Questions tagged [united-states]
Questions relating to the government or the politics of the United States of America
3,157 questions
-1
votes
0answers
16 views
Deferential attitude at congressional hearings
Why are the subjects of congressional hearings so submissive at these hearings?
Take the recent US congressional hearing with the CEO of Google. I found Sundar Pichai extremely patient, calm and ...
1
vote
1answer
150 views
Why is it called “State of the Union”? Shouldn't it be “State of the Country”? [on hold]
Non-American here. Why is the annual presidential speech given to Congress called "State of the Union"? In these speeches, the president informs Congress on the state of the country, right? So why is ...
1
vote
1answer
102 views
Legal rationale for detention of Meng Wanzhou by the United States [duplicate]
Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Chinese multinational Huawei and daughter of its founder was detained on Dec 1, 2018 in Vancouver, Canada, at a request of the United States.
How do the United Stated justify ...
0
votes
1answer
220 views
Why do people think there is a “War on Christmas”? [on hold]
I don't believe that there is a "War on Christmas". However I always hear of this belief of a "War on Christmas" motivating people to vote against Democrats in the United States. What causes people to ...
1
vote
1answer
108 views
Laws concerning the appearance of US dollars
A recent question concerning the president putting himself on the dollar got me to thinking: The US dollar at one time was printed with an appearance to celebrate aspects of education. I'm wondering ...
4
votes
1answer
106 views
Credible evidence for Iran arming or funding the Houthi rebels in Yemen?
Iran is sending advanced weapons and military advisers to Yemen’s rebel Houthi movement, stepping up support for its Shi’ite ally in a civil war whose outcome could sway the balance of power in the ...
1
vote
1answer
106 views
Congressional closed meeting and transcript release
What is the rationale of having a "closed" congressional hearing (viz: Comey testifying Dec 7 2018) AND asserting that his testimony (via transcript) will be released 24 hours later?
15
votes
1answer
3k views
Can the president put his own likeness on money?
Preface, I am unsure of all the powers the Federal Reserve possess or who controls the Reserve outside of congress.
However it is at the Federal level so I was wondering.
What control over the ...
3
votes
0answers
209 views
Is the arrest of Huawei's CFO legal? [migrated]
Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of the Chinese company Huawei was recently arrested in Canada, and is facing extradition to the US, allegedly on charges of breaking violating U.S. sanctions on Iran.
The thing ...
-2
votes
1answer
112 views
Are there any known triggers for Avenatti deciding not to run for presidency?
According to Michael Avenatti, After Flirting With Run, Says He Won’t Seek White House, Avenatti announced that he wasn't running for presidency on Tuesday 4 December. The NYT article mentions his ...
0
votes
0answers
68 views
can a teenage runaway if they have an emergency which caused them to do that? [closed]
hello so I have a question . can a teenage run away if they have an emergency, for example, their parents are threatening to kill them / or will kill them but if they ran to the us embassy in the UAE ...
0
votes
0answers
37 views
What could an infrastructure bill look like?
With the incoming congress, a lot of talk has happened that infrastructure is something the republicans and democrats could come together on. What are some key aspects of infrastructure that they ...
8
votes
2answers
202 views
Why doesn't the Presidential Pardon power extend to State Crimes?
Paragraph One of Article 2, Section 2 of the United States constitution contains the following text:
"The President … shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United ...
0
votes
1answer
77 views
What could political parties in America look like? [closed]
What would major political parties in America look like, if it came about, in both demographics and ideology? Right now, we seem to vote for who we tolerate. How many parties would it take to have ...
4
votes
1answer
326 views
Has Trump previously engaged in speculation about “cultural marxism”?
Trump recently retweeted this tweet by Charlie Kirk which claims that:
They want to cover up the middle class rebellion against cultural Marxism
Has Trump previously mentioned the "cultural ...
4
votes
2answers
312 views
Why is Lindsey Graham so acerbic against Mohammed bin Salman?
Graham said that MBS (the Crown Prince) "has to go" and and called him "crazy" and "dangerous". It looks like Graham, although a Republican, is strongly against the White House' position on this, ...
3
votes
1answer
280 views
Has the U.S. Postal Service ever suspended services for a “National Day of Mourning” before?
As some might know—or not know—the U.S. Postal Service is observing the national day of mourning that President Trump has declared on December 5, 2018 in honor of the passing of former U.S. President ...
42
votes
10answers
19k views
Why aren't Republicans more focused on mobilizing a movement towards 'dethroning' Trump?
This is not a question about the ideological implications of supporting or not supporting Trump. It is merely a question about the rational behavior (or lack thereof) of a political party when faced ...
17
votes
5answers
5k views
Is the US suffering from legislative paralysis?
In his book "The Best Seat in the House", excerpted online here, former Congressman John Dingell expresses his feeling that there should be more bills passed by legislature.
Yet [Congressperson ...
4
votes
2answers
209 views
+50
The US Voting System Vulnerabilities, Anti-Fraud, and citizen Assurance of Accuracy
As a US citizen that votes and expects my vote and every other citizen's to be counted with accuracy, it is rather disturbing when I hear about news such as the strongly suspected voter fraud/cheating ...
-4
votes
2answers
73 views
Impeachment Process Question? [closed]
Bill Clinton was impeached but not from office. What is the difference. If let’s say our president Trump was impeached and taking out of office. Would vice president Mike Pence take over or does the ...
1
vote
1answer
117 views
What's the fallout for making it possible to roll back international wire transfers?
In the news today, yet another reminder that the international fraudsters like wire-transfers for their difficulty in being reversed. I haven't been bit yet but I'm rather fed up at this point.
The ...
-1
votes
2answers
181 views
Will the Republican presidential candidate for 2020 be Trump? [closed]
The republican party doesn't have to have to be Trump, but only once in history has an elected president not been his parties presidential candidate after their first term; so Trump not being the ...
13
votes
1answer
237 views
Is the current age-party affiliation breakdown in the US comparable to historic US breakdowns?
Pictured below is a more granular breakdown of this relationship by age.
Conventional wisdom goes that people become more conservative as they grow older, or rather that people stay the same and that ...
3
votes
1answer
172 views
Can the US Congress prevent a military action against Iran?
I'd like to know if Trump decides to carry out a military action against Iran, can it be prevented by the Congress? In other words, I want to know which steps are needed to declare war (approval by ...
7
votes
1answer
108 views
What did the US government concede in the New NAFTA/USMCA negotiations?
I keep reading all about the US having extracted from Canada more access to their dairy market, getting rid of the diafiltered milk loophole, etc. The only things that they were portrayed as losing ...
42
votes
8answers
11k views
Why do Republicans and others accept the propagandaic use of the term “Progressives”?
The word "progressives" has always confused me. It's sort of like an antonym to "conservatives", but the difference is that "conservative" is a neutral word. It tells us that you want to "conserve" ...
2
votes
1answer
224 views
What is the point of the US presidential code name?
What is the point of the US president having a code name? I feel as if presidential (and other family/cabinet memebers) are widely reported and known. Is it that once they are accurately reported ...
4
votes
2answers
130 views
How much apparel has Trump sold?
I'm interested in how much Trump apparel is out there: how much has been produced or ordered or sold by his campaign, how much his supporters have bought or been given—and how this compares to that of ...
1
vote
2answers
177 views
The politics of the US presidential pardon in 2018
As is well known, Trump and his political and campaigning team are under investigation by the FBI. Dozens of people have been indicted so far and five have pled guilty. As the investigation continues, ...
4
votes
2answers
225 views
Has and could Trump's anti-vaxxer views affect US government policy?
Trump tweeted in 2014 that vaccines can cause autism. Has his attitude towards vaccines (assuming they haven't changed) affected US government policy on vaccines? If they haven't affected government ...
5
votes
1answer
124 views
What was the main factor behind the Democratic gains in the 2018 Midterm Elections?
What was the main cause behind the Democratic pickups in House seats? Was it that they were doing something right, either in rhetoric or policy, that the American people liked or was it Republicans ...
3
votes
1answer
82 views
Does the U.S. House of Representatives have the power to block drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)?
In December 2017, a U.S. federal law opened part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to oil and gas mining (see article by Randy Showstack, 27 November 2018, EOS). This decision ...
5
votes
4answers
331 views
Reasons given by free market advocates against a carbon tax?
I see people who like free markets have two main reasons why: one due to the efficiency, the other due to the freedom, or a combination of both. For the people who value efficiency, why not support a ...
3
votes
1answer
77 views
In federal countries who owns offshore natural resources, the states or the federal government?
In countries like the US, Germany and Australia that have a federal system of government, is offshore natural resources such as Oil and Gas owned by the states or the federal government?
9
votes
2answers
288 views
Why do laws restrict voting rights for felons long after their sentence is served?
In some states in the US convicted felons cannot vote, hold public office or serve on a jury, even though they completed their sentences many years ago and have not reoffended since. This seems ...
62
votes
13answers
14k views
Isn't acknowledging the existence of God, as a state, a contradiction of the separation of Church and State?
I'm not an expert in politics at all, but I have been wondering about this for a while.
If Church and State are supposed to be separated, isn't it a bit of a contradiction to have "God" so strongly "...
6
votes
3answers
396 views
Is much of what the US federal government does unconstitutional?
Heard the argument that since much of what the federal government does these days - Freddie Mac, Social Security, Medicare, you name it - is not within explicitly listed Enumerated Powers in the ...
3
votes
2answers
109 views
U.S. constitution 2nd amendment and state militias
Was the Second Amendment right to bear arms intended to preserve state militias?
4
votes
2answers
225 views
In recent US elections, is turnout among millennial voters lower than voters in the baby boomer generation?
Did millennials vote at lower rates than baby-boomers?
0
votes
1answer
143 views
Have there ever been serious attempts to pass an amendment to the constitution to better define when impeachment may occur?
Every time impeachment has come up (Nixon, Clinton, and Trump) the difficulty of defining what was impeachment worthy has come up. This seems to be because the constitution gives very little ...
6
votes
2answers
218 views
How do Obama and Trump era uses of pepper spray and tear gas against migrants on the Mexico-US border differ?
A caravan the Trump administration discussed at length before the US midterms recently reached a port of entry, and was attacked with tear gas. After this proved controversial, there was much ...
1
vote
1answer
112 views
What happens if nominated candidate is not confirmed by the senate?
As far as I understand it the US cabinet is nominated by the president, but the senate has to consent to the nominees. The same applies applies to judges of the Supreme Court.
But what happens if the ...
2
votes
2answers
297 views
What are some examples of rights that cost money?
Most of the rights that I am aware of (at least in the USA) are rights that are granted to me free of charge, by virtue of being born here. I don't need to fill any paperwork or pay any fee. I can ...
-2
votes
1answer
388 views
How might the USA gain land today?
What prevents the USA from gaining land from other countries? Can land be bought from another country for colonization under US protection?
2
votes
0answers
21 views
Are there any published materials evaluating the economic outcomes of ARRA's research funding?
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provided about $8 billion dollars in research funding which was awarded over two-fiscal years (FY2010 and 2011). The intent was that this ...
2
votes
0answers
116 views
What is the evidence for a top-down Southern Strategy?
According to Wikipedia, “In American politics, the Southern Strategy refers to a Republican Party electoral strategy to increase political support among white voters in the South by appealing to ...
9
votes
2answers
305 views
How does America prevent deals in dollars between the third parties?
Say, India wants to buy weapons from Russia, Russia is under American sanctions, and America doesn't want this deal to happen so it says the transaction, as long as it's in dollars, won't be ...
1
vote
1answer
190 views
Vote coercion in U.S.A
Rebecca Solnit wrote a provocative article describing husbands that "bully, silence and control" the votes of their wives in the United States. She musters anecdotes of Republican men preventing their ...
2
votes
0answers
70 views
Is there any US political program mentioning “truth decay” (or similar concept) as an issue that should be tacked?
I have learnt about "truth decay" by accident from here:
(..) “Truth Decay” — the diminishing role of facts and analysis in
American public life.
There are four trends that characterize ...
