Bowles-Simpson To Be In Clinton Speech?

Former President Bill Clinton gave a speech to the Arksansas Democratic delegation on Tuesday night, and previewed some of the details that may be in his national convention speech. Here are a few excerpts from his speech below, and one interesting detail is that he said that the solution for dealing with the debt was to pass the recommendations of the Bowles-Simpson debt commission.

The solution, said Clinton, was to pass the recommendations by the Simpson-Bowles debt commission and "pass a 10-year plan to reduce the debt, starting the year after growth has clearly returned."

"This economy that [President Obama] inherited was profoundly ruined. Nobody who's ever served -- no one, including me -- has ever been expected to turn it around overnight," Clinton said. "The economy failed and hit bottom six months after Republicans took office. Nine percent. That's almost Depression-level shrinkage. And I'll give you the details tomorrow night, but that's quite a blow."

"And it was really interesting to me that when [Obama] was trying so hard to put Americans back to work -- two full years before the election -- the Senate Republican leader said that their number one goal was not to put America back to work, it was to put the president out of work," he added.

The detail about passing the recommendations from Bowles-Simpson is interesting because of the numerous problems that Bowles-Simpsons presents to people on Social Security and Medicare. The Bowles-Simpson debt commission failed with the recommendations not receiving a vote, and the debt commission is still being given legitimacy by our political leaders like President Bill Clinton.

Here's Joan McCarter on the failure of the Bowles-Simpson debt commission:

Remember that BS lumped Social Security into their deficit cutting plan, never mind that Social Security (for the gazillionth time) does not contribute to the deficit. They recommend raising the retirement age and cutting back on cost of living payments, for no better reason apparently than Simpson hates old people.

The recommendations from Bowles-Simpson debt commission should not be given legitimacy for they balance the budget on the backs of the poor, the elderly, and the disabled. I was opposed to the Cat Food Commission, and I remain opposed to it now, and will fight to push back against the proposed cuts to Social Security and Medicare should they emerge in a lame duck session or in the second term.

The austerity agenda has not worked in Europe, and further austerity measures here in the United States will not work for the benefit of the American people. And it's time our political leaders know that. I will re-elect President Obama, and then work to protect Social Security and Medicare regardless of who is in office come November 5th.