Clinton Forswears <i> Bureaucrat </i> Gibe
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WASHINGTON — President Clinton vowed Thursday he will never use the phrase “government bureaucrats” again because he said it unfairly stigmatizes people like the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing.
Speaking to a friendly audience at a dinner sponsored by the congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Clinton said the phrase had a “slightly perjorative connotation” when used by politicians.
“We know taxpayers resent the money they have to pay to the government, so we try to get credit by saying we’re being hard on bureaucrats,” he said, confessing that there was “no telling how many times in my life” he had used this ploy. But in the aftermath of the bombing of the federal building, which killed 167 people, Clinton said emphatically: “I will never use that phrase again.”
Most of the victims of the blast were government employees.
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