During the White House Press briefing this afternoon, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney drew from his reporting experience in the Clinton years to defend Obama’s plan to restore the economy.

“Some of the very leaders in Congress today, Republican leaders in the House, stood before us – I was a reporter then – and declared on the eve of the vote on the Clinton budget, the Clinton budget in 1993 that raised marginal tax rates on wealthier Americans, that it would cause a recession, if they passed that bill and signed it in to law,  that it would cause a decline, it would cause job loss,” he said.

“I think we can all agree that they were wrong,” Carney concluded.

Jay Carney worked for TIME magazine from 1989-2008 before he quit to work as Director of Communications to Vice President Joe Biden. In 2011, Carney was drafted to serve as Obama’s press secretary following the resignation of White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.