False Hope: The Politics of Clinton

After twelve years of Reagan and Bush, some people were hoping the election of Bill Clinton would represent positive change. He was, after all, a new Democrat. He wouldn’t kowtow to corporate lobbyists. He would break the bureaucratic gridlock in Washington. So far, President Clinton, with a few exceptions, has not significantly departed from his predecessors. He has fervently promoted NAFTA and GATT, the regional and global trade pacts. To win NAFTA, for example, he forked over much pork to secure wavering congressional votes. His crime bill is long on enforcement and punishment and short on addressing the roots of the problem. On other issues—gays in the military, the environment, the economic stimulus package, Haiti and Bosnia—Clinton has vacillated and backtracked. Health care reform has been compromised and diluted.