Questions tagged [united-states]
Questions relating to the government or the politics of the United States of America
3,697
questions
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Why don't politicians push for fossil fuel reduction by pointing out their scarcity?
Fact A: Climate change is predominantly caused by fossil fuel usage (focusing only on what we humans control).
Fact B: Many people refuse to believe that climate change is an important issue.
Fact C:...
0
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2answers
71 views
What happens if Japan refuses to pay the U.S. for its military presence?
What happens if Japan refuses to pay the U.S. for its military presence? Is there a procedure for such a situation? Or would the U.S. simply pull its troops out of Japan and let Japan fend for itself? ...
4
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3answers
55 views
How does Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act shield companies from liability of bias?
Section 230(c)(1):
No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.
There ...
1
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3answers
112 views
Can the president or the Congress pass a law to dismantle the super-delegate system used by the DNC?
Can the president or the Congress pass a law to dismantle the super-delegate system used by the DNC? Or is it somehow outside their power to do so and each party can set up their own rules as long as ...
2
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3answers
187 views
Why does the USA have 'First Lady' as a position of power?
I understand that this position is not unique to the USA, but I'm asking specifically about the role's specific existence in the country.
Why is it that we as a country continue to place such a high ...
4
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2answers
203 views
What are the geopolitical reasons for the United States wanting to buy Greenland?
Apparently, the US has been interested in buying Greenland (an autonomous country of the Kingdom of Denmark) since at least 1946 when the Truman administration attempted to buy it for $100 million ...
4
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3answers
131 views
Are there any major differences between the powers of an acting president and the actual president?
Background
Sections 3 and 4 of the 25th amendment talks about the role of Acting President.
Section 3.
Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker ...
0
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1answer
42 views
Does each different kind of Congressional act require a different level of rigor?
Background
In the legislative branch, there are several kinds of acts congress can initiate:
A Bill, which is a proposed law that originates in either the House of Representatives or the Senate. ...
2
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1answer
140 views
How were unconstitutional laws invalidated before Marbury v Madison?
Background
In the United States, one of the lasting conclusions of Marbury V. Madison was the establishment of judicial review, that is, the ability of the courts to strike down a law as ...
1
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1answer
174 views
How was voting “present” on the Green New Deal resolution meant to be taken as a protest?
Background
Back in March 26th, of 2019, Mitch McConnell forced a vote on the Green New Deal resolution proposed by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and later Ed Markey. The vote ended as such:
The measure,...
5
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0answers
76 views
When is a US tariff actually paid?
Trying to understand when a tariff is actually imposed & paid on goods coming into the US.
The Trump administration has announced at various times changes in tariffs to be imposed on certain ...
5
votes
1answer
168 views
Has there ever been a notable proposal to amend Article V of the U.S. Constitution?
Background
In the U.S. Constitution, the process by which the Constitution can be amended is laid out in Article V:
Article V
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it ...
1
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2answers
260 views
Could Congress annul a declaration of war from the U.S. President?
Could Congress annul a declaration of war from the U.S. President? Let's say that the President declared war against Cuba for no reason, could Congress step in and annul the declaration of war or is ...
3
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3answers
272 views
Could the US federal government turn a state into a territory like India has with Jammu and Kashmir
India has recently begun the process of turning one of the states of India into 2 territories with the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. Disregarding the rights and wrongs of this, it seems ...
6
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2answers
621 views
Why not demand President's/candidate's financial records instead of tax returns?
What significance could the information in Donald Trump's tax return have to his campaign? addresses what information could be gleaned from Donald Trump's tax returns if he allowed them to be ...
51
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2answers
12k views
Would the USA be eligible to join the European Union?
This question is motivated by the interesting answers given in a similar question on Russia. Let's imagine the USA leaders would want to join the European Union, would they be eligible?
There are two ...
24
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4answers
6k views
Why won't the Republicans use a superdelegate system like the DNC in their nomination process?
Why won't the Republicans use a superdelegate system like the DNC in their nomination process? Is there a reason why they didn't push for this yet? What does the Republican party think of a ...
3
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1answer
221 views
Why does Biden show two trend-lines with his polls?
Looking at the poll numbers shown by realclearpolitics.com for 2020 Democratic Presidential Nomination. Specifically Biden's poll numbers. There seems to be two trend-lines for him instead of one. One ...
35
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6answers
16k views
Are there really no countries that protect Freedom of Speech as the United States does?
During the past few months I've seen a few news items about Europeans not having that much freedom of speech online, specifically in the UK. Americans, on the other hand, always pride themselves on ...
0
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0answers
5 views
Can someone be involuntarily committed without having prior knowledge? [migrated]
Can someone be taken into custody for a mental health evaluation and possible involuntary commitment without any notification before someone actually shows up at their door to take them to a hospital? ...
0
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2answers
157 views
Why did issues about rural district representation not concern framers of the 17th amendment?
Background
In the United States, the 17th amendment changed the election of senators from state legislatures to the popular vote:
Amendment XVII
The Senate of the United States shall be ...
1
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3answers
304 views
Why does Andrew Yang want to give people 1.000 dollars per month when that is a relative value? [closed]
From his apparent website,
Andrew Yang is running for President as Democrat in 2020 to implement the Freedom Dividend. This form of UBI that he is proposing for the United States is a set of ...
3
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2answers
337 views
The NRA is a major known U.S. lobbying group claiming to protect the second amendment. Do equivalent groups exist for other amendments?
Background
In the United States, the NRA's first point in its mission statement talks about its insistence on the defense of the second amendment of the United States Constitution:
To protect and ...
-1
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1answer
154 views
Amending the constitution to allow for multiple presidents
If someone proposed a change to the current system of the president of the United States, like electing three presidents and needing two to sign off on each bill, for example, would this be possible? ...
77
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11answers
22k views
If “more guns less crime”, how do gun advocates explain that the EU has less crime than the US?
As a naive European, I thought that the self-defense argument for guns in the US was mostly based on the high number of guns already in the country. In other words, I thought that the argument takes ...
1
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1answer
42 views
Do trade or currency wars require congressional approval?
According to the US Consitution, Article 1, Section 8, US Congress has the power "To declare War".
Currently, several mainstream news outlets are describing various tariff increases by the current US ...
5
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1answer
292 views
How are “Red Flag Laws” not a violation of Due Process protection?
Red Flag laws, aka Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO) are state laws that provide for a process of confiscating firearms that are accessible to persons, who by judicial order, are found to be ...
-1
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1answer
119 views
Why aren't other states objecting against Iowa and New Hampshire being the first primary states?
During both Republican and Democratic primaries, Iowa and New Hampshire get a disproportionate amount of attention due to being the first two states to run the vote. This gives these two small states ...
5
votes
3answers
372 views
How often do private-owned guns protect US-Americans
As far as I understand, the main argument for US-Americans having guns is to protect themselves.
I am wondering if there are statistics which show
How often a civilian US-American person saved his ...
2
votes
2answers
106 views
Why do early states matter more in presidential primaries?
There’s a whole ton of attention and polls of places like Iowa and New Hampshire that vote earlier than others in the primaries. Reading sites like FiveThirtyEight, it seems like these are a pretty ...
6
votes
1answer
179 views
Why are machine guns not subject to Second Amendment protections? [duplicate]
There is an argument that any control of weapons in private hands is forbidden by the Second Amendment. However there are several gun control laws that are seemingly unchallenged.
Getting a tank with ...
1
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0answers
129 views
What are realistic ways a dissolution of the United States could happen? [closed]
After reading this article, I was imagining realistic ways a dissolution of the US could theoretically play out. The Supreme Court found in Texas v. White that states do not have the right to secede. ...
7
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1answer
247 views
What has been the result (so far) of the new US sanctions on Iran?
About 14 months ago, President Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran. As I remember, one of goals of the sanctions was to reduce Iran's influence in the Middle East by reducing its financial resources.
...
85
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18answers
12k views
Do other countries guarantee freedoms that the United States does not have?
Lifelong citizens of the United States report that they are accustomed to hearing that the US is the "Land of the Free" and most patriotic celebrations seem to emphasize freedom as one of the unique ...
68
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10answers
13k views
Why is there a need to prevent a racist, sexist, or otherwise bigoted vendor from discriminating who they sell to?
Background
The issue of discriminating who you sell to in the United States seems to be premised on the fact that businesses are public accomodations according to this article:
Whether you post a ...
60
votes
6answers
10k views
Does the United States guarantee any unique freedoms?
As a lifelong citizen of the United States, I'm accustomed to hearing that the US is the "Land of the Free" and most patriotic celebrations seem to emphasize freedom as one of the unique qualities of ...
6
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2answers
187 views
Can the senate vote to condemn? Is this even an official practice?
Recently, the Democrat-controlled House voted to condemn 3 of President Trump's tweets. This gave me two questions:
Can the Republican Senate do the same based on their political desires and
Is "...
0
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3answers
165 views
Evidence for meeting Treasury Criteria for Currency Manipulation
In order for a country to be designated as a currency manipulator, it needs to meet three criteria set by the Treasury itself:
Significant bilateral trade surplus with the United States
...
0
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1answer
160 views
What part of the Firearm Owners' Protection Act prohibits a ballistics database?
An audit by the ATF in 2005 in regard to NIBIN (National Integrated Ballistic Information Network) states:
Finally, we found that the ATF had established minimal controls to ensure that ballistic ...
7
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5answers
2k views
Why is the US constitution so set in stone and immobile, leading to inevitable anachronisms with the modern world? [closed]
As far as I know, the US is the only country in the world that has surrounded their constitution with a "don't touch, just reinterpret" veil of protection.
I live in a country where changing the ...
3
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4answers
352 views
What reasoning is being used to differentiate firearms in the Jan 2019 proposed law?
The Jan 9, 2019 proposed law (https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/a/4/a46156b5-9337-4193-95db-d381bc3c6fe3/E12DA96F0D3C33D8F714C5E186B1CD38.awb.pdf) is signed by many Democratic ...
50
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7answers
14k views
Why do proponents of guns oppose gun competency tests?
Many people on the right who are in favor of the right to own guns do so based on reasons such as safety. For example, in the wake of pretty much any mass shooting, you will have people come out and ...
4
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1answer
167 views
Why are some Senators so insistent on using unanimous resolution to pass election security bills?
Background
Recently, Mitch McConnell was the only senator to stop two unanimous resolutions on election security:
On July 25th he said
“Clearly this request is not a serious effort to make a law. ...
31
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7answers
12k views
How easy is it to get a gun illegally in the United States?
One argument against gun control is:
Gun control only hurts law-abiding citizens. A person intent on doing harm will simply just acquire it illegally.
And so my question is, how good is this ...
10
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2answers
335 views
In American politics is the “free ride” problem (Japanese defence spending) acknowledged as a direct consequence of American strategy?
I have been reading an article from The Atlantic which was published in 1989, on the question of whether Japan enjoys a "free ride" with regards to defence spending. This is a topic which has ...
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2answers
133 views
Is there any regulation meant to limit coverage of mass shootings? Are any politicians pushing for such ideas?
The recent mass shootings in the United States were widely covered by the media. It isn't a new observation that the extensive coverage of such events aid in the popularization of the killer and also ...
4
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3answers
3k views
Can a House-impeached but not Senate-convicted president run for a second term?
Suppose the House impeaches Trump but the Senate does not convict him and he is not removed from office. Could this House-impeached president run for a second term?
3
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1answer
100 views
How has Angus King explained why he's an Independent?
Angus King is an independent who caucuses with the Democrats. Unlike Bernie Sanders, he is a pretty normal-seeming Democrat, not a self-described democratic socialist. What has he said about his ...
2
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2answers
697 views
Why do the U.S. (and other republics) not have separate capital cities for each branch of government?
Background
In South Africa, the cities of Bloemfontein, Cape Town, and Johannesburg are the seats of power for the Judicial, Legislative, and Executive branches of government.
In the United States ...
8
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1answer
170 views
What are the groups that can legally challenge Trump's tariffs and can they have them reversed?
In a Wikipedia article about Trump's tariffs, it is argued that Trump's tariffs are illegal and The American Chamber of Commerce is considering suing. Can any other group other than them sue Trump and ...
