Bill Clinton: Democrats Have ‘Better Record on Fiscal Discipline’

ABC News' Matt Loffman reports: Former President Bill Clinton joined a conference call with House Democratic leaders to tout the passage of pay-as-you-go legislation that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hopes will return the United States to the "fiscal responsibility" of the Clinton years.

"This is important for our party because it reminds people that for the last 30 years, we have had a better record on fiscal discipline," Clinton said. 

Pelosi used Clinton's presence on the call to remind people that "four of [Clinton's] last budgets were in balance or in surplus" when PAYGO laws were still around.

"You proved that Democrats know how to cut the deficit and have fiscal responsibility when you were President," Pelosi said.

PAYGO was originally passed in 1990 under President George H.W. Bush and again in 1997 under Clinton.   PAYGO laws force Congress to find revenue sources for any spending or tax cuts, but the last PAYGO legislation expired in 2002.

Clinton called today's passage of PAYGO legislation "symbolically and substantively beneficial" because it will force Congress to "pay for everything."

"The Republicans have consistently pretended that tax cuts even to the wealthiest people aren't somehow part of the budget," Clinton said.  "They've been able to talk one game and do another.  [PAYGO] will put everybody on the same page with the same set of rules."

Clinton also praised House leaders for "giving a remarkably productive first year to President Obama."

"Notwithstanding the current public mood – which is a function of people's anxieties, all the publicity about health care – most of which is wrong, and the fact that people don't feel the economy getting better, you have really established a remarkable record," Clinton said.