Joe Klein's mea culpa on the media's coverage of Clinton's, Obama's economic plans

[wyldwolf]

You may not agree with his opinion of Obama's bill, but I think he nails it in regards to the media coverage:

In 1993, I did a pretty shabby job of covering Bill Clinton's economic plan. It was, in sum, a very good plan--it worked wonders for the economy--but I focused on the mishaps.... Clinton couldn't get any Republican votes for the package. A disaster! He had trouble getting Democratic votes for it; he had to beg Bob Kerrey for his vote to get it through the Senate. His presidency was in ruins! He had lost all credibility! (Actually, those of us who had focused on some big ugly trees rather than the blooming forest were the ones who had lost credibility.) It pains me to watch normally reasonable colleagues overreacting to Obama's situation now--which is far less dire than Clinton's was.

http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/02/05/stuffing-the-sausage/

[Unsane]

1. Obama's situation is "less dire" than Clinton's was?

:crazy:

[wyldwolf]

2. yes, do you dispute that?

[Unsane]

5. Yes. This is a more dire economic situation.

The US is in far worse financial trouble than it was in 1993. Eight years of Bush put us here.

[wyldwolf]

6. the article isn't talking about dire economic conditions

It's talking about difficulty in getting the plans passed in the House and The Senate.

[Unsane]

7. I guess.

It's sort of confusing.

[wyldwolf]

8. It's pretty obvious.

Clinton couldn't get any Republican votes for the package... he had trouble getting Democratic votes for it; he had to beg Bob Kerrey for his vote to get it through the Senate... It pains me to watch normally reasonable colleagues overreacting to Obama's situation now...

[Unsane]

10. OK

it's like 6am my time

Obama's economic situation is more severe than Clinton's though, for what it's worth--which may explain some of the hyperbolic reaction from the press

[ErinBerin84]

9. yeah, it was clear to me that he meant in terms of the politics of it

[TTUBatfan2008]

12. The way I look at this situation...

is that in such a dire economic circumstance as right now, everyone is looking for a reason to hang the catastrophe around Obama's neck even though he had nothing to do with it. He might be in a better position politically than Clinton at the moment, but if the economy continues getting worse, he will end up in a worse position politically than Clinton.

[bluestateguy]

3. Clinton's plan in 1993 was not a stimulus. It was a budget and tax package.

And actually a tougher sell than the current Obama plan because it contained tax increases on gas and tax increases on people making $140,000. There were no tax cuts.

Clinton proposed a small stimulus of 19 billion in a separate bill that was never enacted after it was killed in a Republican Senate filibuster.

[wyldwolf]

4. thanks for the history lesson. I'll change the OP title to reflect it

[Thrill]

11. Same situation with Obama. Its not the Republicans thats the pain in the ass

Its the Blue Dog Democrats.

He would force a filibuster, but he can't count on the conservative Democrats.

[Captain Hilts]

13. 15 years too late. What a tool Klein is. nt