54
Freedom of the press means that anyone can publish anything they know without having to obey government gag orders. The government is not required to keep journalists informed. Freedom of the press is not violated if the government tries hard to not leak anything to the press.
That's why the Freedom of Information Act exists. It grants journalists access to ...
44
Because Senate leadership [which largely shapes these rules] sees the trial's outcome as a forgone conclusion
“I’m not an impartial juror. This is a political process,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters last month.
The accelerated schedule (towards that foregone conclusion) goes hand in hand with not calling any [new] ...
32
Personal lawyers are paid for by the President himself while the federal government pays for lawyers from the Office of the White House Counsel (see this WH document for their salaries).
Legal teams outside of the Office of the White House Counsel cannot be covered using taxpayers' funds:
The White House did not respond this week to requests for comment ...
31
Do former US presidents have the right to receive daily CIA briefings?
Whether any such briefings are daily or as needed is not clear. As mentioned below, briefings concerning activities with which the former president was aware could be significant.
WHY DOES OBAMA GET INTELLIGENCE BRIEFINGS? TRUMP DENIES TRYING TO HALT ACCESS: 'FAKE NEWS', 8/21/18.
Why ...
28
The important thing to understand is that betting odds are not a prediction of an outcome.
They are a simply a balancing act that aims to ensure the bookmaker will make a profit - no matter what the outcome is.
It can be implied that the betting odds reflect the crowd-wisdom, of what people think the probability of the event is - but in no way is the ...
22
Betting markets are not necessarily more accurate than polls. For example, during the Brexit referendum:
The political betting markets were far less equivocal, showing a wide lead for remain. In the end, the polling proved more accurate than the political bettors. [...]
Andrew Gelman, a Columbia University statistics and political science professor, ...
16
"Still, if they see it as a forgone conclusion, why wouldn't they take the even quicker route? Just say both sides have 30 minutes to present arguments and reach a verdict in a day, something like that."
Responding to a comment in another answer, but there's a lot at play here. While we can only speculate on some of this at least, the argument being made ...
14
What you are seeing are probabilities implied by people placing bets on a particular result, and reflects how much people who place bets expect to receive if they win.
On BetFair exchange, if you want to place a bet on Mr. Bloomberg winning the primary, you stand to receive $9.40 for every dollar you bet if he does win. This implies, if the bet makers are ...
14
Let's state a few facts establishing the preconditions:
The GOP and their senators, by and large, have made their peace with Trump's presidency. They do not want him removed from office, neither by election nor by impeachment.
Supporting Trump requires to abolish or violate long-held political, economical and moral principles as well as personal aversion to ...
10
People often get this misconception, and it's related to one non-stated factoid: press covering political events are a mutually agreed convention.
Politicians give press conferences, and the press broadcasts them. Neither are required by law to do that. The politician thinks they'll be better off by giving the press conference - whether it's to give their ...
10
Bloomberg is a late entry, makes the possibility of growth of support more likely; with someone like Biden, if you don't already support him by now, you're probably not going to change your mind in the future. Bloomberg is, AFAIK, also the richest candidate, which gives him more opportunities to increase his support. Also, as a billionaire, he's more of an ...
10
It's kinda funny that after seeing your post, I searched a lot and I finally found the source of those US flags in Iran. Guess what? They are completely produced in Iran just for the purpose of burning! Read it here. Crazy right? I mean, I'm an Iranian and it totally freaks me out that Ayatollahs' regime spend tons of money to produce the US flags just for ...
9
So, why does the Chief Justice break ties during a impeachment trial and not the Vice President, which is the usual case?
See Does the Vice-President retain their tiebreaking vote during an impeachment trial of the President?.
Also, what authorizes the Chief Justice to cast tie-breaking votes?
Precedent. In the impeachment trial of President Andrew ...
7
Here's a list of differences per an article from CNN, the Business Insider and Science Direct:
Labor laws strengthened: ...provides for an interagency committee that will monitor Mexico's labor reform implementation and compliance with labor obligations. It also, for the first time in any US trade agreement, allows for "rapid response" panels to ...
6
Rainer P.'s answer already covers that Freedom of the Press doesn't have anything to do with providing information to the press. But even if that weren't true, your question seems to be predicated on a belief that an impeachment trial
can be, should be, and must be in the public record for everyone to see and review
"Can be" is true enough, and "should ...
6
It's not easy because it would require a constitutional amendment. The courts have repeatedly ruled that one consequence of the 14th amendment is that everyone born in the US is a US citizen unless the parents are diplomats or part of an occupying force. Because this provision is part of the constitution, the only way to change it is to change the ...
6
Bernie Sanders is actually just loosely associated with the Democratic Party. He officially holds his seat as a Senator as an independent.
However, during the current and previous Presidential pre-elections, he sought the nomination of the Democratic party. He can do that without actually being a member of the party. Everyone who is eligible to be elected ...
6
Why Bernie identifies as a Democrat is due to the structural dominance of the two major parties in US politics. There have been individuals that have run for office as candidates of other parties (such as the Liberatrian Party and the Green Party), but most observers don't give them much chance at being elected to the Office of the President. Politicians ...
4
Between 1984 and 1994 US Supreme Court filings almost doubled but arguments nearly halved. Why?
Is this a reflection of any major changes in the manor that the court handled their caseload? If so, were the changes procedural, cultural (if a court can have a culture) or something else?
There were several changes, thus some of each of procedural, cultural [...
4
Another thing to consider: The Iowa caucus is on Feb 3rd, followed closely by the New Hampshire primary. Several Senators (Sanders, Warren, Klobuchar, Bennet) are running in that caucus as Presidential hopefuls. The senate trial rules require all Senators to be in attendance, which means those Senators can't be on the road campaigning while the trial is ...
4
In 1947 Truman invited Herbert Hoover to analyze areas in which the federal government could be improved. Eisenhower invited him to perform a second round in 1953. Wikipedia says Kennedy invited him to do more.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Commission
George W Bush had many cabinet members who worked under his father and would have certainly ...
4
It is easy to forget that Congressmen have other loyalties than to their party. Fact is, they care more about their votes in their district than about their party.
Adding new states decreases the power of the existing states. And the existing states won't like that.
Any Congressman who votes for a proposal to add 137 new states is going to be met with a ...
4
Do any 2020 Democratic primary candidates support repealing the PATRIOT Act and eliminating mass surveillance in the United States?
Opponents of the PATRIOT Act and Section 702 mass surveillance claim these programs violate the U.S. Constitution, Fourth Amendment, or may be abused.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, ...
3
Really small
The answer will be smaller than you probably think, because in the modern political landscape neither chamber tends to bother with any legislation that they don't think the majority by itself will pass. Truly bipartisan behavior, where cross-party support was required to pass, rather than just coincidentally occurred when a party-line split ...
3
As you and Up-In-Air noted, the Clerk of the House, Cheryl Johnson, is on the left. The woman to her right is the U.S. Senate Secretary for the Majority, Laura Dove.
3
Any references to relevant rules, laws, or constitutional provisions would be appreciated.
Procedure and Guidelines for Impeachment Trials in the United States Senate, pp. 3, 5.
VII. The Presiding Officer of the Senate shall direct all necessary preparations in the Senate Chamber, and the Presiding Officer on the trial shall direct all the forms of ...
3
Let's go back to the 18th century (when the process was set up) and consider why that is.
In modern US politics, the Vice President is the running mate of the President, meaning they are from the same party. In the first few US elections, however, the VP was the runner-up
The original system for electing presidents provided that the candidate receiving a ...
2
With respect to the Charter of the UN:
Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations...
So, in general, the UN is fine with a nation defending itself. How one defines "self-defense" is, of course, up for debate.
UN involvement in ...
2
Short answer:
These are internal US budget allocations, to spend money on US equipment and services for the intended benefit of another country (Ukraine). Money moves between accounts the same way as for any other US government expenditures.
Longer answer:
The US DoD has a Foreign Military Sales program. It's basically a procurement office that operates ...
2
Actually, according to how one reads Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Constitution, new States may be carved out from existing States with the approval of the State legislatures and Congress:
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new
State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other
State; nor any ...
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