Maybe if he starts a couple wars while cutting taxes he can do as "well" as Bush though. Yeah, I remember the Clinton Presidency TOO well, right down to the part where Gore had to break the tie to pass the '93 budget despite Democrats "controlling" Congress. And the sad thing is Clinton was really just the "lightest" of the party that's been reduced to "Republican light" whatever the rhetoric. If he hadn't wanted that reform bill he could've refused to sign it indefinitely (it's another example of how Republicans "reform" programs the way vets "treat" horses with broken legs. ) He never should've caved when they shut the government down, because THEY (not he) shut it down, and he should've made them justify why people weren't getting their Social Security checks. Instead he took the lumps for it AND caved to Republican pressure. It wasn't the first time the government shut down though, it's just the one you prefer to remember:

In October 1990, when Democrats in Congress sought to reduce the federal deficit by implementing a surtax on the income of millionaires, Republican President GEORGE H. W. BUSH followed through on a threat to VETO any budget legislation that included tax increases. The veto effectively shut down several federal agencies. The closures lasted only three days and occurred on a weekend. Fearing negative fallout from a more extensive government shutdown, Congress and the president reached a compromise plan to reduce the federal deficit without the surtax.

I remember that one, too; it was around the time my HS government teacher spoke of "the darkest day in Texas history" (the election of Governor Richards, whom W, ever classy, would later defeat by calling her a drug addicted closet lesbian packing state offices with homosexuals. )

Major differences in political ideologies again surfaced in the fall of 1994, when control of Congress shifted from Democrats to Republicans. The new Congress set a goal of balancing the federal budget by the year 2002, a feat that had not occurred since 1969.

Republicans, buoyed by public sentiment favoring this goal, attempted to implement their balanced budget plan in the fall of 1995. But they faced opposition from many Democrats, among them President BILL CLINTON. Although agreeing with the necessity of a balanced budget, Clinton opposed proposed cuts to entitlement programs such as MEDICARE, MEDICAID, and WELFARE. The dispute divided the branches of government as well as political parties, and in November 1995, an impasse led to the expiration of federal funding. Without adequate funding, much of the federal government—including agencies, museums, national parks, and research laboratories— ground to a halt. Some 800,000 government employees deemed "nonessential" were sent home.

Politicians on both sides of the issue faced disapproval from their constituents. Compromises were reached, and a week after it started, the shutdown was over.

So, yeah, the government was shut down twice over the budget: Once because Bush 41 thought protecting millionaires was more important than Democratic efforts to balance the budget, and again because Clinton thought not starving gramma was more important than balancing the budget. Or, conversely, that budget concerns from their Congressional opposition felt the other way each time. Seems like it always comes back to that; both sides want a balanced budget, but one of them wants the money to come from the independently wealthy and the other wants to just stop feeding people in poverty.