Obama envies Bill Clinton for working with "people who are just reasonable"

President Obama on Wednesday expressed some envy at the position of former President Bill Clinton - who, being safely out of political office, he surmised was able to deal with "people who are just reasonable all the time."

According to USA Today, Mr. Obama, speaking at the seventh annual gathering of the former president's Clinton Global Initiative in New York, spoke largely about economic issues, but touched on some of his frustrations with Washington - where, as he put it, "our politics right now is not doing us any favors."

At the conference, at which leaders from around the globe have participated in a series of panels and discussions over the last two days, the president praised Mr. Clinton - who he dubbed "the Do-Gooder-In-Chief" - for the Clinton Global Initiative's humanitarian efforts.

"It is so good to see so many do-gooders in one room."

Mr. Obama went on to push his recently-unveiled jobs plan, and argued that the best way for America to help improve the global economy was to "get our own economy moving again."

"When America is growing again the world is more likely to grow," he said.

He noted that the more than $400 billion jobs plan wasn't a "silver bullet," but that "it will put more people back to work."

Earlier on Wednesday, the president spoke at the U.N. General Assembly - where he expressed his opposition to the Palestinian Authority's current bid for statehood.

"I am convinced that there is no short cut to the end of a conflict that has endured for decades," he said. "Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the U.N. - if it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now."