Former President Bill Clinton joined CBS, Face the Nation, Sunday, September 18 to urge Capitol Hill lawmakers to focus on "Putting the country back to work", a phrase that eerily echoes the campaign slogan of Texas Governor Rick Perry's, "Time to Get Americans Working Again," slogan and even Clinton's own former campaign message, "It's the Economy, Stupid" - before raising taxes.
This interview is not the first time that Clinton has rubbed salt in Obama's job wounds. In early June, Clinton did an interview with Newsweek that touted on the cover, Bill Clinton's "14 ways to save American Jobs". Pundits noted then that it must be painful for President Obama to have Bill Clinton out telling the world how he would produce what Obama is failing to produce - jobs.
Now on the eve of an announcement by President Obama, on Monday, that Mr. Obama will be raising taxes on millionaires, Clinton is out first saying, "Getting Americans back to work" should be the priority, before raising taxes. Promising Clinton that, "I can guarantee you that the Obama White House is going to be listening," to Clinton's Global Initiative as it kicks off for its seventh year with "business men, CEOs and smart people around the world" focused on creating jobs, host Bob Schieffer asked Clinton,"What do you think is the secret? What do they need to do to start getting people back to work here."
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Clinton responded," I think this idea of on-shoring jobs, that is the idea of creating jobs in rural America, high unemployment areas that used to be sent somewhere overseas is going to get a lot of attention here. There are lots of very specific things that when you add them all up can really make a difference."
However, Mr. Clinton had grim hopes for a return to strong employment, adding his opinion, that it wouldn't happen, "until we clear this mortgage crisis," saying, "I hope that will be done."
"But in the meanwhile," encouraged Clinton as he smoothly pivoted right back to his push for Congress to pass Obama jobs plans vs raising taxes right now, "I don't have any objection in talking about it (raising taxes) right now - but right now, we've got an economic problem." Clinton stressed that, "This is about people's real lives," and his opinion that getting Americans back to work had to come first.
Flushed with pride, Clinton diminished Dick Cheney's complimentary observation that Hillary would have been a better president than Obama, implying that Cheney had the political skill, and may have been using it, "to sow discord" among Democrats. However, this latest hit on Obama raises the question: Is Bill Clinton sowing some seeds of his own?
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