Clinton Era

Just spinning off the last post...the three biggest issues of today are the economy, healthcare, and Islamic Terrorism.  If we look back on the Clinton era, his administration dealt with all those issues similarly - by pushing the can down the road and leaving someone else to deal with the mess.  In a time of economic prosperity, Clinton loosened regulation on the banking industry and incentivized higher risk mortgage lending, both of which propped the economy up in the short run only to cause the collapse in 2007.  With respect to Islamic Terrorism, Clinton was quite passive, in retrospect, about the danger posed by Bin Laden which ultimately lead to 9/11 and the last 10 years of war fighting, which may historically be viewed as an overreaction.  With respect to healthcare, Clinton didn't make any changes at the time, but tried to unsuccessfully.  Healthcare costs increased and now Obama has tackled the issue.

I gave Clinton a pass on the Bin Laden thing because the American public was not fully aware of the threat he posed and were not in a war fighting mood.  Of course, the job of the President and his administration to know and understand the world better than the public and to educate them about the danger.  I can't give him a pass on the economic stuff, but that caused real damage and was a blatant choice.  Healthcare is a boondoggle either way.

In Clinton's defense, the issues where he failed are the issues that became relevant today.  Had he killed Bin Laden, perhaps 9/11 never happens and we'd never know what we avoided.  But still...it the present doesn't seem to vindicate Clinton's policy choices.