Shamelessly lifted Noted at Josh Marshall’s TPMCafe:

In a sign of just how much American politics has shifted in recent weeks, GOP Rep. Clay Shaw is running the first Republican ad we've ever heard hailing the accomplishments of President...Clinton. The narrator's first words in the radio spot, delivered in an upbeat tone, are: "President Clinton is coming to South Florida this week!" The ad then runs through all of Shaw's successes working with the former President. Its conclusion: "So as Palm Beach County welcomes Bill Clinton to town, let’s say thank you to Clay Shaw. He’s independent and effective." A Time poll in August put Clinton's approval rating at 70% — nearly double that of his successor. To listen to the ad, click here.

The ad principally extols President Clinton’s achievements, emphasizing that there was a sense of “partisanship” in these achievements, and of course Clay Shaw was there! Working hand-in-hand with President Clinton to bring these achievements to fruition.

There’s something really astonishing about hyping the arrival in Florida of a man you once excoriated.

The ad mentions three specifics: Clinton’s welfare reform, the elimination of the senior citizen penalty in Social Security, and the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.

If you‘re a Democrat or Liberal, or Progressive, you probably have an intact memory and can recall those years after the R’s gained control of Congress and starting writing some of the most pernicious, evil, hard-hearted legislation that has ever shamed this country. (Well, yes, that’s all true, even though even though all those laws don’t hold a candle to the oppression written during the Bu$h malAdministration.) They rammed laws down President Clinton’s throat as if they were getting even with helpless and impoverished Americans. We’re lucky that President Clinton was a master politician and was able to remove some of the worst evil in those laws

The ad mentions welfare reform which was always a lynchpin in Republican plans at restoration, since that was a code word for “fixing them uppity niggers.” The law as written and forced through was so harsh, Clinton tried to restore some of the $55 Billion in lost aid benefits. Who wanted no part in ameliorating some of the worst effects of the law?

Pres Clinton wants Congress to restore about one-fourth of $55 billion that would otherwise be saved by new welfare law over next six years, to soften impact of law on poor people and immigrants; are drafting proposals to revise law as part of balanced-budget plan Clinton will submit to Congress in February; proposals would seek to restore food stamp eligibility for many legal immigrants who have not become citizens, would increase food stamp allotments for families with high housing costs, and would relax stringent work requirements on able-bodied adults who have no dependents; Repr Clay E Shaw Jr, Republican author of new welfare law, and Sen Don Nickles, assistant Republican leader of Senate, say Republicans have no interest in Administration's efforts to soften effects of law[.]

Elimination of the earnings penalty for senior citizens was pure common sense, flavored with a touch of compassionate humanity. Significantly, 20 years ago my retirement age was 62. After the Republicans got busy looting the Treasury, my retirement age changed to 66.

From Clay Shaw’s website:

Madam Speaker, I strongly support H.R. 5, legislation to repeal the earnings penalty for hard-working seniors age 65 and over.

Due to this quick work, seniors will soon receive all the benefits that they are owed, even if they continue to work after reaching the age of 65. That is their choice. As the name of our legislation suggests, they deserve the freedom to choose to work without losing Social Security benefits.

The ad also discusses the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (which was written by now-retired Senator Bob Graham [Democrat, of course,] and Congressman Shaw just signed on to it.) This Act provided $7.8 Billion to undo almost a century of man-made additions and abuses to the natural Florida habitat. It is worthwhile noting that this act was furiously resisted by the Pujol family (Florida Big Sugar) which is the largest financial donor to the Florida Republican Party. Among other things the act required Big Sugar to significantly reduce its phosphate fertilization of the cane fields that actually form part of what used to be the northern reaches of the Glades. This phosphate runoff is one of the major causes of lowered water quality not just of the Florida aquifers which provide our drinking water, but also of the water flowing through our rivers and canals into the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, where it kills off our tropical coral reefs.

So we find Representative Shaw, always a friend to the wealthy and powerful surprisingly pretending that Bill Clinton got where he was only with his help.

In truth Shaw was on board with President Clinton’s efforts to save Social Security back in the late 90s. You can read about his ideas, which were much more sensible and less radical than Mr Bu$h’s here. The article notes that Shaw was ready to push President Clinton’s plan forward

Rep. Clay Shaw, a Florida Republican who chaired the Social Security subcommittee during Clinton's term, said he spoke with Clinton at a signing ceremony on a bill that eliminated the Social Security penalty for those working after retirement.

When Clinton handed Shaw a ceremonial pen, Shaw said he told Clinton, "Now, Mr. president, let's do the rest of it." Shaw said Clinton replied, " 'If you get the leadership of the Democratic Party to go along, I'm there.' "

Shaw said he is convinced that if it weren't for the impeachment, Social Security reform "would have been done during his administration. I strongly believe Bill Clinton wanted this to be his legacy."