Questions tagged [united-states]
Questions relating to the government or the politics of the United States of America
6,216
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Why have Biden's approval polls consistently been dropping since August?
Since around the start of August, President Biden's approval began to tank. According to 538, Biden's approval is currently at 43.8%. They recently wrote an article about how his approval is dropping ...
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Why do Democrats make a big deal about new voting restrictions if research suggests they may backfire?
In previous elections, Democrats such as Stacey Abrams publicly said that the election system was being rigged against them by certain laws. While they put together a persuasive case, there is also ...
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3answers
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Is running a fake campaign to siphon votes legal?
Let's say you want run for office as an independent candidate in a congressional or state legislative district that is expected to be a close election.
You run a quiet campaign for the purpose of ...
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0answers
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Do candidates with Hispanic/Asian sounding surnames get extra Democratic support in low-information non-partisan state/local US elections?
It is well known that there are partisan differences in different racial groups in the United States. There are also smaller differences in how men and women tend to vote. White Americans favor ...
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Should the FTC or the NHTSA or even Congress step up and regulate the undisclosed trade of “lemon buyback” vehicles? [closed]
I seek, among other things, to understand if there is an apathy in the U.S. and whether it is the reason for the lawmakers own indifference of the issue which otherwise affect thousands of vehicles ...
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1answer
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Why does US law allow for a speaker that is not elected? [closed]
The question is based on an article from NPR which states that "there's no requirement that the speaker has to be an elected representative." Part of my question was not answered in the ...
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98 views
Is the embargo against Cuba unconstitutional? [closed]
The Supreme Court found in Citizens United v. FEC that government restrictions on spending for political purposes are prohibited by the First Amendment. Would that make the economic embargo against ...
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2answers
116 views
Non Elected House Speaker [duplicate]
This question is related to this article from NPR. The article states that "there's no requirement the speaker has to be an elected representative." This is referring to to US House. The ...
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2answers
242 views
Who are the prototypical modern-day slaves in the USA, according to Walk Free?
Walk Free's Global Slavery Index estimates there were 403,000 modern day slaves in the USA (in 2018), but that puts the USA in fairly good position per capita [in the Americas] with only 1.3 slaves ...
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Is the US developing an informal form of party discipline? [closed]
In US elections, candidates are elected individually. However, most recent elections track closely with each other in terms of partisan vote choice.
The reason this is relevant is in the past, there ...
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5answers
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What do some Iranians mean when they say "Death to America!"?
I was watching an old Anthony Bourdain show and I saw local Iranians in Tehran chanting "Death to America!" and then in the next scene saying "We need one day to be friends".
Do ...
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4answers
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US government arguing for A death sentence while arguing against THE death sentence; does US Supreme Court Justice Barrett have a point?
ABC News's Justices divide sharply on reinstating Boston Marathon bomber death sentence begins:
Reciting the gruesome details of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and its violent aftermath, an ...
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Does the Democratic National Committee have a mission statement and foundational documents?
I'm looking for documents like an organizational charter that might be stable over years.
National level, not state or local.
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2answers
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Is it possible that the US will default on its debt in foreseeable future? [closed]
The US has a history of having its debt grow, increasing the debt ceiling and repeating the cycle:
Source
Normally, the states don't default on debts denominated in their own currency, because they ...
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1answer
285 views
When does a national debt become too much?
I've always heard that it's good for countries to have debt to spark growth, but at what point does a national debt become so big that it becomes a problem?
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1answer
126 views
Did the US government profit from any of the military hardware they gave to the Afghan government?
The US government gave a lot of military aid to the Afghan government and even helped them maintain many of the equipment through western contractors. Did they ever get the full or partial price for ...
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1answer
208 views
Why didn't the USA first evacuate civilians then focus on evacuating their army from Afghanistan?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjF-8lZcTfQ
At 2:30 in this video Russel Berman points out that civilians should have been evacuated out first and then the military should have been evacuated. This ...
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1answer
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New Jersey early voting statistics 2021
I typed "2021 early vote New Jersey statistics" into my search engine. I could not find any relevant results.
Are there publicly available statistics on early voting in the 2021 New Jersey ...
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1answer
262 views
Early voting data for Ohio House elections 2021?
In Ohio there are two general elections for the House, in the 11th and 15th district. Both are to different degrees considered safe seats.
Early voting started last Tuesday. I want to see the number ...
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Why does the United States federal government have a debt ceiling? Isn't it entirely redundant to the budget?
In the United States, the debt ceiling limits how much money the federal government can borrow. This ceiling was apparently introduced in 1939.
Why does the debt ceiling exist? Congress approves the ...
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1answer
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Why doesn't the Governor of the US state of Idaho fire the Lt. Governor for insubordination? Can they be punished in any way at all?
Idaho Public Radio's McGeachin and Little battle over COVID-related executive orders — again details a situation where as soon as Idaho's Governor left the state on official business the Lieutenant ...
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1answer
160 views
How big a short term debt ceiling increase is McConnell agreeing to?
Senate Republicans have thus far refused to raise the debt ceiling, which needs to be raised by October 18 to prevent the US Government from defaulting on the national debt. They have been insisting ...
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What tough votes can Senate Republicans force in a debt ceiling reconciliation bill?
Ordinarily, bills require a 60-vote supermajority to pass the United States Senate, due to the filibuster. But there is a Budget Reconciliation process that allows certain budget-related bills to be ...
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5answers
633 views
Why doesn't the US have party discipline?
Two Senators are refusing to vote for Joe Biden's infrastructure bill, so I was wondering why the U.S does not have a party discipline system.
As the name suggests, if a majority of people in a party ...
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1answer
157 views
What new reconciliation powers has Schumer obtained?
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell just sent a letter to President Biden explaining why Senate Republicans don't intend to vote to raise the debt ceiling, which needs to be raised by October 18 to ...
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1answer
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Why does New York City spend 3 times as much per year per inmate than the runner up King County (Seattle)?
New York City spends nearly 450k per prisoner per year, which is almost 3 times higher than second place King County (which contains Seattle). Why is New York such an outlier?
Source: Vera Institute ...
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4answers
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Why don't more people move to safe seats to run for office in the US?
Three out of eight US voters live in a congressional district represented by the opposite party of who they voted for for president. This figure is true for both Biden and Trump voters.
This makes you ...
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1answer
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Has Biden held far fewer press interviews than Obama or Trump in an equivalent time period?
According to one CJR article:
Biden conducted far fewer interviews during his first months in office than Trump did: nine in his first hundred days, compared with fifty-one for Trump and forty-six ...
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3answers
339 views
Just what does a $3.5 trillion spending package mean?
We are now two days into October 2021; and two days into the new federal fiscal year, FY2022. It seems like a good time to take stock.
We've got the President's complete, authentic online version of ...
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1answer
155 views
What is the view of Joe Biden on having a balanced budget?
As mentioned here a balanced budget used to have a decent amount of support among the American people. What is the view of Joe Biden on having a balanced budget?
asked Oct 2 at 14:31
Ekadh Singh - Reinstate Monica
2,0482 gold badges12 silver badges42 bronze badges
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1answer
454 views
Who are the White House staff member or members that are cutting off the President from taking questions?
Apparently President Biden is routinely cut off and prevented from taking questions from reporters by the White House staff who are never identified in these reports. Most recently this occurred ...
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1answer
106 views
Recent polling on U.S. Balanced Budget (Amendment or other)?
A balanced budget for the federal government has long had strong popular support among the American people:
Has such public support continued past 2014? Can anyone cite more recent credible polling ...
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How can the federal government force vaccine and mask mandates? [duplicate]
Delta Covid-19 cases are rising in states such as Texas and Florida, yet politicians there refuse to pass mask and vaccine mandates. How can the federal government force these states to mandate masks ...
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Has the US military ever admitted a strategic mistake for an entire war?
Lloyd Austin, the US Defense Secretary in a hearing before Congress said:
The fact that the Afghan army, that we and our partners trained, simply melted away, in many cases without firing a shot, ...
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3answers
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What is the point in having a debt ceiling when it can be relatively easily raised?
It makes some sense from a Machiavellian perspective; one can use the threat of a government shutdown to get concessions, but that's like playing chicken, and seems really irresponsible even if your ...
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1answer
805 views
When was the least bipartisan debt ceiling increase or suspension, in the past 30 years?
Pelosi said in an interview aired a couple of days ago (on Hill TV at least) that raising the debt ceiling has "always been bipartisan". Later, in the same video segment McConnell says ...
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1answer
229 views
Why do US politicians, their staffs, and media treat the budget process as obscure rather than the US Code? [closed]
As an introduction, let's consider the symbolic world of the popular political television series The Good Fight, which has a clever way of staying up-to-date with current political events without ...
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1answer
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Where can I find written rulings of the Senate Parliamentarian?
Many topics in the news recently refer to rulings made by the Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough. However, so far, I've not been able to find links to the actual text of those rulings. Does ...
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1answer
207 views
If the US Postal Service is self-sustaining, why does the Federal Government choose to retain full ownership?
The United States Postal Service is a federal agency that receives no taxpayer funding. If the Post Office receives no taxpayer funding and can carry out its mission sustainably if not for that whole &...
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2answers
278 views
What danger(s) does Chuck Schumer see in using reconciliation to increase debt limit?
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said that if Congress does not raise the debt limit by mid-October, 2021, the U.S. could default, which could have macroeconomic implications.
The Senate minority ...
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1answer
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Balanced budget (amendments) in U.S. States
I understand that 43 out of 50 U.S. states are constitutionally required to have balanced budgets. Are there identifiable trends in how and when these states implemented the requirement in their ...
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4answers
235 views
Political & electoral fallout from low vaxx rates among Republicans? [closed]
CNN published an article yesterday that outlined how states with the lowest vaccination rates, highest case rates, and (critical to this question), highest death rates are all run by Republican ...
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1answer
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Isn't 50 +1 not enough to increase the debt ceiling and avoid a government shutdown
Currently, the Senate is split 50/50 but the Democrats have the presidency or they have a slim majority in the Senate.
My question is do the Democrats need a Republican vote to increase the debt ...
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How can President Biden claim his Build Back Better Agenda costs zero dollars?
A @POTUS Twitter post over the weekend made some fiscal representations I'd like to understand.
President Biden
@POTUS
United States government official
My Build Back Better Agenda costs zero dollars....
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1answer
601 views
When and from where was the PAC first legally defined
The FEC explains the different types of political action committees (PACs) but did Congress legally define what a PAC is? I'm assuming that the FEC didn't legally define what a PAC is since it is a ...
3
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1answer
83 views
Why is the US envoy to Haiti criticising the US support for Ariel Henry as prime-minister of Haiti?
According to the recent Democracy Now article, titled, Haiti Envoy Resigns Over Mass Deportations, Blasts History of US Interventions, Daniel Foote, the US envoy to Haiti wrote in his resignation ...
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How did Meng Wanzhou become free to go back to China?
Recently, some Chinese people and media are celebrating the success of Meng Wanzhou, the CFO of Huawei. On 1 December 2018, while transferring planes at Vancouver International Airport en route to ...
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1answer
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Has anyone other than Rashida Tlaib called Israel an Apartheid regime in Congress?
In the recent legislation that granted Israel $1 billion of military aid for their Iron Dome defensive system and that passed in Congress, Rashida Tlaib, the US representative for the 13th ...
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2answers
238 views
Why haven't any Republican-controlled states moved to ban or severely restrict mail in voting? [closed]
In the lead up and after the 2020 presidential election, it was clear that voting by mail had a clear divide, mostly driven by Donald Trump's demonization of the process as well as other Republicans. ...
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2answers
392 views
How were US progressives able to deny Israel a billion dollars of funding for their Iron Dome, and is this the first time?
Recently, a cohort of US progressives - all Democrats and including the Squad - were able to deny a billion dollars of funding for Israel's Iron Dome. Even if, as The Washington Times claims, a ...