Gingrich Compares Obama, Clinton Budget Crises

As the country faces the looming prospect of a government shutdown, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Tuesday the budget situation today is much worse than the ones he faced, the Concord Monitor reported Wednesday.

"In every single way, [Republican House] Speaker [John] Boehner inherited a more complicated and a more difficult situation than I had," Gingrich said at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.

He said President Barack Obama is an obstacle to getting a budget deal done.

“[Boehner] has a much less flexible president who's much more radical than Bill Clinton," Gingrich said.

He pointed to Clinton's support for welfare reform, a balanced budget act, and tax cuts. Rather than Americans blaming Boehner, Gingrich said, "the challenge ought to be, why is the president not providing leadership?"

He spoke to about 130 people in Manchester outlining his thoughts on improving the country’s fiscal crisis.

"If you want to balance the federal budget, which we did for four years when I was speaker, you have to start by getting people back to work," Gingrich said.