Former US president Bill Clinton has explained to an audience at the New York Historical Society that he is recanting a passage in his new book that has been widely interpreted as criticism of President Barack Obama.
In Back to Work, Clinton said he was mystified that Democrats last year would have agreed to Republican demands to extend the Bush era tax cuts without insisting on a simultaneous increase in the federal debt limit.
Better bargaining by Obama, Clinton suggested, would have deprived Republicans of a chance to score points with debt-limit brinksmanship—a drama that played out all last summer—after they took control of the House in 2011.
But Clinton—being interviewed by his daughter Chelsea Clinton—said he recently received a clarifying email from Obama economic adviser Gene Sperling, who also worked in the Clinton White House.
Sperling, Clinton recounted, assured him that, “Oh, we tried.” The Democrats’ efforts, according to Clinton’s account of what Sperling told him, were thwarted by Senate Minority Leader and Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, who threatened to filibuster the entire package if an increase in the debt limit was included.
Clinton said he incorrectly believed that Senate rules would not have allowed a filibuster of this type of fiscal measure.
“I was wrong—see that didn’t hurt too bad,” Clinton told the audience.
The evening was hosted by Sonny Mehta, the head of Alfred A Knopf, which published Clinton’s memoir and his latest book.
Back to Work is a mostly positive argument in favour of activist government, and defending Obama’s general approach to the economy, even as Clinton also pushes other proposals he believes would help long-term economic prosperity and fiscal health.
