerpts.
"Bottle-blond bangs swept over one eye - this, the other boys whispered, was not a man's haircut. One of them - a popular, handsome specimen - grew particularly incensed at his classmate's new look. He formed a posse and found a pair of scissors. After locating the blond boy, the gang tackled him. The boy screamed for help, but none came. Lock by lock, his hair was lopped off.
Soon after, the boy disappeared from school. Eventually, he returned, his hair clipped short and back to its natural brown color.
There was no disciplinary action, but the incident would forever haunt everyone involved, save for the lead attacker, Mitt Romney. He forgot about it, married a pretty girl, produced five handsome sons, and made hundreds of millions of dollars. Now he wants to be president." [ http://www.citypages.com/2012-05-30/news... ]
"Perhaps Romney really doesn't remember the assault on John Lauber nearly a half-century ago, despite the fact that so many of the other people who were there have never forgotten it. Or perhaps he decided that claiming ignorance would be the safest course of crisis management. But what he said told people nothing about the man he is today and how he has changed and grown over that time. We're all different people than we were in our youth, and we all have regrets. The 17-year-old Mitt Romney may have been a privileged, entitled boy with a mean streak. The 65-year-old Mitt Romney missed an opportunity to convince us he's something different." [ http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/11/opinion/wa... ]
Sep 6, 2012 at 12:34 p.m.
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wizzbang...you missed blameing the janesville gm plant closing on Bill Clinton too.
Sep 6, 2012 at 12:31 p.m.
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Clinton slashed Reagan’s tax burden on capital gains by nearly one-third (from 28 percent to 20 percent), embraced a serious decrease in estate taxes, backed several pro-business measures and created the Roth IRA retirement savings account, named after conservative Republican Sen. William Roth. The booming economy was also pushed along by two other little-noted factors: Alan Greenspan’s accommodating Federal Reserve policy and, in the words of former Congressional Budget Office Director June O’Neill, “the absence of legislation that meddled with the economy or that had major, long-run spending consequences on the budget.”
The great Clinton economy began when he embraced the essence of Reaganomics: tax cuts, spending restraint, welfare reform, free trade and the end of his own budget-crushing entitlement program, universal health care.
Sep 6, 2012 at 12:18 p.m.
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CallitasIseeit
Sep 6, 2012 at 11:50 a.m.
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It kills me that Clinton, who was impeached by the House of Representatives on two charges, perjury and obstruction of justice, lied about diddling with Monica Lewinsky to a national TV audience can be the voice for ANYTHING.
The morals of our corrupt political system (and country for that matter) have fallen so low it makes me fear for the world my grandchildren will inherit.
Sep 6, 2012 at 11:46 a.m.
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That's funny--
it doesn't look easy.
Sep 6, 2012 at 11:40 a.m.
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Clintons speach can be summed up as "Lies, dam
lies and statistics" according to the New York Times reporter last night. Lets see, Clinton signed Glass Steigel, Community Reinvestment Act and loosened credit standards at Fannie and Freddie. Those were the major causes for the mortgage meltdown, credit debacle and loss of home values we are now experiencing.
Sep 6, 2012 at 11:40 a.m.
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woody
Sep 6, 2012
a bad economy and blame? mmmmmmmm that sounds familiar.
It was so bad that we all felt the up swing and re-elected that great leader in every state but one.
Sep 6, 2012 at 11:38 a.m.
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Yeah, it took some brass for Clinton to say "it takes some brass" in calling out Paul Ryan's lies about medicare.
But then again brass is what we Patriots like.....cue the patriotic music..tweedle~dee~rat~a~tat~tweedle-deedle~tat tat~dumdum
Sep 6, 2012 at 11:27 a.m.
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Do you think while Obama waited and waited for Clinton to stop being so self serving someone found him an empty chair?
Sep 6, 2012 at 11:20 a.m.
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45 minutes of a campaign speech for the Mrs.
woody, ask Obama how does dog taste.
Sep 6, 2012 at 11:11 a.m.
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‘Mitt Romney… I Would Like To Kill Him!’
.
Is that a quote from Rmoney about his family dog??? You know, the one mitt tied to the top of the car when they went on vacation.
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2afIxOqRJ...
Sep 6, 2012 at 11:05 a.m.
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Oh, I missed this part where you said, 916WI, " I actually like Clinton."
Sep 6, 2012 at 11:03 a.m.
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bowgal..."Two years INTO Reagan's presidency, the United States experienced its worst recession since the Great Depression, with unemployment peaking at 10.8 percent. Rather than take responsibility, Reagan attempted to blame the 1982 recession on his predecessor, Jimmy Carter."
Sep 6, 2012 at 10:43 a.m.
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Yes woody, we had the hostages and an economy in the toilet thanks to Carter. Reagan turned it and won big. Again, Clinton reminded us of just how bad and failed Obama is and how far this party has fallen.
Even Lanny Davis didn't understand why Clinton is on Obama's lie side with the work out of welfare. Also Wasserman-Schultz got caught red handed in a bold face lie. I suppose the Democrats feel if they yell liar loud enough, unsuspecting citizens won't pay attention to their whoppers.
Booing God. How much lower can you get.
43 Presidents did pile on a 10t debt. Obama all by himself gave us 6t. He hasn't earned a second term, he doesn't deserve a second term.
Sep 6, 2012 at 10:21 a.m.
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Poohboy....To be fair, let's include the entire comment and not edit the part in which you come off as a hypocrite and a total tool:) Have a nice day!
916WI
Sep 6, 2012 at 6:59 a.m.
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Poohboy.....You're a crackup! "Amazing command of history and facts"? Seriously?!? You rail on the Republicans for playing hard and loose with the facts and their interpretation of situations. Clinton--as they all do--does exactly the same thing, and you praise him for his "amazing command of history and facts"? Too funny!! Much in the same way when you claim that you don't support either candidate, yet when asked for evidence of you speaking negatively against BO, your evidence comes from a single post several months and over 900 posts ago........Let's compare that to the last time you spoke out against Romney/Ryan......1 post ago? Possibly 2 or 3?
I actually like Clinton......I definitely didn't support the way he was vilified after he had his fun with the cigars and that fatty who worked for him.....Much like Obama, he is a great speaker, and he definitely knows how to work a crowd, but anyone who would claim that this speech was made by someone with "amazing command of history and facts" is completely delusional:)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact......
Sep 6, 2012 at 10:09 a.m.
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I think 916WI summed up Bill Clinton's speech quite well in her 6:59 a.m. comment, "Much like Obama, he is a great speaker." Yes, a true command of history and facts. 916WI, I will be looking forward to ANOTHER great speech tonight.
Sep 6, 2012 at 10 a.m.
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That's right wink. Get your facts straight from our extremist blogs. Good Patriot.
You know better than to listen/watch/read the MSM. Even though we GOP have corporate control there too - the MSM is mainly for adverts and pushing our products on schmucks. So for the hardcore like you, we created the breitbarts etc to give you the Patriotic facts.
Sep 6, 2012 at 9:49 a.m.
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I wouldn't worry too much about what a crazy old lady says.
They have been known to get carried away.
Sep 6, 2012 at 9:43 a.m.
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If the MSM would do their jobs and report news, then perhaps liberals would actually learn something.
If you don't like the source, don't open the link.
Death Threat From DNC Delegate: ‘Mitt Romney… I Would Like To Kill Him!’
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/freak-ou...
Sep 6, 2012 at 9:41 a.m.
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Yeah, I liked when Clint hid that plate of steel under his pancho too. That was the awesomest!
Get off my lawn! beautiful!
Sep 6, 2012 at 9:39 a.m.
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Quit projecting, donnaw.
Sep 6, 2012 at 9:38 a.m.
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Good Job Patriots. So glad you skipped the show and went straight to Breitbart etal, to get the talking points. Because boy, we are going to need them.
The gall of Clinton, to mock the alternate reality that the GOP led by Romney Palin...I mean Romney Ryan. ..
Sep 6, 2012 at 9:36 a.m.
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Clint Eastwood said it best at the 2012 RNC Convention:
"...It is just that the conservative people by the nature of the word itself play closer to the vest. They do not go around hot dogging it."
Sep 6, 2012 at 9:35 a.m.
Sep 6, 2012 at 9:33 a.m.
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Wow!
Thanks, wislady.
Sometimes you are alright.
Sep 6, 2012 at 9:18 a.m.
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Oh my goodness, another Chris Matthews!
Sep 6, 2012 at 9:16 a.m.
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What an INCREDIBLE speech! The Republicans are quivering from head to toe in fear after having watched President Clinton's speech. I imagine that many Republicans found themselves cheering the president at various times throughout his speech. He is such a talented communicator and has such tremendous command of history and facts.
If the Obama campaign did NOTHING but to re-broadcast President Clinton's speech every day until the election, Obama would win in a landslide. Great job, Mr. President.
Sep 6, 2012 at 9:11 a.m.
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wis...thanks for the far right wing wacko site. I needed some rhetoric with my coffee....
Sep 6, 2012 at 9:03 a.m.
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Fact-Checking Bill Clinton
"Unfortunately for Clinton, the facts work against him. Under Barack Obama, more people than ever before have been reduced to government dependency. Offering meager entitlements in exchange for a chunk of self sovereignty is not only bad for the economy, it's antithetical to the spirit with which America was founded.
Clinton tried to claim credit on behalf of the Democrats concerning jobs and touted his own record -- that wasn't possible without a Republican controlled-congress which passed welfare reform and balanced the budget in spite of him, not because of him."
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/...
Sep 6, 2012 at 9:01 a.m.
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"Maybe they can bring Clint back
to do a special"
.
Just make sure he is sober and comb his hair.
Sep 6, 2012 at 8:55 a.m.
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garyprimer.....chris matthews.
Sep 6, 2012 at 8:44 a.m.
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A master of Charisma, Bill "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" Clinton does it again. Barack Obama is surely a lucky guy to have Bill on his side. (Hillary has his other side.) Good God.
Sep 6, 2012 at 8:41 a.m.
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Maybe they can bring Clint back
to do a special
or a sit-com spinoff.
A one-man, one-chair Broadway show
could be in the works.
Sep 6, 2012 at 8:35 a.m.
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Two years into Reagan's presidency, the United States experienced its worst recession since the Great Depression, with unemployment peaking at 10.8 percent. Rather than take responsibility, Reagan attempted to blame the 1982 recession on his predecessor, Jimmy Carter.
Likewise, Reagan would blame the explosion in red ink (debt and deficits) that occurred during his years in office on the U.S. Congress. Regarding federal deficits, Reagan's shirking of responsibility was especially egregious.
Sep 6, 2012 at 8:35 a.m.
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Wow!
What a contrast to last week's
not-ready-for-primetime snooze fest!
Sep 6, 2012 at 8:26 a.m.
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westorbust...thanks for the fact check site for Clinton's speech.
.
Quote: The Facts: Clinton’s math is correct. Using Bureau of Labor Statistics figures for the month each president took office, Democratic presidents presided over the creation of 42.3 million jobs and Republican chief executives saw 23.9 million.
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It is too bad that rmoney/ryan can't back up their plan with math that makes any sense.
Sep 6, 2012 at 8:24 a.m.
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"Three times Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the convention chairman, called for a voice vote on the changes and each time the yes and no votes seemed to balance each other out. On the third attempt, Villaraigosa ruled the amendments were approved — triggering boos from many in the audience."
The fact that this event even took place at the DNC should be very disturbing to everyone. As usual, no one steps up to take responsibility for it.
Sep 6, 2012 at 8:21 a.m.
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There they go again...
Republicans rewriting history.
Sep 6, 2012 at 8:16 a.m.
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http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09...
Sep 6, 2012 at 8:12 a.m.
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"He knows less about the budget than any president in my lifetime. He can't even carry on a conversation about the budget. It's an absolute and utter disgrace."
--House Speaker Tip O'Neill, after a meeting with Reagan, November 23, 1981
Sep 6, 2012 at 8:10 a.m.
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"In the Reagan years, more federal debt was added than in the entire prior history of the United States."
--Richard Darman (Reagan adviser), Who's in Control? Polar Politics and the Sensible Center
Sep 6, 2012 at 8:05 a.m.
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bowlgal...Reagan did NOT have a "equivalent mess" as you state. Reagan did NOT have 2 unfunded wars to clean up. Reagan did NOT have a WORLD recession compounding the problem. Reagan did NOT have a bunch of obstructionists fighting him from day ONE. Reagan did NOT see the u.s. auto industry almost die. Reagan had it pretty easy compaired to the problems that was handed to Obama.
Sep 6, 2012 at 7:40 a.m.
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Bill Clinton reminds us of just how far this party has fallen. I good leader, politician and negotiator. He reminds us of everything the President Obama is not. Obama has turned this party so far out left that they boo God and Jerusalem.
Instead of Clint Eastwood’s “make my day” they give us Sandra Fluke. “you have to pay” -
And yes, one President did get us out of an eqivalent mess. Reagan did it in less than 3 years and won re-election in a landslide. Obama is barely breaking even in the polls.
He could have moved to the center in 2010, but he went full throttle to the left. He shut down the Senate and refuse to work with Republicans. Barack Obama, you are no William Jefferson Clinton.
Thank you President Clinton for reminding us just how failed Obama is.-
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