Clinton said one of the things the protesters should support is the president's jobs plan. Clinton: 'Occupy' must get specific

Former President Bill Clinton appeared on the “Late Show with David Letterman” Wednesday night and discussed his views on the Occupy Wall Street protesters, who he says need to start advocating specific political goals.

The former president repeatedly said the demonstrators must focus on solutions that could boost the country’s economy, rather than simply protesting against Wall Street and economic disparity.


“I think that, on balance, this can be a positive thing, but they’re going to have to transfer their energies at some point to making some specific suggestions or bringing in people who know more to try to put the country back to work,” he said.

Clinton said the demonstrators — who are now in their fourth week on the streets of New York City and have spread to other cities across the country — are upset because they have “made no contributions to the financial meltdown that caused their current distress.”

“I think what bothers people is the country has gotten so much more unequal under the last, over the last 30 years, and now that we’re in this fix, an enormous number of people have been out of work for more than six months, some of whom can’t get interviews because they’ve been out of work for more than six months, who always worked hard, always paid their taxes, did everything they were supposed to do, and made no contributions to the financial meltdown that caused their current distress,” he said. “I think that is the heart of what they’re saying on Wall Street.”

But they have to move beyond that, Clinton added, and actually coalesce around specific goals and suggestions to improve the financial situation.

“But to make the change, eventually what it is you’re advocating has to be clear enough and focused enough that either there’s a new political movement which embraces it or people in one of the two parties embraces it,” he said.

One of the things the Occupy Wall Street protesters should support is Obama’s jobs plan, Clinton told Letterman.

“So all I would say to the people in the Occupy Wall Street crowd, even though I believe we have to resolve the housing debt and flush through it much quicker than we are to get back to a full-employment economy, the program the president proposed would create another couple of million jobs in the next year and a half. And they ought to be for that,” he said. “They ought to be for some other things. They need to be for something specific and not just against something because if you’re just against something, somebody else will fill the vacuum you create.”

During a discussion about the financial disparity in the U.S., Letterman said he wanted the government to make the rich do their “fair share” to help, saying he’s “always looking to blame somebody.” Clinton started to tell the host that “One of the best things about Americans is that we don’t really resent other people’s success,” but Letterman quickly shot back, “What about Leno?”

The interview also covered Clinton’s upcoming Oct. 15 fundraiser at the Hollywood Bowl, where Lady Gaga will perform. “In deference to my diet, she will be meatless that night,” Clinton said.

And Letterman frequently complimented Clinton on his health and appearance, at one point telling the former president “I’ve got to get the name of your conditioner. Your hair looks fantastic.”