Thanks. I remember my vote for Clinton in '96 coming down to that simple

PACIFIC BEACH TIGER® · 2025-04-10T10:59:13.231Z

Each inherited an economy in crisis from a Republican predecessor—and left it stronger than they found it. Then, like clockwork, another Republican returned and ran it off the rails. Just facts.

Say what you want about Clinton, Obama, and Biden...

The economy is historically stronger under Democrat administrations. Doesnt

Bill Clinton (1993–2001)
Inherited recession + deficits from Bush Sr.

1993 Budget Act: Raised taxes on the rich, cut spending (ZERO GOP votes) → turned deficits into surpluses

22 million jobs created

Unemployment fell to 4%

Middle-class incomes rose

Left office with a surplus — the last president to do so

Barack Obama (2009–2017)
Inherited Great Recession from George W. Bush

American Recovery Act: Stimulus to rebuild economy (GOP mostly opposed)

Dodd-Frank: Reined in Wall Street, created CFPB

Auto bailout: Saved over 1 million jobs

Affordable Care Act: Lowered deficits, slowed health cost growth

Unemployment fell from 10% to under 5%

75 straight months of private job growth

Cut deficit by more than half

Stock market tripled

Joe Biden (2021–present)
Inherited COVID recession, high inflation, and chaos from Trump

American Rescue Plan: Ended pandemic recession, cut child poverty

Infrastructure Law: Biggest investment in bridges, roads, broadband in decades

Inflation Reduction Act: Cut deficit, lowered drug costs, taxed billion-dollar corps

CHIPS Act: Brought manufacturing back

15+ million jobs created

Lowest unemployment in 50+ years

Inflation dropping, wages up

Deficit fell by $1.7 trillion in one year

Bottom line:
Every one of these Democratic presidents inherited a mess from a Republican, and used Democratic policies to clean it up.
Republicans fought the recovery, then tried to take credit once it worked.

Now what are the Republicans doing?

PACIFIC BEACH TIGER®

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Re: Cherry picking data...

Apr 10, 2025, 1:13 PM

Respectfully, you're missing key context here and a few facts:

1.Clinton and the GOP Congress:
Yes, Republicans took Congress in 1994. But the key deficit-reduction bill that led to the surplus is the 1993 Budget Act passed before that, with ZERO Republican votes.
That bill raised taxes on the wealthiest Americans and cut spending. It’s widely credited for kickstarting the deficit reduction that led to surpluses. The GOP opposed it at the time and predicted economic doom. They were wrong.

2. Obama and the Great Recession:
The Great Recession was driven by Wall Street deregulation, reckless lending, and housing speculation not legislation passed by Obama (who wasn’t even president yet).
The collapse began in 2007–2008 under Bush’s watch. You’re asking “who passed the legislation,” but in reality,it was the lack of regulation, especially from the Bush-era SEC that let banks run wild. There is a great movie called The Big Short. You should watch it.

Obama’s stimulus and auto bailout stopped the bleeding and turned the economy around.

3. Biden and Inflation:
Inflation was low at the moment Biden took office, yes, but he inherited a broken global supply chain, pent-up demand from COVID, and a fragile labor market.
Did the American Rescue Plan play a role in inflation? Sure, but so did Trump’s $3.1 trillion in COVID relief packages (CARES Act, etc.). Let’s not pretend this was a one-party issue.

And guess what? Biden’s plan also cut child poverty in half, led to the strongest job growth in history, and helped the U.S. recover faster than any other advanced economy.
Now, inflation has dropped, unemployment is at 50-year lows, and wages are rising.

You’re right that you can’t always assign credit or blame only based on the White House. But it’s also dishonest to ignore that Democrats consistently propose and pass the economic policies that clean up after Republican messes even when the GOP fights them every step of the way, then later tries to take credit for the results.

Message was edited by: PACIFIC BEACH TIGER®