Holding the Republicans responsible for the current economic turmoil in the US, former President Bill Clinton has blasted them for now opposing Barack Obama's financial stimulus plan.
Clinton, who termed the Republican regime's economic record as "totally bereft of any productive result," praised Obama for initiating measures to revive the US economy.
"I find it amazing that the Republicans, who doubled the debt of the country in eight years and produced no new jobs doing it, gave us an economic record that was totally bereft of any productive result, are now criticising him (Obama) for spending money," Clinton told the CNN in an interview.
Clinton also commended Obama's efforts to build consensus with the Republicans on the issue and said the President is doing the right thing.
"He did everything he could to get Republican support. He took some of their tax cutting ideas," Clinton said.
The stimulus bill, Clinton said not only puts money in the hands of the people who need money to survive, but also gives it to state and local governments so they don't have to lay a million people off or raise taxes and finally it creates new jobs.
"Stimulus is our bridge over troubled water," he said.
Despite Obama's efforts, the Republicans opposed the $789 billion economic stimulus package, which the President says would revive the US economy. It is targetted at creating as many as 3.5 million jobs in the next two years.
All the Republican lawmakers in House of Representative voted against the stimulus package, while the White House could manage to gain the support of just three Republican Senators in the Senate – barely enough to get the vote through the Congress.
Clinton said he differs with the statement made by Senator John McCain that Obama is off to a terrible start. The former US President, however, predicted that the Republicans would ultimately fall in line as the economy improves.
"Here's what I think will happen. I think that as we go along, if the American people stick with him and if he begins to have good results, then I think more and more Republicans will cooperate with him, because they will see that he's right, or because he carried their states, or for any number of reasons," Clinton said.
