Former President Bill Clinton has shown true statesmanship and principle in coming to the support of President Barack Obama on the controversial tax bill negotiated between the President and the Republican opposition.
At a White House meeting and appearance before the news media, the two men united in support of the deal struck early in the week, pointing out that in many ways it is a second economic stimulus which has many advantages, although any compromise deal means both sides gain something and lose something.
Clinton became famous as a centrist President who “triangulated” with the House of Representatives and Senate, both bodies which were in the hands of the opposition from 1995-2001. Some good legislation came out of this “triangulation”.
This time, President Obama has the advantage of a Democratic Senate, so the dynamics of working together over the next two years will be different than it was in 1995, but the point is that it is better to have the benefits of the tax deal over leaving the issue to the new split Congress, and meanwhile denying unemployment compensation extension and action on some of the other important priorities that are being stalled by the Senate Republicans until the tax legislation passes.
Again, the deal that is on the table is not perfect, but it is better than sitting on one’s hands and doing nothing, and that is the message Bill Clinton joined the President in communicating.
Hopefully, over this weekend, the Democrats in both houses of Congress who are in revolt will come around to seeing things the way Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are portraying it.
And remember, Barack Obama has made it clear that he intends to fight over the next two years, and has stated that the Republican Party is holding the people of this nation as “hostages”, so no one should see the President as giving up the fight for progressive change.
Rather, he is recognizing the results of the midterm elections, and doing his best to make the most of it for his cause, within the limits of reality as it is.