Bill Clinton's third term

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Clinton makes picks for Agriculture , Education and the VA.

Secretary of Agriculture : Former House Chairman of Agriculture Krika de la Garza



Secretary of Veterans Affiars: Current Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs Hershel Gorbar

 

Secretary of Education : Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont

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President Clinton releases 3 finalists for Sec of State:

Senator Joe Lieberman from Connecticut :



Former House Chairman Of Foreign Relations Lee Hamilton :




UN ambassador Richard Holbrooke:

 

[NHI]

Great update!

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Bill Clinton picks his Secretary of State:


Secretary of State: Joe Lieberman

 

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NBC Breaking News:





Brokaw: We have word that Hastart has stepped down as the top leader for the Republicans in the house. Who the new Republican leader is will be is yet to be decided but we do know that the two main contenders for that position is Representatives Dick Armey and Tom Delay .  Tim do you know who will be the favorite


Russert: Well it likely will be a close race as former speaker Newt Gingrich as endorsed Dick Armey to be the next speaker while the current speaker Dennis Hastart has endorsed Delay. So I would say the race currently is likely going to be too close to call.

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Republicans choose their house leader:



Brokaw: Today the Republicans in a close vote chose Representative Dick Armey to be their next leader in the house. We also have found that he will not be delivering the gaval to Speaker Elect Dick Gephardt and instead current Speaker Hastart will pass the gaval over to Gephardt.

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Dick Gephardt takes over as New Speaker:

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Excerpts from Bill Clinton Inaugural Address:





Clinton: My fellow citizens, there is someone here who deserves all our thanks , and that is Vice President Gore for serving our country with great honor. Without Vice President Gore, many of the accomplishments we have made over the past decade would never have come about and like all of us is optimistic for our future(Applause).

Today is our first presidential inauguration of the 21st century , and just like the inaugurations in the beginning of the 19th and 20th century we begin with the hopes that we can further make our country better. Due to that hope we were able to end slavery, extend voting rights to all our citizens, make our economy and our military more stronger then any economy and military in human history, and we were able to help spread democracy throughout the world(Applause). We ended our last century with huge leaps in technology, mainly people being able to access information easier then in no point in history with the access of the world wide web(Applause).

In this new century we need to make sure we use this new technology to expand job opportunities throughout the USA, better our education system , and hopefully use it to spread freedom across the world. To do this we not only will need the cooperation of both parties in Washington , we will all together a country need to come together so we can achieve success beyond our dreams(Applause).


Due to advances in technology it also as given us access to trade with different countries all around the world like never before. This ability to conduct trade all across the globe will allow all our citizens to be more prosperous then ever before as that will allow us to have access to luxuries we dont know of yet.

May God Bless you and may god bless the United States of America.


 

[NHI]

Keep it up! Keep it up!

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President Clinton signs first executive orders of new term:




Order 13198: Creating a Education reform commission , who's will  tour the country's schools. From the tour they will try to find out the struggles in our education system as well as the positive reforms successful school districts , and use that to reform the entire nation's education system.

Order 13199: Creating a Medicare reform commission , who will tour the country to drum up support in making sure Prescription Drugs are covered by medicare.

Order 13200: Ordering the department state, to begin trade negotiations with India .

Order 13201: Beefing up border security by adding more surveillance at the southern border.

[NHI]

Love this timeline!

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All Of Clinton Cabinet nominees Approved


Senate and Governor Replacements for appointees approved by senate.


New Attorney General Joe Biden(D-DE) will be replaced by Delaware Lieutenant Governor John Carney(D-DE) for biden's senate seat

New HHS Secretary Howard Dean(D-VT) will be replaced by Vermont Lieutenant Governor (D-VT)for dean governorship

New Sec of Education Jim Jeffords(R-VT) will be replaced  by Congressman Bernie Sanders(I-VT) for Jeffords Senate Seat

New Sec of State Joe Lieberman (D-CT) will be replaced by Conneticut Lieutenant Governor Jodi Rell(R- CT) for Liberman's Senate Seat


New Seante:

50-50

New House:

217-217



Special election: To take place March 6th. Gephardt to remain speaker til then

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Bill Clinton 2001 State of the Union Address:




Clinton: Mr Speaker, Mr . Vice President ,  Members of Congress , honorary guests, and the American people I can come to report to you the State of our nation is strong.(Applause) Our nation's economy has never been stronger ,and we have never in our history have experienced such a long period of peace and prosperity in our history(Applause). This though does not mean our nation cannot get stronger, as we certainly can. Just like Micheal Jordan was proving how he was the greatest player of all time during his first 7 years which eventually led to a title, he became even greater and led the Chicago Bulls to 5 more titles. It is similar to that in our country today, that just cause we are greater then any nation as ever been in history does not mean we cant get better(Applause).

To accomplish that it starts with making sure, our next generation has the education they need to be successful when they became adults(Applause). Currently despite our success when it comes to the economy our education system has been lagging behind and we must began to reverse that trend today(Applause).That is why I have asked Secretary Jeffords to lead up a task force to tour our countries schools whether they are in good or bad districts. This will let us find out precisely the things that cause our education system to be left behind , and what things successful districts so they arent similarly lagging behind(Applause).

What we have learned so far is troubling, that many children from inner cities, or poor families are subjected to failing schools. One of the reasons for that is many great teachers just dont want to teach in those areas , as to teach successfully in those areas requires more work, more discipline , and for that they get paid less. Now I want to ask you , if you were given a job offer between two different companies, would you take the job in the company that required you to work harder for less pay. Of course that answer is no, and I understand that too, so I will propose that if a teacher decides to in that type of school , that you will be paid more then the average teacher in the country(Applause). What this will do is get the best teachers in that state to apply for those positions and then with a higher demand for that job we will get better teachers for that job. Better  Teachers equals more success (Applause). Another thing I propose is that we increase funding in our math, English, science , and technology departments in our school as those skills will be essential in our new world(Some Applause).Lastly I propose that we increase standards , as higher expectations will mean our kids will work harder to achieve them(Applause).

Now as important as our kids our, our senior citizens are equally important(Applause) . Over 35 years ago when President Johnson signed medicare into law , it fixed many of the healthcare problems of the day(Applause). Today are problem is that prescription drug costs in our country have gone out of control and it has hit our senior citizens harder then anyone else. It is very unfair that people who worked hard so long their whole lives, so they can have a comfortable retirement(Applause). It is unfair to them that due to drug prices being so high they have to put up sometimes meeting their grand kids across the country , and doing things they love because they have to spend all their money to get the medicine they need(Applause). So to deal with that problem I am proposing that we add prescription drugs coverage to medicare so this problem can be solved(Applause). Another thing is social security which every year is getting in trouble so I will propose using our surplus money to make social security solvent for the next 4 or 5 generations.(Some Applause).

Another thing we must do with our surplus money is to give back some of the money to the middle class(Applause). The way I propose to that is to cut taxes for anyone making under 125,000 dollars a year(Applause). The total tax cut will add up to 100 billion dollars, but it will go to the hands of middle class and working class families who now will have more money to spend in ways they want to (Applause). Our middle class is what makes this country great and I believe that this is to further improve it(Applause).


Lastly I want to talk about foreign relations . While we were able to deal with a tyrant in Kosovo it was a tragedy what happened their and we must make sure it never happens again(Applause). That is why we must deal with Iraq and make sure that Suddam keeps his word in never having WMD ever again(Applause). He had proven time and time again that he was willing to use them on innocent civilians when he had them , and since we stopped him from requiring them those attacks have stopped). The reason we were able to do that is we as a country stayed as a world leader and stopped tyrants like him from killing civilians.  This is our challenge of this new century, that we are able to disarms tyrants like Suddam Hussain and eventually force their governments to either transition to democracy or be overthrown by their people(Applause). God Bless you and may God Bless America .

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Texas Governor George W Bush gives Republican Response:



Bush: Good evening, tonight I want to talk to you about the issues that President Clinton brought up in his speech , and give you my perspective on those issues. One thing we all acknowledge that he is right upon is that despite the great success our country is having currently we can always get better.

One issue the President brought up is education, and I totally agree with him that we are failing kids who live in bad areas thus go to bad schools.While he is right that we need to have better teachers in those schools, that is just not enough, what we need is high standards for our kids. These standards will make sure that despite a kid going to a bad school he will have learned how to read, write, and do math suitable at that kid's age level no matter where he goes to school .  Then I believe we need to test our students , on those skills and if a high percentage of the students in a particular school cant succeed we should provide vouchers to the families of those kids so they can attend better schools . Now President Clinton has said that doing that will cause teachers to teach to the test , but now lets put that logic to the test ; if you are teaching to a test which covers math and reading then you are teaching math and reading and that is exactly the point.


President Clinton also talked about healthcare and how we are failing to provide prescription drug coverage to seniors and I also agree with him in that. The problem is President Clinton's solution is too expensive that we will have to raise taxes to pay for it. What I believe President Clinton should do instead is come up with a plan to reduce drug prices at a reasonable level so we can cover them without raising taxes. My view is that the government should first spend money on researching alternate and cheaper medicine, and 2nd  that we consult private insurance companies and find out how they keep drug prices low and do the same thing.


The last thing President Clinton talked about was American strength and I believe he has failed at that. Time and Time again he has let Suddam Hussain violate the terms of his cease fire at the end of the gulf war, and it is time for President Clinton to let Suddam know in serious terms that unless he starts complying with UN resolutions , you wont be in power for much longer. If he does that that will cause our enemies to know that when the United States says something that we mean it, and they better comply.


Thank You and May God Bless the United States of America

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Clinton Approval rating After Speech:


Before:

Approve 64%
Disapprove 33%


Now:

Approve 67%
Disapprove 32 %

[NHI]

Love this timeline! Please keep it up. Well done.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Love this timeline! Please keep it up. Well done.

It will resume soon , probably tomorrow or Monday though.

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Tax Reform Passes House of Representatives Overwhelmingly:

Summary:

1. Creates new tax brackets for singles of 12% on your first $30,000 ,18% on incomes between $30,000-$60,000 ,25% on incomes between $ 60,000-$ 120,000 ,30% on incomes between $120,000-$200,000 ,35% on incomes between incomes between $200,000-$288,350, and 39.6% on incomes above $288,350

2. For people who file jointly  the new tax brackets are 12% on your first $50,000 ,18% on incomes between $50,000-$100,000 ,25% on incomes between $ 100,000-$ 140,000 ,30% on incomes between $140,000-$240,000 ,35% on incomes between incomes between $240,000-$300,000 and 39.6% on incomes above $300,000

3. The Standard Deduction will be increased to $6,000 for  single filers, and $12,000 for joint fillers.

4. Families who are helping pay for their kids college will be eligible to deduct up  to $10,000 from their taxes. Even families who use the standard deduction , will be able to deduct up to $10,000 in additional taxes.

5. For students who pay for their college , they will receive the same deduction.

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Senate passes House Bill and it is signed by President Clinton:

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Polls of Clinton's approval and Vermont House Special Election:


Clinton Approval:

Approve 70%
Disapprove 28%


Polls of Vermont House Special Election

Burlington Mayor Peter Clavelle(D): 46%
Former  State Representative Ruth Dwyer (R) : 44%

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NBC News Special Report





Democrats to keep control of the house

Brokaw : We have major news to project as Burlington Mayor Peter Clavelle has won  Vermont's Special Election and will take the seat of now Senator Bernie Sanders.  This means Dick Gephardt  will continue to be speaker and now hopes that we can now advance the Clinton agenda.

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Bill Clinton meets with Former Opponent Senator John McCain to discuss education reform , and later meets Speaker Gephardt, and releases  an bipartisan education reform proposal :






President Clinton: Today I met with Senator McCain and Speaker Gephardt to discuss education reform and due to conversations with both the Senator and the Speaker I believe it is the time to release our new proposal to reform our education system. Secretary Jeffords will be outlining our bipartisian proposal.

Secretary Jeffords: Our new bipartisan education reform proposal , will do these 6 major things

1. It will increase funding for schools in low income districts by a total of 30 billion dollars

2. Teachers in struggling school districts will get higher pay then what the average pay will be

3. It requires state testing for children who are in grades two through eight in math and reading, while having an writing test in grades four and seven. For kids in high school they will be required to pass the state test in math, reading , writing , and civics to graduate high school.

4. The overall test scores of each school will be collected by each state, and schools who fail to meet certain requirements in multiple years , will then have to be monitored by the state or the city more carefully to make sure they meet these requirements .

5. Expand the access of the world wide web to all schools

6. Have technology classes , in every school in the nation , at every grade level.

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Former Speaker New Gingrich Blasts the proposed agreement


Gingrich : This bill is a total disgrace , and shame on Senator McCain for going allowing with this farce of a bill. This bill does nothing to actually fix our educational problems , and all it does is take more power away from American families and gives it to government. This is a typical Washington solution where despite all the evidence points to our education system becoming worse ever since the Department of Education was created, yet instead of shrinking its power they decide to massively expand it . I am going to use all all over the next week to stop this bill in the Senate and make shore this farce doesnt make it on the house floor where it will pass.

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House and Senate meet in conference committee to discuss education reform:


The House passed Clinton's education reform proposal almost word to word while the Senate due to filibuster had to make some amendments. Here is the new Senate Bill

1. It will increase funding for schools in low income districts by a total of 30 billion dollars

2. Teachers in struggling school districts will get higher pay then what the average pay will be
now
3. It requires state testing for children who are in grades two through eight in math and reading, while having an writing test in grades four and seven. For kids in high school they will be required to pass the state test in math, reading , writing , and civics to graduate high school.

4. The overall test scores of each school will be collected by each state, and schools who fail to meet certain requirements in multiple years , will then have to be monitored by the state or the city more carefully to make sure they meet these requirements . will give its students a chance to switch to a better public school.

5. Expand the access of the world wide web to all schools

6. Have technology classes , in every school in the nation , at every grade level.




Current Vice President Bob Kerrey arrives at joint committee in hopes of getting an agreement between both sides.

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Agreement Reached:



Brokaw: After 15 days of impasse between the house and the senate sides , as Santorum agrees not to join filibuster of this compromise .

1. It will increase funding for schools in low income districts by a total of 30 billion dollars

2. Teachers in struggling school districts will get  a raise and will get tax deductions .

3. It requires state testing for children who are in grades two through eight in math and reading, while having an writing test in grades four and seven. For kids in high school they will be required to pass the state test in math, reading , writing , and civics to graduate high school.

4. The overall test scores of each school will be collected by each state, and schools who fail to meet certain requirements in multiple years , will then have to be monitored by the state or the city more carefully to make sure they meet these requirements .

5. Expand the access of the world wide web to all schools

6. Have technology classes , in every school in the nation , at every grade level.

7. Require all schools to have lessons so our kids no right from wrong



It passed the Senate 60-40, and House 281-154 meaning it will go to the president to sign