Changes

Clinton refered to the Mexican [[bailout]] in his memoirs as, "one of the biggest crisis of my first term", and quotes Tom Friedman of the ''New York Times'' saying it was the "least popular, least understood, most important foreign policy decision of the Clinton presidency."<ref>''My Life'', Bill Clinton, Knopf, 2004, pp. 641-645. </ref> It was the brainchild of Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin and chief economic adviser [[Larry Summers]] who later served President Barack Obama in the same position. Clinton claims it took him 10 minutes to decide on the $20 billion bailout. Polls showed 79% of the American people opposed it, with little support in Congress.

Clinton refered to the Mexican [[bailout]] in his memoirs as, "one of the biggest crisis of my first term", and quotes Tom Friedman of the ''New York Times'' saying it was the "least popular, least understood, most important foreign policy decision of the Clinton presidency."<ref>''My Life'', Bill Clinton, Knopf, 2004, pp. 641-645. </ref> It was the brainchild of Treasury Secretary Bob Rubin and chief economic adviser [[Larry Summers]] who later served President Barack Obama in the same position. Clinton claims it took him 10 minutes to decide on the $20 billion bailout. Polls showed 79% of the American people opposed it, with little support in Congress.

Critics cite the modern bailout culture of the [[Recession of 2008]] as originating with Clinton's Mexican bailout. It was allegedly designed to help Mexico using $20 billion from the U.S. Treasury Department's [[Exchange Stabilization Fund]] by [[Executive Order]]. Congress did not authorize it. And it was done, not for the Mexican banks sake, but for the big [[Wall Street]] banks, Citibank, Bankers Trust, and others that were over-exposed to risk for bad loans they made in Mexico. PBS's [[Bill Moyers]] calls it "[[Crony capitalism]]", "and so the idea got started that Washington would be there with a prop, with a bailout, with a helping hand." <ref>[Crony Capitalism,] Moyers and Company, PBS, January 20, 2012. </ref>

Critics cite the modern bailout culture of the [[Recession of 2008]] as originating with Clinton's Mexican bailout. It was allegedly designed to help Mexico using $20 billion from the U.S. Treasury Department's [[Exchange Stabilization Fund]] by [[Executive Order]]. Congress did not authorize it. And it was done, not for the Mexican banks sake, but for the big [[Wall Street]] banks, Citibank, Bankers Trust, and others that were over-exposed to risk for bad loans they made in Mexico. PBS's [[Bill Moyers]] calls it "[[Crony capitalism]]", "and so the idea got started that Washington would be there with a prop, with a bailout, with a helping hand." <ref>[http://billmoyers.com/episode/crony-capitalism/ Crony Capitalism,] Moyers and Company, PBS, January 20, 2012. </ref>

=== Budget and tax increases ===

=== Budget and tax increases ===