84
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What is the political reason for the U.S. House to adopt a resolution that essentially reaffirms the Constitution?
My naive understanding (correct me if I'm wrong) is that the
Constitution is already the supreme law and nothing can be above it,
nor Congress Resolutions. If anyone acts against the Constitution, it
...
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55
votes
Are there countries where the legislative body is not allowed to propose laws that touch upon unrelated subjects?
Depending on how one defines "one single topic", the rule applies in the UK.
Erskine May - the bible of parliamentary procedure in the UK - has this to say on the scope of a bill:
Any ...
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55
votes
What is the largest political entity that lacks legislative power?
What is the largest political entity that lacks legislative power?
The United Nations. It comprises of 193 states with two additional observer states - Vatican City and Palestine. Whilst it has a ...
- 9,176
50
votes
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Why doesn’t the Republican majority in the United States Senate reintroduce their heathcare legislation?
To pass, a bill needs to pass in the House and Senate and be signed by the President. Since the last election, Democrats took control of the House, so while the Obamacare repeal bills that failed in ...
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50
votes
What is the largest political entity that lacks legislative power?
So the borough of Manhattan (pop. 1.6m) does not have its own separate authority with legislative powers. Are there even bigger fully dependent political entities like this?
There are at least two ...
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40
votes
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Why is the $14 billion aid bill to Israel "bad for Israel", according to the White House?
The White House's opposition to the bill was articulated both in a statement by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre here, and more comprehensively in a Statement of Administration Policy by the Office ...
CDJB♦
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39
votes
Why can Canada’s parliament vote (on gun laws), but even when a single party controls both the U.S. House and Senate a change is all but impossible?
The biggest single difference is that in Canada the House of Commons is unequivocally the highest power in the land. If the House of Commons votes to do something then it will happen.
The Senate can ...
- 16.3k
36
votes
Can California really ban their residents from traveling to states without LGBT protections?
From your CNN link:
The law bans state-funded or state-sponsored travel by employees of state agencies and departments as well as members of boards, authorities, and commissions.
Note the ...
- 90.3k
36
votes
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How does the government purchase things?
I understand that the government collects taxes, sells bonds, etc. but
regardless of the income portion, I'm more curious about the spending
portion.
Does the US Treasury simply print the ...
- 89.3k
34
votes
Accepted
Did Republicans accidentally kill corporate deductions, and will it force the Senate to revise and re-vote?
The reporting on the senate bill still having the AMT set at 20% and the new corporate tax level being at 20% while the house bill removed the AMT is accurate. Corporations have been outspoken in ...
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27
votes
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Why is Canada's bill C-16 believed to be legislating pronoun use?
There is no factual basis for the claim that incorrect pronoun use will lead to negative consequences.
The bill does two things:
It adds gender identity or expression as protected classes under the ...
- 37.4k
27
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Why doesn’t the Republican majority in the United States Senate reintroduce their heathcare legislation?
With Democrat control of the House such a bill would have no chance of becoming law. Yehuda points out that bills are sometimes introduced for show, even if they have no chance of becoming law, to ...
- 16.3k
27
votes
Are there countries where the legislative body is not allowed to propose laws that touch upon unrelated subjects?
Riders are forbidden in France, where the constitutional court (conseil constitutionnel) simply nullifies them whenever it reviews a bill. Rules are stricter now than they used to be and the court is ...
- 32.1k
24
votes
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Name for a popular measure added to a bill for the purpose of later attacking those who vote against that bill?
What you're describing is essentially a reverse poison pill.
The poison pill, or wrecking amendment, is an amendment whose purpose is to make the passage of a bill completely intolerable to the side ...
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21
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Why can Canada’s parliament vote (on gun laws), but even when a single party controls both the U.S. House and Senate a change is all but impossible?
Is this, for example, one of the cases when the bar for a Senate vote is not simply 50% + 1 (VP, in the current Senate), but 60% or even two-thirds (66 or 67?)?
Most proposed legislation only needs a ...
- 15.1k
18
votes
What is the political reason for the U.S. House to adopt a resolution that essentially reaffirms the Constitution?
It is mostly a statement.
When Congress does something, it is generally reported in the news. Congress passing declarations like this is a way for the members of Congress to make a big deal about an ...
- 545
18
votes
On what basis could the US federal government codify Roe v. Wade?
On what basis could the US federal government encode Roe v. Wade?
Both Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey were decided based on the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which reads ...
- 37k
18
votes
Accepted
Why is the Inflation Reduction Act called the Inflation Reduction Act?
As you said, this is a monster bill with all sorts of provisions that are only marginally related to inflation reduction. This is a consequence of the Senate filibuster and reconciliation rules.
In ...
- 125k
16
votes
Does the UK parliament need to pass secondary legislation to accept the Article 50 extension
The relevant legislation is actually to be found in the Withdrawal Act itself, which in section 20 includes a paragraph
(4)A Minister of the Crown may by regulations—
(a) amend the ...
- 21.5k
16
votes
Why is "Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation" necessary?
In Article I, Section 8 of the United States constitution, there is an enumeration of the powers of Congress:
1: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and ...
- 90.3k
16
votes
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Did Congress pass a 5,593 page bill without chance to amend or even read?
Yes, and this sort of thing is unfortunately rather common in the US Congress. It results from a divergence between theory and practice:
In theory:
Bills are (mostly) written by legislators.
Debate ...
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15
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Why is Canada's bill C-16 believed to be legislating pronoun use?
I think anyone reading the laws the bill modifies could reasonably come to that conclusion.
According to the text of the Canadian Human Rights Act:
It is a discriminatory practice, directly or ...
- 2,386
15
votes
Why doesn’t the Republican majority in the United States Senate reintroduce their heathcare legislation?
There are aspects of this bill that modify and restrict tax credits. If I'm not mistaken, this would make it subject to the Origination Clause of the Constitution (Article I, Section 7(1)):
All ...
- 28k
15
votes
What are the common features of pro-union and anti-union laws?
Anti-union laws generally make it harder for:
Unions to form, by allowing employers to discriminate against unionised workers, or requiring onerous processes to be followed for the formation of a ...
- 21.2k
14
votes
Why is Canada's bill C-16 believed to be legislating pronoun use?
Contrary to another answer, there's by now actual evidence that the bill has led to actual negative consequences.
Lindsay Shepherd, a TA at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada, was reprimanded by ...
- 93.3k
13
votes
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How can the Indian government ban old notes without passing any bill/law?
Because The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 gives such power to the Indian government.
The sub-section (2) of section 26 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 mentions:
(2) On recommendation of ...
- 256
13
votes
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What are Henry VIII powers?
I think the existing answer is a touch unclear; every Statutory Instrument can be said to "amend or repeal legislation, with varying degrees of parliamentary scrutiny" because secondary ...
- 5,845
13
votes
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What do whips do, exactly?
@joe-c is right they do keep the leadership informed of concerns. They have a number of roles:-
Get to know individual legislators and what motivates / interests them
Identify bills or points that ...
- 1,511
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