[MD] Clinton vs. Bush

[Ron Kulp]

All lying aside,

THE CLINTON RECORD v. GEORGE W> BUSH 

(Last Update Spring 2005)

 



Clinton Record  

Moved from record deficits to record  $236 billion surplus

 

  Bush Record 
 Budget
 Moved from record surplus to record $331 billion deficit.  

 

This had led the International Monetary Fund (which often bails out
basket-case economies) to warn of a fiscal melt down with global
repercussions.

 
 


 
 Domestic Discretionary Spending*

 clinton
 + 36.3%

 
 bush
(-11.5%)

 
 Civilian Federal Workforce

 

 clinton
22 million jobs created

bush
Lowest unemployment rate in 30 years

 
 Job Growth

clinton
 0.3 million jobs  created (but net civilian job loss)

bush
Highest unemployment rate in nine years

 
 clinton
Increased minimum wage from $4.25 to $5.15

 bush
  Wages
 Opposes wage increase
 
clinton
Earned income tax credit for 15 million poorer working families
 Taxes

bush
 Tax cuts for the rich, increased audits for tax credits for working
families

 
 clinton
Biggest expansion in college aid since GI bill

 bush
 Education
 Under-funds own education initiative

clinton 
Largest expansion of national parks and monuments since Teddy Roosevelt,
signed Safe Drinking Water Act, signed Kyoto Accord

 bush
 Environment
 Worst environmental President in history.  Used regulations to
undermine Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, rejected Kyoto Accord and
expanded logging and oil drilling in national parks and monuments.

 
 clinton
Worked with UN, NATO and/or allies to bring peace to Kosovo, Bosnia,
Northern Ireland, East Timor, promoted Middle East peace process,
nuclear threat through Framework Agreement and saved Mexico from
currency crisis.

 bush
 Foreign Policy
 Cowboy unilateralist diplomacy, unilateralist undermined war on
terrorism with Iraq venture, increased North Korea threat through Axis
of Evil Pigmy comments, antagonized our allies and ignored
Argentinean-Brazilian currency crisis.

 
 
"By any measure available, Clinton left office having given greater
priority to terrorism than any president before him."  Washington Post.


Paul Bremer (current Iraq administrator: "Clinton correctly focused on
Bin Laden."                                            

 
 Terrorism
 In the words of Bush's own counter-terrorism director: "They did know
better. We told them. The FBI told them. The CIA told them. They did
know better. And the tragedy here is that Americans went to their deaths
in Iraq thinking that they were avenging September 11 when Iraq had
nothing to do with September 11. I think for a Commander in Chief and a
Vice President to allow that to happen is unconscionable." 

 

The Bush administration focused instead on Star Wars and Iraq.

 
 

 RELATED LINKS: Economic Statistics Briefing Room  (Pres. GW Bush)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr/income.html; and Economic Statistics
Briefing Room  (Pres. Clinton)  http://clinton4.nara.gov/fsbr/esbr.html