Bill Clinton vs. George W. Bush
Overview
Defenders of George W. Bush sometimes argue that Bill Clinton set a new (lower) standard for presidential behavior. While this is at best a "he did it first" argument, and more likely just changing the subject, it is worth setting the record straight on the matter in order to minimize the amount of time spent being sidetracked.
|
This page is a seed article. You can help Issuepedia water it: make a request to expand a given page and/or donate to help give us more writing-hours!
|
Related Pages
- See the discussion page for substantial discussion on this topic.
- Balkans vs. Iraq: A comparison between one campaign under Clinton and one under Bush
Specific Points
| Bill Clinton | George W. Bush | |
| doubled the Border Patrol early in his first term | severely cut Border Patrol funds1 | |
| Lied about his personal life while under oath. | lied about important matters of state | |
| charged with perjury2 (lying under oath) | aforesaid lies were merely official statements and not under oath | |
| charged with obstruction of justice2 | informally accused of attempted destruction of Democracy | |
| Economy | "It's The Economy, Stupid" | |
| Average annual GDP growth | 3.6% | 2.6% |
| Non-farm employment | added 22.7 million jobs | added 3 million jobs (worst record of any US president in 70 years) |
| Unemployment | 7.3% -> 4.2% | 4.2% -> 4.7% |
| Real median household income | grew by $5,825 | fell by $1,273 |
| poverty rate | fell 3.5% (6.4 million fewer people) | rose 1.3% (5.4 million more people) |
| S&P 500 | + 308% (435.49 -> 1342.54) | - 2.1% (1342.54 -> 1314.78 as of 9/22/06) |
| NASDAQ | + 395% (700.77 -> 2770.38) | - 20% (2770.38 -> 2218.93 as of 9/22/06). |
| Federal Spending as % of GDP | 22.1% (fiscal 1992) to 18.4% in 2000 | back up to 20.8% (fiscal 2006) |
| total executive branch employment does not include classified numbers for CIA, DIA, NSA, & other intelligence agencies; does not include outsourced jobs |
down by almost 450,000 (2.225 million -> 1.778 million) | up by almost 100,000 (to 1.872 million). |
| Federal Debt | deficit of $290 billion —> surplus of $236 billion (fiscal 2000) | increased by almost $3 trillion (as of 2006) |
| Public Debt as % of GDP | -16.4% | +4.4% |
See also Balkans vs. Iraq
Note 1
"savagely cut funds [to the Border Patrol, and continued] cutting till the border tsunami began bothering even his most loyal redstate supporters"[1], leading to the 2006 immigration crisis
Note 2
These charges were made by Republican-led congress but acquitted by the Democrat-led Senate, a decision which many (especially but not exclusively Republicans) disagreed with vehemently.
Bumper Stickers
"No children died / when Clinton lied." – seen 2006-09-22
Quotes
"Republicans used to observe derisively that Clinton had a difficult relationship with the truth. Bush has a difficult relationship with the truth, too. It's just a different – and perhaps more grave – kind of difficulty." – William Saletan
Links
- 2006-09-26 Arguments for your obstinate uncle...: some more comparison points (by Russ Daggatt, with some Brin commentary)