Questions relating to the government or the politics of the United States of America
1
vote
2answers
71 views
Is paying for ex-staff's silence a legal use of campaign funds?
The Trump administration reportedly requires outgoing staff members to sign NDAs (NYT).1,2 Also reported, these agreements provide the staff member a $15,000 per month payment (NYT) for their silence. ...
0
votes
0answers
60 views
Are there any longitudinal studies on the moral decline of America? [on hold]
There's the concept that America is in a moral decline, which can mean two different things. One is that Americans are becoming more accepting of gay marriage, less religious, etc. The other is that ...
6
votes
2answers
270 views
What supposed dynamics within the US Green Party prevent its growth?
In this recent interview, journalist Chris Hedges (the interviewer) says that:
The Green party is largely dysfunctional. I've spent a lot of time with the Green Party and I won't support the ...
58
votes
6answers
13k views
Is Space Force being taken seriously?
It seems like there have been a number of unusual ideas in recent American politics. And that's saying something because, as a foreigner looking in, it's never seemed normal.
Is Space Force being ...
26
votes
2answers
6k views
Is 46 Republican House members retiring unusual?
I was listening to Pod Save America and they were talking about the upcoming mid-terms and the "fact" that 46 house Republicans are retiring. According to them, that is unusual.
Are there 46 House ...
-1
votes
1answer
226 views
What's the highest level of official recognition that an African country gave to their “brothers” in the US?
I'm guessing that some African countries might have given their "brothers" (see further below a discussion what this could possibly mean) over the Atlantic, meaning African Americans, some kind of ...
3
votes
0answers
31 views
What was the largest case of fraud involving TARP money (financial crisis bailout funds)?
There were hundreds of convictions for misusing TARP money given as bailout after the 2008 financial crisis.
The US government set up the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in October 2008 to ...
-5
votes
2answers
181 views
Objective minimum prerequisites for the formation of an independent modern sovereign nation-state by African-Americans? [duplicate]
What are the objective minimum prerequisite components necessary for "black" or "African American" people in the United States to form their own modern independent sovereign nation-state?
Why this ...
4
votes
4answers
373 views
How come no bank chiefs in the US & UK went to prison for the financial crash of 2008?
This story by Forbes points that the only bank chiefs in the financial crisis that engulfed the Western world in 2007/8 were from Iceland:
This is where the worlds only bank chiefs imprisoned in ...
-3
votes
1answer
103 views
How many US bases surround Iran? [on hold]
According to the graphic in this site: information clearing house, 45 US bases surround Iran. Some of them look quite distant though, for example The Prince Sultan base is right in the middle of ...
0
votes
4answers
264 views
Does the US government tell companies like Youtube, Facebook, Apple, and Spotify what to do?
Recently some of Alex Jones's accounts were banned from Apple, Youtube, Spotify, and Facebook.
These are private companies but it has been suggested that (in this instance, and also in general) these ...
0
votes
1answer
49 views
How many treaties did US presidents terminate without Congress approval?
An opinion piece by Senator Russ Feingold on NBC says:
although it took a 1945 vote in the Senate to allow President Harry Truman to ratify the U.N. Charter, the current weight of legal opinion ...
2
votes
1answer
369 views
Who designed the proposed Space Force logos?
On August 9, 2018, the Trump administration provided several proposed logos for their planned Space Force. Who designed these logos? Is there some government organization that is tasked with creating ...
11
votes
3answers
1k views
What are the steps for a person to become a US Ambassador, after the nomination?
I have heard on radio about the US Ambassador in Romania, Hans Klemm, being recalled to Washington:
US Ambassador Hans Klemm will be recalled to Washington, Romanian FM
Teodor Melescanu has ...
0
votes
1answer
40 views
What's the ratio of treaties ratified by Congress to other forms of international agreements the US is part of?
An NBC opinion piece says by former Senator Russ Feingold states:
There have been relatively few treaties considered by Congress in recent decades, in part because executive agreements and regular ...
3
votes
0answers
42 views
How many treaties ratified by Congress did the US exit unilaterally?
In an attempt to better focus a recent question asked here that is popular but very open to interpretation (which alas often happens on politics SE), I want to ask:
Are there any statistics on ...
56
votes
4answers
8k views
Is the US unusually prone to walking away from signed treaties/accords?
For example, the Iran proliferation Deal. Letting aside considerations about where or not it was a good agreement, this is still the US agreeing to something and then not carrying it out.
Other ...
-4
votes
0answers
92 views
Is the Presidency in decline, as an important organ of US Government? [closed]
Given the current separation in the type of foreign policy adopted by the US President on the one part, and Congress on the other, does this presage a decline in the influence of the Presidency as an ...
7
votes
1answer
293 views
Entire court impeached
The West Virginia House Judiciary Committee has voted to impeach the entire West Virginia Supreme Court. This vote means that it will go to the WV house floor for impeachment consideration.
Here's ...
5
votes
1answer
138 views
Russian sanctions under Trump
NBC just announced President Trump was imposing additional sanctions upon Russia for the Skirpal poisoning incident in the UK. These come on top of sanction increases in April, 2018
Senior Trump ...
6
votes
3answers
378 views
Has Israel interfered in US Elections?
According to a July 2018 Independent article, Noam Chomsky said that Israel interfered in US election(s):
Veteran activist Noam Chomsky has accused Israel of “brazenly” interfering in US electoral ...
-5
votes
0answers
118 views
Who can be charged with sedition if the Mueller investigation does not find evidence of collusion? [closed]
A number of politicians and public personalities have accused the President of The United States of colluding with the Russian Federation to change the result of 2016 presidential election. This ...
0
votes
0answers
39 views
What is the US government's position regarding cyberwar; is a cyber attack considered to be an act of war? [duplicate]
Has it been found legally that a cyber attack on the US is in fact an act of war? Is this established law? The facts on the ground are that DoD has created a Cyber Command, on par w it's CentCom so ...
3
votes
4answers
308 views
Was attending the meeting by Trump Jr., Kushner or Manafort, an “act to effect the object of the conspiracy” within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. 371?
18 U.S. Code § 371 - Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States
If two or more persons conspire either to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United ...
13
votes
3answers
582 views
Does the Trump tower meeting differ from standard opposition research?
As events of the Trump tower meeting unfold, President Trump has repeatedly cast the meeting in the light of a typical attempt at opposition research. Previously he has said:
"I think from a ...
29
votes
4answers
4k views
In the US, why does the government have the right to regulate how political parties hold their primaries?
In the US, various states have different rules on how parties may hold their primaries: some require direct ballots, some require caucuses, some states hold "open" primaries and some are "closed. But ...
14
votes
1answer
3k views
What are some examples of substantial voter disenfranchisement by electronic voting in the United States?
I'm somewhat familiar with the Sequoia AVC case in New Jersey, from a Usenix paper by Appel et al.:
We found two design flaws of the AVC Advantage which may cause inaccuracy in counting votes [...] ...
5
votes
2answers
214 views
Can the EU maintain financial channels and Oil trade with Iran like they claim in their statement on reimposition of US sanctions on the country?
The US has announced fully enforcing sanctions on Iran, starting from Tuesday this week.
The EU issued their statement on that, stating that they regret the US decision but the most curious part is:
...
1
vote
2answers
168 views
What are the negative consequences of stricter opioid prescription policies?
Several states and the DEA have spent the past few years “cracking down” on doctors who prescribe opioids such as OxyContin. However, we are now experiencing a heroin epidemic and the opioid problem ...
19
votes
3answers
6k views
Did Ukraine lose half its GDP because of sanctions against Russia?
According to a Russian News Agency Ukrainian politician Evgeny Murayev said that
Anti-Russian sanctions of the EU and the United States deprived the Ukraine
from half of its gross domestic ...
3
votes
0answers
35 views
What are the main differences between UK and US (NEP) exit polls, methodologically?
The UK since 2001-2005 has apparently managed to get extremely accurate exit-polls:
Prior to 2001 the methods used had been different, and the accuracy of predictions based on exit polls was rather ...
3
votes
1answer
83 views
Is exit-polling more accurate than pre-election polling?
It has been claimed so in a comment which cites a FT article that I can't read (right now). Presumably the topic is interesting enough to have been discussed elsewhere.
I'm mainly interested in the ...
5
votes
5answers
611 views
Why is the USA uneasy with China but not India?
US sets up security assistance fund to counter China
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Saturday announced the intent
to provide nearly $300 million of security assistance for nations in
...
1
vote
0answers
33 views
What does Gonzales v. Raich mean for property rights? [migrated]
In 2002, Angel Raich had her home raided by federal agents who stole her six cannabis plants. At the time, medicinal cannabis was legal in California, so Raich claimed the federal government didn’t ...
0
votes
1answer
182 views
What is the importance of Andrew Brunson for the US government?
Andrew Brunson was arrested in 2016 because of being a member of FETÖ, which is an organization responsible* for the coup attempt in Turkey.
* This is the consensus in Turkey. In addition, the ...
4
votes
2answers
90 views
Does the UK have anything resembling the US Foreign Agents Registration Act?
Does the UK have any laws (its own or EU-level) that require lobbying and propaganda paid by foreign sources to be disclosed as such? For example the US has the famous FARA (quoting Wikipedia's ...
2
votes
2answers
200 views
Is there some kind of conglomerate (“family”) which runs the majority of the US media sources?
One thing I have noticed while comparing our "Russian" news to the ones in the US is that both countries can be biased on certain events (while some don't get media attention if its not profitable).
...
32
votes
13answers
18k views
Why don't Democrats and Republicans collude?
Why don't Democrats and Republicans collude to establish total and perpetual control of the United States? What makes them not do that? Is there any explanation other than prisoner's dilemma?
This ...
4
votes
7answers
202 views
Is there any recent US campaign that contradicts “all politics is local” conjecture?
I have watched this TED presentation that argues about global issues:
(..) you might be thinking to yourself, how can we possibly persuade
world leaders to sustain a focus on global issues? ...
1
vote
1answer
64 views
Rights of foreign national to lobby congress members
Can someone who is living in the United States on a temporary work visa lobby the Congressman in their district to create or pass a bill in Congress? Would they have to become a registered foreign ...
5
votes
0answers
211 views
How does the discrepancy between exit polls and results in recent US elections compare to pre-electronic machine margins?
Question
Before we used electronic voting machines, were the discrepancies between exit polls and results in swing states different? I'm simply looking for this information so I can draw my own ...
23
votes
2answers
5k views
What were Trump's specific accusations justifying imposing tariffs against China?
President Trump repeatedly talked about China's unfair trade practices. What were those?
Do other countries like China install unfair trade guidelines? Or, is China being targeted "unfairly"?
6
votes
1answer
110 views
Why do states fund primary elections?
Presumably there are significant costs associated with the running of a primary election - printing/voting machines, staffing, rental of voting places. Reading other questions here, it is implied that ...
5
votes
2answers
495 views
Who voted for Arthur J. Jones the neo-Nazi Republican candidate for Illinois's 3rd congressional district?
In the Illinois 3rd district Republican primary, Arthur Jones got about 20 thousand votes, which is approximately the same the 2012 primary winner got.
This number seems surprisingly high considering ...
1
vote
1answer
54 views
Where can I find a fiscal year to date and year over year chart of federal tax revenues?
I am interested in analyzing the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 on federal revenues so far in FY 2018.
1
vote
1answer
38 views
Is there an online resource for latest US presidential campaigns highlights?
I am interested in the highlights (e.g. platform main ideas, slogans) of the latest (5-6) US presidential campaigns. For example, for the 2016 US presidential campaign the information should look ...
1
vote
1answer
60 views
Do any states within the U.S. plan to introduce legislation which would enable a deduction similar to the Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction?
I understand that the Qualified Business Income deduction, introduced into law by the Tax Cuts and Job Act of 2017, is applicable at the federal level as a 20% deduction of qualified business income ...
20
votes
4answers
3k views
Does the European Union buy soybeans?
Thursday reports relative to the Juncker-Trump meeting:
Europeans agreed ... to buy billions of dollars of American soybeans.
Now, my question is quite simple: Does the European union buy ...
4
votes
2answers
310 views
Why was the “value-added model” algorithm kept secret?
This TED presentation says that the New York Department of Education is using a secret algorithm to evaluate teachers:
(..) teachers were being scored with a complex, secret algorithm
called the "...
4
votes
1answer
118 views
What is Imran Khan's position regarding Pakistan-US relations?
In the 2018 General Elections of Pakistan held yesterday, Imran Khan has emerged as the new leader with his party winning some 115 seats in the Parliament.
What is his stance on the US and the ...
