Welfare Reform was part of Gingrich's 1994 contract with America which occurred DURING Clinton's first term and resulted in a huge setback for the Democratic Party in the 1994 elections which gave control of both houses of Congress to Republicans. It is quite safe to say that welfare reform would have never occurred without Republican sponsorship and the CLEAR message that the 94 elections sent to Clinton about public opinion.
I think it is fair to credit Clinton with signing the bill and being pragmatic when the half of his own party was against the bill.
Some dems voting against the bill 12 years ago may be of interest still:
Kerrey, Kennedy, Leahy, Daschle, Feinstein, Dodd, Boxer,
Pelosi, Rangel, Shumer.
A veritable who's who of current dem leadership voted against the reform.
Lieberman was again on the RIGHT side of the issue.
If Barack had been there, he probably would have voted "present".
