Well, he did something that no politician should ever do, yet most do, and that is renege on a promise. Following 12 years of unfettered conservatism and republicanism, there was bound to be a slip of the pen caused by either bad advice or poor decision making. Of course the progressive democrats were in control of Congress and they were insisting that tax hikes were needed to pay for government services and to balance the budget. And, so he could gain favor with the opposition party in Congress to perhaps pass some of his bills later, Bush agreed to renege on his earlier promise to not raise taxes. This, coupled with the fact Americans don't like to have one party in the White House for too long, meant the end of republicans in the White House. But not the end of the Reagan tide.
By the end of Bush's four years the economy was in what turned out to be one of the mildest recessions ever. Although it was enough to sway the public into voting for the Governor from Arkansas, Bill Clinton. Yep, that slight slip of the pen by Bush due to bad advice took more dollars out of the pockets of people who already had less, causing them to spend less, resulting in a loss of profits by businesses, causing them to lay off workers, hire less, and thus the economy slipped ever so slightly but enough to land Clinton in the White House.
Now we have to note here that Clinton was not elected by a majority and he was helped along by Ross Perot who took away the votes needed Bush needed to win. Although there were many Conservatives -- Reagan Conservatives -- who were unhappy with the not so conservative decision by Bush, that they did not back him and put their efforts behind the more conservative Perot (who actually taught us that independent parties can generate support, but cannot win).
The result was Bill Clinton became President in 1992. The economy quickly recovered and continued to soar. Bill Clinton's popularity soared as he rode the economic tide created by Reagan. The economy created by Reaganomics was so strong the Bush recession turned out to be but a minor blip in the road.
In 1993 Bill Clinton did something that every liberal (progressive) and Keynesian lover loves to do, and that is to continue dropping the seeds of progressivism, and signed into law one of the largest tax increases in American history. As you and I know, liberals, and progressives, falsely believe that raising taxes will make more money for the federal government. Yet, we also know this has never happened. Well, it may short term, but in the long run it causes government profits to decrease as those who are taxed find ways to get out of paying those taxes. Plus, the progressives believe that a slight dip in the economy is fine so long as we have the long-term goal of creating a socialist America, an ideal America, at the forefront of our vision.
The dip in the economy created by the tax increase created an uneasiness among the voters, and they ultimately voted the democrats out of power in the House, and for the first time in over 40 years Republicans controlled Congress. And, thus, this started the Newt Gingrich revolution.
Gingrich's House, capped by the Contract with America, powered Conservatives, and united republicans. The most important thing on that Contract with America called for tax cuts -- particularly capital gains tax cuts. Due to his desire to get along with Congress to pass his agenda later, Clinton (perhaps due to bad advice from his staffers), signed the Gingrich tax cuts into law. The result was the economy began to soar again. It was so strong it overlapped whatever economic woes were created by the Bush and Clinton tax increases.
Of course Clinton was also helped out by something else that needs mention, and that is the Internet Bubble. The economy was soaring so well by 1994 that Clinton was re-elected. Of course the liberal media and historians credit Clinton's economic policies for the boom, however, we here in the real history know Gingrich's tax cuts and the Internet Bubble are the real reasons Clinton was re-elected. Plus the fact that Bob Dole was a moderate republican who didn't really have much unique from Clinton to offer, so voters opted to go with Clinton again. Although he still did not receive a majority of votes.
So, there are four reasons why Clinton was re-elected:
- Gingrich tax cuts
- Reagan tide
- Poor opponent
- Internet bubble
However, his economic policies, his BIG tax hike of 1993, came back to bit him. By 2000 the Internet Bubble burst and the economy tanked. That, coupled with taxes that were too high, caused people to stop spending, businesses to stop expanding and creating new jobs, and cutting jobs, and thus the Clinton recession of 2000 was the result.
This, my friends, resulted in George W. Bush taking over a big lead in the polls until a few days before the election when the liberal-progressive media conveniently published a story that was not news at all, but old news, that GWB was pulled over for drunk driving many years ago. Some voters were irked by this, and switched their votes. This is what resulted in the Closely contested election of 2000.
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