What are some of the good things you remember from the Clinton years?

[kentuck]

As we survive day to day in these Bush years, we may tend to forget a lot of good things from the previous Administration. As we debate whether or not jobs are being created or whether the economy is doing good or bad, there was no doubt or ambiguity when Bill Clinton was the President. Many employers could not find employees to fill their needs. The unemployment rate had gone down to 3.9% in 2000. People were not fearful and they were not insecure, as they are today.

[DebJ]

1. Jobs. Pay raises. Opportunity. Help with college expenses

Hope for Health Care Reform. Our country had world wide respect!

[Alpharetta]

2. respect of foreign leaders

[dbt]

3. ELECTED Presidents

:evilgrin:
dbt

[Yogi]

I had a job!

n/t

[Beaverhausen]

4. a president who could speak complete sentences

I mean, anytime I hear the big dog now I just want to cry. He is so smart and could cite facts and figures off the cuff at any time he needed.

[MallRat]

5. No pre-emptive wars. No White House-sanctioned torture.

Shall I go on?

[MaryH]

6. CLINTON YEARS

I used to wake up every morning and not have to think about the War in Iraq and Afghanistan and terrorists, ad nauseum.

[NewHampshireDem]

7. A blue dress represented the worst that could be said of our President...

rather than ... jeez, I don't think I could type the whole freakin' list.

And oh yeah ... * was still in Texas.

[DBoon]

8. Finally being able to afford a house in LA

Seeing the So Cal economy get off a war footing (entertainment finally surpassed DoD as biggest employer)

Having a labor market where employees finally had some clout.

[Beware the Beast Man]

9. College. Grunge. Heavy drinking.

And mostly, not giving a damn about world affairs, something I now regret deeply. The RW really siezed on the apathy of the so-called Gen-X, if you ask me.

[Leilani]

10. Confidence & Optimism

Bill Clinton was an eternal optimist...

Today we live under doom & gloom.

[Burma Jones]

11. It Started with his first Inauguration

Clinton's first Inauguration was a hell of a lot of fun. There were parties and bands like Little Feat and just a real feeling that we were going to have a real good time.

When I went to the July 4 fireworks at the Washington Monument that year, they actually played US Blues by the Grateful Dead over the loudspeakers, so I felt that I was actully being recognized as being as much of an American as a Lee Greenwood Fan.

In short, he made people feel that EVERYONE belonged in the USA, not just those that agreed with him.

[HootieMcBoob]

12. having a job n/t

n/t

[H2O Man]

13. The night Clinton was elected!

About a dozen of my co-workers from the mental health clinic I worked at had done voter registration and campaigning through the summer months into the fall. Although they were all interested in politics, and well-versed in current events, none of my co-workers had ever been active in grass roots work before. On election night, we gathered in a large farm house, owned by one of our psychiatrists. Good food, a wide selection of great beer and wine, and stepping outside for an occassional cigar, etc. Music and dancing in one part of the house; laughter and a celebration of renewed life in another; and people pacing and staring at the tv in another room. It was so much fun.

[stopbush]

14. On a personal level.

1. I had a job that paid in the six-figures from 1992-May, 2001. I've now been unemployed for 3 years. My 401k was cashed out to get us through the jobless times.

2. We started a family - 2 kids, now aged 11 and 7. The world looked like it was improving in the Clinton years. Now, I fear them being offered as chattel in one of bush's oil wars.

3. We bought a home in 1998. First-time home buyers. We we forced to sell the home last year and relocate because there are no jobs.

4. We owned 2 cars, one of which was paid off. We're now down to a single car which we're close to paying off.

5. We had the resources for a modest yearly vacation and occasional travels abroad with the kids. Not now.

6. My father-in-law was alive. He died last year from leukemia, one of those diseases on the short list for stem cell research.

7. I could have a civil discussion with repuke neighbors. No longer.

8. My friends and neighbors were mostly in a better place, financially and mentally. Now, they're all under the same stresses as I, though to differing degrees.

9. I could watch the news without a spin detector at the ready.

10. I lived on the liberal east coast. Now, I'm stuck in Vegas - renting someone else's home, still looking for work...and hoping the other shoe doesn't drop...

11. I donated a good percentage of my income to charities and liberal causes. Now, I have nothing to "give back"...except the litany of "sorrys" whenever these charities and causes call me on the phone.

12. Regular sex with the missus. She's the bread winner now, and our sex life has taken a hit as she's usually exhausted by day's end.

There's more, but I'm already plenty depressed writing the above.

[proud patriot]

15. HOPE...Optimism...Jobs ....Balanced Budget ...Surplus

It seems like a world away now ...