Questions tagged [united-states]
Questions relating to the government or the politics of the United States of America
6,285
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FL-20 election two-party swing by precinct?
In Florida, there was a special election held on January 11 to the US House to replace the late Alcee Hastings.
The overall swing was about 6 points towards the Democratic Party compared to the last ...
4
votes
1answer
148 views
Would the US postal service be open on election day were election day made a legal public holiday?
The For the People Act is a voting rights bill currently under debate in the U.S. Senate. Two of its provisions include
expanding voting by mail, and
making election day a national holiday.
These ...
3
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2answers
272 views
"I'd shut it down now"; Mitt Romney's articulated justification and proposed means for shutting down the Nord Stream 2 pipeline?
On NBC News' Full Romney Interview: 'The President Needs To Stop And Reset' at about 01:57: US Senator Mitt Romney says that he'd shut down the Nord Stream 2 pipeline now:
Q: ...So, what is it that ...
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0answers
110 views
Why shouldn't ID be required to vote? [closed]
I know that there is a political debate about requiring ID in order to vote. Those who think that ID should be required feel that it lowers voter fraud by requiring proof of identification. Those who ...
3
votes
1answer
159 views
Can the effect of US voter ID and registration laws on fraud be compared state-to-state?
From what an outsider can understand of the contentious voter id and registration debates in the USA these are the arguments:
Democrats: "Voter ID and registration laws are just another tool to ...
asked Jan 16 at 3:24
Italian Philosophers 4 Monica
34.5k9 gold badges90 silver badges135 bronze badges
6
votes
2answers
355 views
Proportion of Rhode Island's Part-Time Legislature That are Lawyers
I would like to know (approximately):
The percentage of the current Rhode Island General Assembly that
are lawyers.
Historically, the percentage that were lawyers in prior RI
assemblies.
Note: I ...
1
vote
0answers
143 views
Why are COVID-19 vaccine mandates considered a source of racism in the US? [closed]
I've been reading a bit on the history of vaccine mandates, and it seems that multiple prominent groups have asserted that vaccine mandates are racist against minorities. I've read about the Tuskegee ...
0
votes
2answers
184 views
4th Circuit court: North Carolina laws "targeted blacks with almost surgical precision" after "they got rid of preclearance after Shelby County"?
In CNN's Lindsey Graham picks side in Trump vs. McConnell divide (cued at 01:51) after a clip of US Senate Majority Whip Richard Durben said in reference to President Biden's speech about voting ...
2
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1answer
196 views
What are some non-conspiratorial legal reasons Jill Sanborn answered "I can't answer that" to the question of federal agents at Jan 6th? [closed]
Ted Cruz asked Jill Sandborn, the executive assistant director of the National Security Branch, whether or not federal agents were involved in planning or perpetrating the Jan 6th incident in a Senate ...
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1answer
158 views
Why Democratic party in the US push for Voting Rights Bill while most of the Democrat's voters live in urban areas and are from middle class?
These days Voting Rights Bill is a political hot topic and Democrats are pushing to get it passed in the Senate.
It seems most of the Democrats' voters reside in urban areas and are from middle social ...
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117 views
If Roe vs Wade is overturned, will Democrats win more in "red" states? [closed]
This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court will issue their ruling on a Texas anti-abortion law; if they uphold it then the abortion rights granted by the Roe vs Wade decision will be mostly eliminated. So I'...
74
votes
6answers
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Do poor people, people of color, and elderly have difficulty in obtaining ID in the US?
As mentioned here and here a commonly listed argument regarding voter ID's is the decreased ownership and/or difficulty in obtaining among the poor, people of color, and elderly.
A similar question ...
41
votes
6answers
9k views
How do the Republicans' recent laws make it harder for Democratic voters to vote?
I read this BBC article, but it's not totally clear for me why the recent voting rights laws passed in more than a dozen Republican-controlled state legislatures affect the Democratic base, but not ...
0
votes
2answers
262 views
Does the Supreme Court have a responsibility to save lives?
Listening to the Oral Arguments in Biden v. Missouri (whether to stay the injunction against the CMS vaccine mandate), I heard a line of argument by some of the justices that seemed (to me, a ...
0
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0answers
106 views
Has the FBI created a structure or apparatus for school boards to report threats from parents?
Some political controversy has been generated by Merrick Garland's October 4, 2021, memo to the FBI, which directed the agency to "...open dedicated lines of communication for threat reporting, ...
1
vote
1answer
128 views
Which US congressman had the idea of metropolitan area, and said that poverty causes crime?
In "The Machinery of Freedom" by David Friedman, at chapter 17 "A First Step", Dr. Friedman writes:
In the Washington circles where Great Ideas are conceived and circulated before ...
16
votes
6answers
3k views
Did the U.S. lose the war against the Taliban? [closed]
We know that the U.S. has a much stronger military than the Taliban, they could have deployed more troops in Afghanistan to beat Taliban, but they consciously didn't. This makes me wonder, does U.S. ...
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2answers
192 views
Why is Russia deploying soldiers near the border with Ukraine instead of in Siberia?
In recent news, Russia has been deploying its military near Ukraine in an effort to deter Ukraine from joining NATO. Russia has sent its requests to NATO and Russian president Putin has met American ...
2
votes
2answers
254 views
Can the US Federal Government order a judge-led inquiry into a matter of public concern?
Having just watched the Netflix mini-series Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich I was struck by the level of outrage which arose, in 2008, when the the US Attorney for Florida, remarkably, and inexplicably, ...
1
vote
1answer
137 views
Why did New York try to pass a bill to allow disability schools to 'keep' money they were 'not required to pay back'?
Back in October, Governor Hochul vetoed a bill with unanimous support that would have allowed special education providers to keep federal PPP loan money.
The state Legislature unanimously passed a ...
0
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0answers
71 views
Is the Michigan congressional map adopted by the state's redistricting commission compliant with the VRA's majority-minority district requirement?
The map that was adopted in Michigan's congressional map seems to have reduced the black population in some districts in a way that looks like it may be a violation of federal law. I am specifically ...
34
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1answer
3k views
Why does the U.S. Census deliberately transfer population to neighboring census blocks?
I am involved a little in both Vermont House redistricting and Burlington City Council redistricting.
I have noticed, at least two census blocks that the Census is clearly over reporting population. ...
14
votes
3answers
4k views
What explains Trump's gains with Latino voters in the 2020 US presidential election?
In almost every majority Hispanic county and electoral district, president Donald Trump gained against his 2016 presidential performance, though he lost almost all of these areas again, most by wide ...
2
votes
1answer
206 views
Is "rebuttable presumption" a new thing in US foreign policy? (presumption of Xinjiang forced labor)
CNN's article Biden signs bill banning goods from China's Xinjiang over forced labor says:
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is part of the US pushback against Beijing's treatment of China's ...
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votes
2answers
167 views
What was the US public's perception of Reality Winner's leaks? [closed]
Reality Winner, a former Air Force linguist pleaded guilty in 2018 to leaking an intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 election.
The leak was illegal, of course, but other than ...
18
votes
1answer
3k views
First day a 2022 US congress could vote to shut down Jan 6th commission? How quickly after could the commission be effectively curtailed or shut down?
After about 02:36 in the CNN video Retired generals warn an insurrection could succeed next time, Seung Min Kim, Washington Post White House reporter says (my transcription):
...and obviously this ...
9
votes
1answer
471 views
What, if anything, does a blue-and-white American flag mean?
I saw this flag, consisting of a field of 13 blue and white horizontal stripes, with a blue canton containing 50 white stars, as one of about two dozen flags flying over a booth selling flags in the ...
3
votes
1answer
116 views
Does the US Senate have the equivalent procedure, to a no-confidence vote, for the Majority Leader? [duplicate]
This is in light of Sen. Manchin (D-WV)'s fairly unambiguous break with the Democratic party, in declaring firm opposition to the BBB bill.
CONTEXT
For practical purposes, Manchin was voting as a ...
-5
votes
2answers
166 views
What are the dates of the "real" press conferences given by President Biden?
I recently read an article that claimed that President Biden as of the 7th of June 2021 had given only one "real" press conference, where the reporter defines a "real press conference&...
2
votes
1answer
226 views
Why does the USA confiscate money paid for a contract?
Example#1. US-Pakistan F-16 deal of the 1980s.
According to Wikipedia:
In the 1980s, Pakistan agreed to pay $658 million for 28 F-16 fighter jets from the United States; however, the US Congress ...
1
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0answers
115 views
Have any US politicians proposed fully cutting funding from religious schools?
According to hhs.gov, religious schools can receive government funding for non-religious activities. As with most things religion related, this seems like it could be controversial in the US, and ...
asked Dec 16 '21 at 15:51
Ekadh Singh - Reinstate Monica
2,4712 gold badges13 silver badges44 bronze badges
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44 views
NYC general election by precinct -- how did it change vs 2017?
I am curious about how the New York City mayoral results changed over the past 4 years. Citywide, Adams won 71.3% of the two-party vote, up from DeBlasio's 70.6%.
That doesn't look like a big change. ...
2
votes
1answer
60 views
What framework is used for the ethnicity categories on the ACA Marketplace?
The standard categories used by USA governmental forms that ask for a voluntary disclosure of race or ethnicity include the following: Black or African American, White or Caucasian, American Indian or ...
4
votes
1answer
222 views
Why are Republicans pushing merit-based immigration if the types of immigrants favored seem to cause more damage to Republicans electorally?
There was an article that talks about how Republicans tend to gain from immigrants. It talks about low-skilled immigrants driving native voters to Republicans: "Non-urban, low-skill counties with ...
-3
votes
2answers
182 views
Why didn't the US government sanction the people at the helm of the government of Bangladesh? [closed]
Bangladesh protests US sanctions against RAB, security chiefs
Treasury Sanctions Perpetrators of Serious Human Rights Abuse on International Human Rights Day
A few days ago, the US treasury ...
4
votes
1answer
194 views
Penal labour in United States
Penal labour is banned in most if not all of the United Kingdom. Perhaps because of
No prisoner shall be employed, in the service of the institution, in any disciplinary capacity
https://www.ohchr....
3
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1answer
123 views
Did the US Supreme Court's recent ruling sidestep the issue of judicial review? (Whole Women's Health v. Jackson; challenge to Texas S.B. 8)
The following questions and their extensive answers cover the background of the issues well:
How close does the Texas law that bars most abortions after six weeks come to saying 'Defendants can&#...
3
votes
1answer
120 views
Of the 111(+?) invitees to the Biden administration's Summit on Democracy, did any country decline or refuse to participate? If so, any reasons given?
This answer to Did the Biden administration have a working definition of democracy when it chose which countries to invite to its "democracy summit"? cites US government officials and ...
5
votes
1answer
400 views
Did the Biden administration have a working definition of democracy when it chose which countries to invite to its "democracy summit"?
The New York Times' Biden Rallies Global Democracies as U.S. Hits a ‘Rough Patch’
The president kicked off his summit as critics questioned the guest list and whether the United States could be an ...
1
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0answers
45 views
Why does the United States government utilize random selection (a "lottery") to determine eligibility for an H-1B visa? [duplicate]
According to my understanding of the H-1B application process, applicants must be selected for further consideration by random selection (a "lottery").
Why doesn't the US consider all ...
7
votes
1answer
508 views
Is it common for politicians to share speeches they wrote but never gave?
Hillary Clinton has made public the speech she would have given had outcomes been different in the 2016 US Presidential Election.
I can only think of one other example of a high profile politician ...
-1
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5answers
390 views
Why do the states have such heavy support banning abortion?
The political dynamic in the United States is that a small group of elites, the Supreme Court, has to read the tea leaves of the Constitution and extract imputed rights out of it that include the ...
3
votes
2answers
326 views
Ethnicity in the USA [closed]
As a European, I am confused about the use of names for ethnicities in the US. The background of my question is academic (I usually work with quantitative data on ethnicity on other continents, mostly ...
3
votes
1answer
81 views
Significance of the organized/unorganized attribution of US territories
Reading articles re US territories, two terms are given significant (e.g are in the heading chapter AND sidebar header of relevant Wikipedia article) reference: Incorporated/Unincorporated and ...
7
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3answers
582 views
How is Iran sustaining its economy?
Iran has been under US sanctions for a long time now.
Why isn't Iran collapsing like Venezuela or Cuba?
How is Iran sustaining its economy?
-3
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1answer
118 views
Cook PVI of New York Independent Redistricting Commission proposals?
The New York State Independent Redistricting Commission has released congressional plans last September. FiveThirtyEight has documented the partisan lean of each district today according to its ...
33
votes
6answers
9k views
Why are legal decisions in the US so politicized?
(Not sure if this should be on the Law.SE. I'm guessing the answer is more political than legal, hence I'm asking it here.)
Example
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — A difficult political atmosphere for ...
3
votes
1answer
81 views
Does the New York State Legislature have to accept a proposal from the state redistricting commission' without a 2/3 supermajority override vote?
In New York State, there is a bipartisan commission that was chosen by voters in 2014 and is designed to reduce the potential of bias from redistricting in the state. New York lawmakers tried to pass ...
30
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4answers
7k views
Why is the Second Amendment structured differently from all other amendments?
The Second Amendment reads as follows:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
This can be ...
0
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1answer
285 views
What racial classification systems are used for affirmative action?
Affirmative Action, in the context of race/ethnicity, can cover a variety of measures such as
simple non-discrimination (depending on definitions this might not be classed as "affirmative action&...
