"We know big government does not have all the answers. We know there's not a program for every problem. We have worked to give the American people a smaller, less bureaucratic government in Washington. And we have to give the American people one that lives within its means. The era of big government is over. But we cannot go back to the time when our citizens were left to fend for themselves." — Bill Clinton, State of the Union, January 23, 1996
Clinton's declaration most directly reflected which mid-1990s political reality?
- A
A bipartisan consensus to expand New Deal-style entitlements
- B
Supreme Court rulings dismantling federal regulation
- C
The end of the Cold War producing a unified domestic agenda
- Dcheck_circle
The 1994 Republican takeover of Congress and the Contract with America
Explanation
After Newt Gingrich led Republicans to capture the House in 1994, Clinton triangulated toward the center, embracing welfare reform and limits on federal expansion.