Questions tagged [united-states]
Questions relating to the government or the politics of the United States of America
3,872
questions
3
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2answers
245 views
Why do US presidents play golf? [on hold]
Most US presidents play golf.
On the other hand, I'm not aware of any recent British prime ministers who played the game.
While golf is probably more popular in the US than in the UK, I don't think ...
1
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1answer
138 views
Are there ANY examples of corruption in Ukraine where the USA has an actual stake?
Assuming that the USA does not want to take on the role of being the world's policeman for any corruption where ever it might occur, The US might legitimately be concerned about corruption (occurring ...
1
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0answers
60 views
What is the longest someone served in the US Senate before they sponsored and passed a major piece of legislation?
Major can be defined as anything other than nonbinding resolutions, naming of public buildings, national days, flag commemorations and the like. And by passed I mean the act was voted into law. I ...
1
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0answers
18 views
Did the now closed pro-Saudi think tank Arabia Foundation register as a foreign agent?
The Washington-based pro-Saudi Arabia Foundation think tank closed in the aftermath of the Khashoggi murder. I'm curious however: was the Foundation required to list itself as a foreign agent under ...
0
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0answers
17 views
Does Al Arabiya have a presence in the US? And if so, was there any effort to list them a a foreign agent?
Related to my question on Al Jazeera, does its UAE-based competitor
Al Arabiya have a presence in the US? And if it does, have there been any efforts, e.g. Congressional opinions on having them ...
-1
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0answers
28 views
Has the DOJ taken any steps to list Al Jazeera as a foreign agent?
News this summer was that group of US Senators was pushing the DOJ to list Al Jazeera as ‘foreign agent’ (or probably force them to list themselves as such under FARA).
In a letter to the justice ...
6
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5answers
3k views
Can only rich people become president?
It seems that, in practice, the US Presidency is limited to rich people. For example, elections are extremely expensive and getting attention during the primaries and general election seems to require ...
2
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1answer
38 views
Did Rand Paul publicly approve of Obama's withdrawal from Iraq?
Rand Paul is one of the few (I think) high-level Republicans who publically approved of Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria. (Even Mitch McConnell attacked it and reminded that "A bipartisan ...
2
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0answers
49 views
Why did the U.S. forced Japan to stop its government subsidized VLSI project while it also had its own government subsidized VLSI project?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VLSI_Project
On Japan's side, the government was concerned about a negative impact
on its relationship with the United States with regard to both
national security ...
-4
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0answers
81 views
Are there any historical examples of false consciousness? [on hold]
False consciousness means acting against your interest due to misinformation. Has this ever happened in politics,.can you give examples?
Just give 1 example?
2
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2answers
130 views
Is there a concise snapshot summary of US foreign aid and its purposes?
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, was quoted in media reports as saying:
"You don’t hold up foreign aid that we had previously appropriated for a political initiative. Period.”
I'm curious if that's ...
3
votes
1answer
127 views
Will the recent US tariffs against Scottish (and more generally UK) products cease to apply after Brexit?
The BBC has some details as to the list of products tariffed by the US as a result of the Airbus WTO ruling. Among these
Single malt Scotch whisky
According to the Scotch Whisky Association (...
21
votes
3answers
1k views
Why are the Ukraine related congressional hearings behind closed doors?
A series of high profile witnesses have recently testified in US congressional hearings about Ukraine, particularly including Marie Yovanovitch (Oct. 11, 2019) and Gordon Sondland (Oct. 17, 2019). As ...
1
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3answers
204 views
Has Pence essentially granted Kurdish Syrian territory to Turkey, subject to Russian approval?
The Guardian reports
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters would pull back from Turkey’s proposed 20-mile (32km) deep “safe zone” on its border, Pence told reporters in Ankara on Thursday evening ...
0
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3answers
341 views
Did any anti-war politicians commend Trump for removing US troops from Syria?
On the one hand, Trump's removal of troops from Syria signified the end of Kurdish independency as they were forced to officially rejoin Assad's regime to protect themselves from a Turkish invasion. ...
5
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0answers
127 views
+100
Do any Democratic Presidential candidates support a 0 copay 0 deductible Public Option?
Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Andrew Yang, and a few other 2020 Democratic Presidential candidates support a single-payer “Medicare for All” healthcare plan with zero copays and zero deductibles. ...
2
votes
1answer
233 views
Is Obama's support of Trudeau's re-election “foreign interference”? [on hold]
There have been concerns that the 2019 federal Canadian election might be the target of foreign interference.
Former U.S. president and current American citizen Barack Obama issued a public statement:...
1
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0answers
68 views
Why is the lease of Tulagi Island to a Chinese company concerns the US?
Excerpts from an article in New York Times:
Beijing’s ambitions in the South Pacific have economic, political and military ramifications.
The region is rich in natural resources, and China’s ...
-2
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2answers
137 views
Is automation a major economic threat? [on hold]
construction
Tech
Doctors
Lawyers lawyers salary growing below inflation
It seems multiple sources say most fields will be automated, remoted, or deskilled to Oblivion from 2030 to 2050. Is ...
7
votes
1answer
223 views
Are meetings between the President and leaders of congress neutrally documented for the public?
There was a recent meeting in the White House where Pelosi and Schumer walked out. Unsurprisingly the Democrats and Republicans have slightly different versions of what happened - Democrats making the ...
2
votes
1answer
171 views
Why didn't the United States sign the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic?
I read on https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vienna_Convention_on_Road_Traffic&oldid=919574725#Contracting_parties:
The United States and China are the most notable examples of non-...
-6
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2answers
147 views
Why don't the US Democrats add the withdrawal from Syria to President Trump's impeachment charges? [on hold]
It seems to me like the Democrats have the potential to gain a lot if they do. The GOP has already come out strongly against the withdrawal, as opposed to their tepid reception of the Ukraine related ...
0
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1answer
32 views
What was the ultimate fate of the 1985 defamation lawsuit against Rep. Don Sundquist?
In a pre-Westfall case (which might as well have motivated the 1988 law that increased Congresspersons' immunity against civil lawsuits), NYT reports (1987)
A Federal appeals court panel has ruled ...
1
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0answers
23 views
Are there any (post-Westfall) cases in which the Attorney General refused certification for a defamation lawsuit against a Congressperson?
The Westfall Act (1988) provides strong protection for Congresspersons against civil lawsuits. Part of the procedure that allows this protection to be effective is the fact that following Attorney ...
12
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1answer
1k views
Can US Congress members be (successfully) sued for defamation?
What is the level of protection of Congress members against civil lawsuits for statements they make, e.g. can they be successfully sued for defamation (libel, slander etc.)?
10
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3answers
271 views
+50
How [dis]similar are Trump's and Warren's (proposed) trade policies?
An AIER article says
Today Congress is statutorily impeded from stopping a continued march toward autarky, lest there appears some bipartisan legislation structured to take it back. The problem is ...
4
votes
2answers
273 views
Did Trump make any concessions in his 'Phase 1' trade deal with China today?
From what I've read, the US agreed to not proceed with a round of tariff increases on Chinese imports, and in exchange China agreed to buy several tens of billions of dollars more in agricultural ...
1
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2answers
182 views
Can the US President sue political rivals?
President Trump recently made a statement about suing Pelosi and Schiff over the impeachment inquiry.
Can the US President sue political rivals?
What would he sue about? How would that work in ...
0
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0answers
40 views
What's the point of the ranking minority member being consulted before a subpoena is issued by the chair?
A 2018 CRS document summarizing the subpoena power of committees of Congress says
Most House committees have also delegated to their chair the power to authorize subpoenas. Many of these rules ...
1
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0answers
66 views
Is there a national movement for a plural executive in the federal government?
In the United States, there has been a long standing movement for the unitary power of the executive branch. That is, there is a well known movement that purports:
a "hierarchical, unified ...
3
votes
2answers
76 views
What are the political or business connections of Parnas and Fruman in the former USSR countries?
From breaking news in the Guardian:
Two associates of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, have been charged with election finance violations for channeling foreign money into the ...
17
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3answers
3k views
When and why did the House rules change to permit an inquiry without a vote?
This other question asks whether the House requires a vote to begin an impeachment inquiry, but several of the answers (including the accepted one) point out that the rules have changed since Clinton'...
1
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0answers
53 views
Should the House of Representatives have voted on the impeachment investigation? [duplicate]
The White House has sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and several heads of committees, refusing to cooperate with the impeachment investigation. The argument is that the investigation is ...
4
votes
2answers
258 views
Does the US Supreme Court have the authority to rule on impeachment matters?
In the ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Trump, the Trump administration has recently taken the stance that apparently they view the inquiry as invalid in some way, and are refusing to ...
29
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1answer
3k views
Have the US and Russia (or USSR before it) co-vetoed a UN resolution before today?
In an interesting development today regarding the latest Turkish operation in northern Syria.
The U.N. Security Council failed to agree on a statement on Turkey's counterterrorism operation in ...
-13
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1answer
192 views
What is the appropriate government agency to which I can report foreign influence in the domestic US process?
As many of you are well-aware, the subject of foreign influence in the domestic US process has become a subject of great concern.
Which investigative body should I inform of this clear attempt to ...
0
votes
1answer
107 views
How could presidential power realistically be reigned in over time? [closed]
As I understand it scholars generally agree that the modern president is far more powerful then originally intended by the founders of the constitution.
Over the generations presidents have been ...
9
votes
1answer
329 views
Does the US require any level of apolitical-ness from career federal employees?
We have a question here Why should public servants be apolitical? which informs us that in Westminster-inspired systems, the career civil service employees can't even tweet their political opinions ...
3
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2answers
270 views
What is Trump's plan to end or reduce US involvement in Syria?
Trump recently slammed the "endless wars", but an apparently not very well publicized Pentagon press release from Oct 8 says:
Despite continued misreporting to the contrary, Secretary Esper and ...
11
votes
1answer
502 views
Kurds in World War 2
I am reading quotes of Trump saying
"They didn’t help us in the second world war, they didn’t help us with Normandy" in regards to Kurds.
How could an ethnic group spread between multiple different ...
22
votes
4answers
6k views
Why it is a big deal whether or not Adam Schiff talked to the whistleblower?
I'm wondering why the news media focuses on the problem of whether or not Adam Schiff talked to the whistleblower before filing the complaint or not such as this.
I would appreciate it if somebody ...
4
votes
1answer
464 views
What is President Trump's first public reaction to Turkey's invasion into Northern Syria against his stark warning?
Hours ago, Turkey started an offensive into North Eastern Syria:
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey and its Syrian rebel allies have launched their military operation into northeastern Syria, President ...
17
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3answers
487 views
Did past presidential impeachment inquiries have basic defendant's rights?
In a recent letter on behalf of the president to the House committees on impeachment, the president's counsel Pat A. Cipollone wrote:
I write on behalf of President Donald J. Trump in response to ...
0
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0answers
40 views
Does Trump ban on Iranian citizens prevent doing exchange studentship in the US? [migrated]
I'm hoping this is the right place to ask this question (otherwise please let me know so I move it to the right place). I'm Iranian and currently doing a PhD degree in Canada. I might need to do an ...
29
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6answers
7k views
What can be done about a US president who refuses to co-operate with an impeachment panel?
Is it possible to prevent a sitting US President from hindering an impeachment investigation against him or her?
The Washington Post just reported that:
Trump personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani ...
19
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4answers
4k views
Does the US require a House vote to begin an impeachment inquiry?
Does the US require a House vote to begin an impeachment inquiry?
News sources such as this CNN article seem to show a disagreement between the White House saying that a House vote is required, while ...
1
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0answers
31 views
Blocking Sondolands Testimony [duplicate]
How can the president block someone from testifying before Congress? Wouldn't that straight up be obstructing the investigation of Congress?
2
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2answers
279 views
How did the State Department block Sondland from testifying? Is it legal?
The State Department has stopped Gordon Sondland, the US-EU ambassador, from testifying in the House of Representatives. Democrats are calling it obstruction of the inquiry. How does this work? Is ...
65
votes
10answers
16k views
Why is Trump releasing (or not) his tax returns such a big deal?
Why is it such a big deal that President Trump has not released his tax returns?
Also, why would he make such a big deal about not releasing them, given that this just makes everyone more interested?...
5
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3answers
145 views
Is comparing healthcare to food for private versus market based policy logical? [closed]
When I try to formulate a sound moral foundation for having universal healthcare that all citizens pay taxes towards, I always get tripped up that we don't argue the same for food, water, and housing -...
