Ill advised timing by Clinton. He could have waited until after the election next year to write this. But then again, Bubba
hates being out of the spotlight
.
A party divided? Former President Clinton rips Obama on debt ceiling, taxes Bubba says Barack should have handled debt-ceiling debate differentlyBY Jonathan Lemire
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Bill Clinton believes Barack Obama can get the country out of its current “mess” - but he also isn't shy about dishing out some tough love for the current occupant of the White House.
Clinton writes in a new book that the country was left “weak and confused” after the summer’s debt-ceiling debate debacle and puts some of the blame on Obama.
Clinton believes that Obama should have passed the debt increase before the Democrats lost control of Congress in 2010.
That embarrassing mid-term defeat could have been avoided, Clinton argues in the book entitled “Back to Work.”
“The Democrats did not counter the national Republican message with one of their own,” Clinton writes in the book, which is released Tuesday. The Associated Press obtained an advance copy.
“There was no national advertising campaign to explain and defend what they had done and to compare their agenda for the next two years with the GOP proposals,” writes Clinton, who claims he advocated for a clear message.
“We couldn’t persuade the decision makers to do so,” he writes.
The former president praises Obama’s for his work to pull the nation out of the deep recession - an economic crisis that Clinton blames firmly on the administration of George W. Bush.
Clinton, who frequently sparred with Obama when the then-Illinois Senator challenged Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential primaries, long ago softened his tone toward the Commander-in-Chief.
Clinton and Obama’s relationship has warmed in recent years, and the two men recently golfed together - a match that Obama won, officials said.
But Clinton has never been one to miss a chance to extol the accomplishments of his own administration and does so again in the new book.
He notes the economic growth and low unemployment rate during his eight years in office and claims that Wall Street bankers - many of whom have cooled on Obama - even allowed Clinton to raise their taxes.
“Many of them supported me...because I didn’t attack them for their success,” Clinton writes.
In the book, the former president makes several recommendations to turn the American economy around, including major investments in green energy and infrastructure improvements.
But he notes that it won’t be easy for Obama to persuade the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
“He has a tough hand to play,” Clinton writes.
He also suggests the country’s recovery has been slowed by the anti-government sentiment espoused by the Tea Party.
