President Clinton dispensed federal assistance and plunged deep into Republican territory to assail GOP budget cutting plans Friday as he wrapped up a weeklong political tour.
"It is wrong, wrong, wrong to turn away from our obligation to protect our children," Clinton said at a Boys and Girls Club rally here in heavily Republican Orange County.He was also traveling to San Diego, another GOP stronghold, to criticize proposed Republican cuts in education before returning to Washington.
With police officers lined up on the stage behind him, Clinton told his mostly youthful Santa Ana audience that GOP attempts to roll back parts of last year's anti-crime bill to help balance the budget would back away from a U.S. commitment to put 100,000 more police on the streets.
Earlier, at a news conference in Santa Monica, Clinton announced a $364 million federal bailout for Los Angeles County aimed and forestalling collapse of the nation's second large public health system and saving thousands of health-care jobs.
Clinton portrayed the package - which involves speeding up payment of federal Medicaid funds to Los Angeles - as a good example of bipartisan cooperation among government entities.
"We need to do more of this in Washington," he said.
He also asserted that, if House Speaker Newt Gingrich makes good on his threat to delay a vote on lifting the debt ceiling, it could send interest rates soaring. He said such a move would be irresponsible.
Gingrich threatened on Thursday to delay the vote until Clinton endorses the GOP plan to balance the budget in seven years - something Clinton has vowed not to do.
"Failure to raise the debt limit has nothing to do with holding the deficit down," Clinton said.
He said the United States had never defaulted on its debts before and certainly should not now. "Interest rates would go up."
"I just don't believe they're going to do that," Clinton said, suggesting that Republicans would not risk a financial default and higher interest rates just to make a political point.