preview

The Influence Of Clintons Presidency And The 1993 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act

Decent Essays

During his time as president, Bill Clinton helped pass a variety of legislation that greatly impacted the country in several ways including creating a budget surplus and signing an act that encouraged much stricter sentencing for criminals. Two pieces of legislation that highlight positive and negative aspects of Clintons presidency are the 1993 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The former, the first budget passed by the president, increased taxes for high earners and created “an earned income tax credit for incomes under $30,000”(UC Berkeley). This helped to create budget surpluses for much of the 1990’s. The latter, one of the more controversial bills passed by Clinton, contained many provisions that served as harsh punishment for the crimes rather than rehabilitation (Lussenhop). This act impacted the already high incarceration rate and did not address at-risk communities where economic resources were badly needed. Both of these acts impacted the public in different ways, the budget aided low income families with its income tax credit while the violent crime act added to the budding mass incarceration problem in the United States and failed to address the problems in low income communities(Lussenhop). As president, Bill Clinton served as a good representative who supported the virtue of fair-mindedness. Even though some of his actions were not in accordance with the virtue, such as the Violent Crime Control

Get Access