Question

(MC)How has the Republican Party responded to the continuation of Great Society programs into the 1990s and 2000s?

Answer 1

The Republican Party has pursued policies aimed at reducing government expenditures, cutting social programs, and implementing tax breaks for the wealthy, especially since the 1990s. They have challenged Great Society programs by proposing legislation like the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act and opposing healthcare reforms such as the ACA.

Step-by-step explanation:

Republican Party's Response to Great Society Programs

The Republican Party's response to the continuation of Great Society programs has been characterized by attempts to reduce government spending and to limit the size of federal assistance programs. During the 1990s and into the 2000s, Republicans have consistently sought to enact tax breaks, especially for corporations and wealthier individuals, while also advocating for increased defense spending. This necessitated deep cuts to social programs, including those which were popular, such as Medicare and federally subsidized school lunches.

The contention reached a peak with the proposal of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in 1996, which sought to set time limits on welfare benefits and required most beneficiaries to start working within two years. The Republican-controlled Congress and subsequent budgets often echoed these same principles. Tensions were particularly evident when Republicans pushed back against Bill Clinton's healthcare reform and later the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aligning with the Tea Party movement's objectives of reducing government size and spending.

Republicans interpreted their victory in the 1994 congressional elections as a mandate to slash government programs and challenged Democratic policies on many fronts, while Democrats accused Republicans of favoring the wealthy at the expense of the poor and middle class. Such policies were consistent with the Republican ethos of smaller government and skepticism about the long-term viability of welfare state programs.

Answer 2

The Great Society program was a set of government efforts which aimed to completely eliminate poverty and racial injustice within the country.

The Republican Party voted in favor of the Welfare Reform in Congress. This bill would be signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. However, this would action would put the government into pressure from both the conservatives and liberals, as neither of them was fully satisfied with the reforms.

In 2001, president Geroge Bush, in collaboration with Congress (which at the time had a majority of Democratic representatives, passed the "No Child Left Behind Act", which promoted the introduction of standards-based education programs.