The Defense of Marriage Act was passed on September 21, 1996. This act significantly decreased LGBT rights by denying same-sex couples many privileges that straight couples were able to enjoy. Gay marriage was not legally recognized under the law; therefore, gay couples did not receive legal benefits such as tax exemptions or rights of inheritance. As a result, 40 states banned same-sex marriage. This act was not reversed until 2013.
On August 22, 1996, Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. This act significantly reformed welfare in the United States. PROWRA created a five-year limit for families on welfare, with personal employability plans. The number of people on welfare decreased significantly, and this money was used to create jobs instead. Bill Clinton wanted to encourage responsibility, as he feared that welfare would promote laziness and lack of work ethic.
The North American Free Trade Agreement took force on January 1, 1994. This included the elimination of tariffs between the United States, Mexico, and Canada. NAFTA also covered rules of origin, customs procedures, sanitary measures, and protection of intellectual property rights.
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act was passed in 1993. This act provided stronger protections for free exercise of religion, and led to many debates about marriage equality. Religious groups and lawyers could legally discriminate against members of the LGBT community.
These policies won the support of many Republicans, which helped Clinton get elected for a second term in 1996.http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-28155578
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-bill-clinton-became-a-republican-hero/
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/36035-thomas-frank-bill-clinton-s-five-major-achievements-were-longstanding-gop-objectives
This was a really interesting post and I learned a lot about Bill Clinton's more conservative policies. I thought the entire post brought up a very interesting concept as it shows how some politicians shift their perspectives as they go into office or the longer they serve. For example, looking at George H. W. Bush, the policies he ran on did not represent who he was as a politician. Additionally, President Obama also supported policies, such as the Trans Pacific Partnership. It goes to show that politics really isn't black and white and how people aren't necessarily defined by their party
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This was a really great post Emma! What I find really interesting is that in the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton was essentially as liberal as liberal could be when it came to a Democrat. Hillary Clinton was the type of politician her husband bill would run against. It really shows how much politics has changed in not a long span of time. The Democrat party has gone significantly left that it could never appeal to the right conservatism that dominates the Republican party.
ReplyDeleteNice post! To start off I really like how you give a little bit of a backstory about Clinton before talking about his presidency. How you talked about the LGBT rights and laws he passed that gained him support was a good addition to your post that expanded on what we learned in class. Overall I enjoyed your blog post and it taught me new insights about Clinton.
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