The Republican response to Obama's Tax and Jobs bill was given by former president Bill Clinton.
“I personally don’t believe we ought to be raising taxes or cutting spending until we get this economy off the ground,” Clinton said. In just 23 words, Clinton undercut his party’s current standard-bearer—and Obama’s current negotiating chit with Republicans. And to add injury to insult, the silver-tongued, silver-haired 42nd president with the Arkansas drawl did it in a magazine favored by conservative critics of the current president.
“What I would like to say to the president and Speaker Boehner is, OK, you both have your deal. Go work it out. Meanwhile, focus on putting Americans back to work because it just confused Americans. Americans lost the fact that whatever you feel about this millionaire surcharge, it won’t solve the problem.”
The White House declined to comment on the record regarding the remarks, but a senior spokesman conceded privately Wednesday night to being surprised and displeased. It certainly wasn’t the first time the elder statesman of the Democratic Party brushed up against Obama, publicly body-checking his successor without offering advanced warning to senior White House staff, as tends to be customary in high-level politics, especially among members of the same party.
Clinton’s comments on tax policy may become the stuff of Republican TV attack ads or fundraising brochures.
Obama’s bigger problem may be the spectacle of his occasionally playing second fiddle to his loquacious predecessor. And Clinton doesn’t appear eager to change that perception. When asked about upcoming elections in 2012 or 2016, Clinton shrewdly, and tellingly, referred to his wife, Hillary, rather than Obama, as “the ablest person in my generation.”
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