HUH? Susan Lenfestey has a case of selective memory.

Bill Clinton's personal immorality distracted a nation and hurt him and his family terribly, but he presided over a bountiful eight years, eliminated the national debt and honed America's image abroad to a sparkling finish, at least in the eyes of all but the most rabid fundamentalists like the Taliban and Osama bin Laden. Back then, most people wanted to be like us.

I don't recall the national debt being eliminated, although some of the existing debt was retired. Perhaps graduates of econ camp can distinguish deficits from debts. Some of the money coming in to help pay down the debt (or did it -- how much of that was supposedly "contributed" to the social security trust fund?) was capital gains taxes on stocks bought at 100 times earnings and sold at 200 times earnings to buyers who hoped to sell them for 300 times earnings? Bountiful bubbles if you ask me. And that American image? Not if you rode Amtrak.