Tiny, Clinton was a competent POTUS. But he definitely looked better than he was because of the tech boom while he was in office IMO. That had nothing to do with him. It had everything to do with how the world was changing in technology. Again, that's just my opinion. Originally Posted by Lucas McCainI wasn't exactly clear. The combination of President Clinton and a House and Senate controlled by Republicans accomplished good things in his second term. You can give as much credit to Newt Gingrich, the Speaker of the House, and Robert Rubin, the Treasury Secretary, as Clinton for this. Some of their accomplishments -
They cut the capital gains tax. When the capital gains tax rate is too high, people don't sell things, they just hold onto them to avoid paying the tax. When you cut the tax they sell and move their capital hopefully into more productive assets. They sell the buggy whip manufacturer and buy Ford for example. Capital is allocated more efficiently.
They did welfare reform. This moved some Americans off the welfare rolls and made them productive citizens, with positive effects on the unemployment rate and the economy in general.
They balanced the budget and showed a surplus, three years in a row. Other than piddly surpluses of 0.3% of GDP in 1969 and 0.1% in 1960, that's the only time that's happened since 1957. If other politicians could have done as well in good times we'd be in great shape with the national debt.