Democratic Presumptive nominee 68-year-old former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signaled she plans to use her husband, former President Bill Clinton, to “rebuild” the national economy. Running to continue President Barack Obama’s domestic and foreign policy, Hillary allowed her husband to make the argument why she can’t be president. Telling the public she plans to use Bill to help rebuild the economy, Hillary admits the economy’s a mess, needing more than her husband’s magic wand. Hillary wants to run on her husband’s record of balancing the federal budget, creating surpluses before leaving office Jan. 20, 2001. When Bill balanced the federal budget in 1998, the U.S. stock market ran up unprecedented gains, giving the Treasury the largest tax windfall in U.S. history. While it’s true the stock market boomed, it’s also true that former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan called Wall Street ‘irrational exuberance.”
Clinton’s bull market prompted the biggest market crash since the Great Depression, when stock prices lost some 80% of its value, driving the tech-rich Nasdaq from 5,000 to about 1,100. Sixteen years later the Nasdaq closed May 18 at 4,726, about 300 point under its March 9, 2000 record high of 5,048. Hillary wants voters to trust her to put her husband Bill in charge of rebuilding the U.S. economy, a strange admission for Hillary, campaigning to take over the U.S. economy. Expected to run against 69-year-old GOP presumptive nominee billionaire real estate tycoon Donald Trump, Hillary’s trying to reassure voters that she’ll fix the economy. Putting her husband in charge signals that Hillary sees the economy as unhealthy. Trump’s been making the argument that you can’t continue the Obama economy policy, precisely because it’s left the economy flat. Despite the record 5% unemployment rate, many U.S. families struggle with underemployment.
Hillary can’t have it both ways: Praising Obama’s economy, while, at the same time, saying she’ll have her husband work at “rebuilding the economy.” As 69-yar-old Federal Reserve Board Chairman Janet Yellen considers another rate hike in June, she’s forced to face the nearly zero percent U.S. Gross Domestic Product. Underemployment, working part-time, doesn’t provide consumers enough cash-flow to spending into the consumer economy. Because over two-thirds of the U.S. economy depends on consumer spending, underemployment prevents the needed spending to grow U.S. GDP. Trump makes the argument that bad U.S. trade deals and porous borders make it difficult for companies to raise wages, something essential to improving GDP. Insisting that she’d put Bill in charge of fixing the economy suggest the Obama economy isn’t doing as advertised. Rebuilding the national economy admits Obama’s economy is in trouble.
Hillary hasn’t said she wants Bill as the “First Gent” to help with U.S. foreign policy, something that would no doubt usurp the next Secretary of State. Hillary’s strongest argument for president is her foreign policy experience. Yet, as her Democratic rival Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) points out, Hillary backed the Iraq War of toppling Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein April 10, 2003 and Libyan strongman Col. Muammar Gaddafi Aug. 24, 2011. Both actions flooded the Mideast with Islamic terrorism, eventually giving rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS], now controlling 30% of Iraq, Syria and Libya. Trump can argue that Hillary’s foreign policy decisions have damaged U.S. national security as she makes the argument she’d like to turn over the economy to her husband. Hillary’s narrative suggests she’d have to outsource her economy and foreign policy to someone capable of managing both, something that gives voters little reassurance.
If Hillary urges her husband to work on fixing the economy, she might also give Obama and role in U.S. foreign policy. When you look at the chaos in the Middle East and in Eastern Europe, it’s doubtful Obama would be the right person. Running to continue the Obama legacy, Hillary’s painted herself into a corner, unable to argue she’s better than Trump to fix the economy or U.S. foreign policy. Trump’s criticized Hillary for making bad foreign policy decisions. Suggesting that she’d turn the keys to the economy over to Bill admits that she’s not capable of doing the job. Painting Trump as a xenophobic racist or sexist suggests that she’s got no argument against his foreign and domestic policy. Granting Hillary four years in the White House indicates that things could get worse in foreign policy and the economy. Handing the economy to Bill admits that Hillary lacks the experience and expertise to manage the economy without her husband.
Hillary has a lot of explaining to do why she sees it necessary to turn Bill lose to fix the U.S. economy. If she’s really running on the Obama legacy, it’s not possible to argue that he husband should be responsible for fixing the economy. Spending eight years on the task, Obama’s economy appears stuck in neutral with second quarter GDP running under one percent. Suggesting that she’d commission her husband to “rebuild” the economy indicates that she’s no fit for the job. When you consider chaos in the Mideast and Eastern Europe, Hillary’s got to make a better sell than she’d outsource the economy and foreign policy to more qualified people. Hillary handed Trump the best early Christmas gift suggesting she’d give Bill the responsibility to fix the economy. If eight years of Obama hasn’t fixed the economy, it’s doubtful that four years of Hillary would do any better. Hillary’s got some damage control to explain why she’d lead so heavily on Bill.
