Bill Clinton speaks in Vienna, Austria.
Former President Bill Clinton might be a jolly addition to a George Clooney fundraiser, but he's proving to be a loose cannon on the campaign trail.
[Read: Obama, Clinton to Headline Trio of NYC Fundraisers]
Clinton provided Republicans on the hill the ammunition they needed to pounce on President Barack Obama's tax policy Wednesday and the National Republican Congressional Committee says Clinton's recent remarks show that "even [Clinton] forgets about the severity of the recession sometimes."
"Extending all of the current tax rates for at least a year is really important if we're going to help job creators gain a little more confidence and put Americans back to work," House Speaker John Boehner said. "Even Bill Clinton came out for it."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also chimed in on the hill.
"Clinton's remarks and then Larry Summers's remarks it's pretty obvious that the economy needs the certainty of the extension of the current tax rates of at least a year," he said.
Clinton first got the Obama Campaign's blood pressure rising when he appeared on CNBC's "Closing Bell" and argued that tax cuts for everyone should be extended at least temporarily in order to stop the country from falling off of a "financial cliff."
The position diverged from the president who has touted extending the Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class, but not the wealthy.
Clinton's spokesman Matt McKenna cleared up Clinton's comments later.
"He supported extending all of the cuts in 2010 as part of the budget agreement, but does not believe the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans should be extended again," spokesman Mckenna said in the statement. "In the interview, he simply said that he doubted that a long-term agreement on spending cuts and revenues would be reached until after the election."
Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, who is familiar with Bubba's bullheadedness, commented Wednesday that the former president has always voiced his own opinions.
"I love Bill Clinton. I have known Bill ever since he beat me in the presidential race," Harkin says. "But the one thing that BIll Clinton has always been good at is...triangulation."
Harkin said Clinton is probably just being realistic about what will happen come the end of the year.
"That is probably what is going to happen that we may get into December and depending on the outcome of the election we will have a short extension for one month or two months," Harkin says.
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