Former President Clinton: Obama off to good start

[February 16, 2009]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former President Bill Clinton says he thinks the country will surmount the current economic crisis, but sees the threat of terrorism as a longer-term problem.

Clinton also is giving President Barack Obama high marks for the $787 billion economic stimulus bill that Obama will sign into law later this week.

The former president said in an interview broadcast Monday on NBC's "Today" show that he believes Obama "is off to a good start." Clinton also said the new president and his economics team handled the controversial stimulus plan well, "given the fact that they had to do it in a hurry." Clinton, who continues to lead a global public service initiative, said he believes the legislation will be "our bridge over troubled waters."

But he also said that had he and his economics team been in office the last eight years, the economy would not have tanked.

[Associated Press]

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