steeling elections

[Bradford DeLong]

>Bradford DeLong wrote:
>
>>Now this alternative world was the world that Bob Reich wanted the 
>>Clinton Administration to make--and that had very good prospects of 
>>being realized before the Gingrich Revolution. Money for active 
>>labor market policies once the budgetary picture improved was 
>>supposed to be Clinton social democracy job 3--after health care 
>>and real welfare recipient training.
>>
>><sarcasm>Yet another example of not a dime's worth of difference 
>>between Democrats and Republicans... </sarcasm>
>
>Reich may have wanted that, but Clinton didn't. And Clinton's 
>supporting an opponent of Reich's in the Mass governor's primary. So 
>while there may be some decent people in the Dem party - and Reich 
>is a good guy in lots of ways - they're not allowed to make policy. 
>The fucking bond traders do.
>
>Doug

I remember the fall of 1994--after the collapse of health care 
reform. Bob Rubin and Laura Tyson would talk about how the budgetary 
picture was likely to improve significantly over the next six months, 
how come the spring of 1995 there would be a lot of money for real 
welfare reform and active labor market policies, and how it would 
then be time to spend some of that money--that there had been no 
choice but to focus on NAFTA, GATT, and deficit reduction, that those 
policies were good for the country, but that Democrats existed to 
reslice the pie in a more equal manner as well as to grow the pie.

Of course, come the spring of 1995 Clinton, Stephanopoulous, 
Emmanuel, and company are terrified--it took Gene Sperling a solid 
month of arguing before he could get permission from on high for us 
to even do staffwork for Moynihan to oppose the balanced-budget 
amendment, and then IIRC Gingrich asked and the White House directed 
that Treasury assistance to Moynihan's staff cease as the price for 
Gingrich's cooperation on Mexico...

Brad DeLong