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→1993-1997, U.S. Presidency
In 1995 President Clinton and Congressional Republicans fought a bitter battle over the new federal [[budget]]. Clinton vetoed the Republican's efforts to move toward a balanced budget, claiming that it cut social programs. Speaker Gingrich believed that Clinton would back down and approve the budget. If not, the entire government would shut down because of lack of funds. Clinton allowed just that, and by doing so gained political capital by successfully blaming that shut down on Republicans. Clinton always opposed a balanced budget until it was reality.<ref>[http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/no-bill-clinton-didnt-balance-budget No, Bill Clinton Didn’t Balance the Budget,] By Stephen Moore, October 8, 1998. [[Cato Institute]].</ref>
In 1995 President Clinton and Congressional Republicans fought a bitter battle over the new federal [[budget]]. Clinton vetoed the Republican's efforts to move toward a balanced budget, claiming that it cut social programs. Speaker Gingrich believed that Clinton would back down and approve the budget. If not, the entire government would shut down because of lack of funds. Clinton allowed just that, and by doing so gained political capital by successfully blaming that shut down on Republicans. Clinton always opposed a balanced budget until it was reality.<ref>[http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/no-bill-clinton-didnt-balance-budget No, Bill Clinton Didn’t Balance the Budget,] By Stephen Moore, October 8, 1998. [[Cato Institute]].</ref>
===Immigration===
In February 1996 HUD Secretary [[Henry Cisneros]! forwarded a memo to Bill Clinton. The memo, from the California Active Citizenship Campaign (ACC), complained of a backlog of alien applications for naturalization in Los Angeles. It contained the words: "INS inaction [on the backlog] will deny 300,000 Latinos the right to vote in the 1996 presidential elections [sic] in California."
Documents show that Clinton asked Doug Farbrother of the National Performance Review (NPR) staff to look into removing barriers to citizenship not only in Los Angeles but also in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Miami — major cities in four swing states. The INS concentrated on aliens in key states — California, Florida, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and Texas — that hold a combined 181 electoral votes, just 89 short of the total needed to win the election. In a memo to the President, Farbrother noted Commissioner Meissner’s concern that expediting the backlog might look politically motivated and suggested two options. Farbrother stated that "we can reduce — but not eliminate -- the risk of controversy over our motives by appointing one of our proven NPR reinventors as Deputy INS Commissioner . . . As part of the official INS management team, our reinventor would have more direct influence and the INS staff would be less likely to go public with complaints than they would over the interference of an outsider." The memo observed that "reinventors" should be put in many other agencies, as well, to replace leaders who "don’t ‘get it.’"
The White House wanted any applicant for citizenship to be naturalized in time to register for the November election, so the pressure on the INS was constant. On March 21 Elaine Kamarck in the Vice President’s office sent an e-mail to Farbrother saying: "THE PRESIDENT IS SICK OF THIS AND WANTS ACTION. IF NOTHING MOVES TODAY WE’LL HAVE TO TAKE SOME PRETTY DRASTIC MEASURES." Farbrother responded, "I favor drastic measures." If he couldn’t get what he wanted from the INS, he wrote, he would "call for heavy artillery."
===Anti-gay measures ===
===Anti-gay measures ===