Election Do Over

1. What was the result of this election in November 2019?

• There was ruled to be a ballot tampering scheme with the absentee ballots where Republican Mark Harris led Democrat Dan McCready by fewer than 1,000 votes. His win was never certified by the state after allegations of electoral misconduct became public.

2. What do the state investigators accuse Leslie Dowless of doing to alter the election?

• Leslie was accused of directing a coordinated scheme to unlawfully collect, falsely witness, and otherwise tamper with absentee ballots.

3. What amendment gave Mr Dowless the right to refuse to testify to the investigators?

• 5th Amendment

4. What power does the state have to solve this problematic election?

• The state can call for a new election if the basic fairness of the election was tainted.

5. What did Mr Dowless do to absentee ballots in order to help the Republican candidate?

• He first used absentee ballot request forms from previous elections to “pre-fill” forms for the 2018 election and sent out workers to find the voters so they sign and request a ballot. The workers were paid for bringing him the forms and then they were sent to the board. There were about 780 of them. Then, he sent workers to collect the absentee ballots and they gave him the ones that weren't signed by witnesses or were not sealed. He had the workers sign as witnesses.

6. What is the makeup of the state election board and how does that ensure fairness?

• 3 Democrats and 2 Republicans. Ensures fairness because it does not really favor a side.

7. What did the group do with incomplete and unsealed absentee ballots?

• They would fill in names for the empty offices.

8. Why is there no danger of prosecution for Mark Harris, the Republican candidate?

• There is no danger of prosecution for Harris because he had no idea of the plan. He himself even said that a new election should be called, and the testimony by his son and Yates left him in tears.

National Emergency

1. What powers does the National Emergencies Act of 1976 give POTUS ?

• It lets presidents issue an emergency declaration but under certain constraints, such as only using powers that Congress has codified by law and the President has to say which powers he uses.

2. What congressional power in the constitution is Trump trying to get around by declaring this?

• Power of the purse

3. How would Congress pass a joint resolution disputing the emergency?

• Both houses of Congress would need to approve the resolution by a majority

4. What action can the president take in response to the joint resolution?

• He can veto it (which could be overridden by a 2/3 vote in both houses)

5. Why would landowners potentially sue the president to stop the wall?

• The people in the area where the land is supposed to be built would potentially sue the president because their land could be seized in eminent domain and they want to keep their land.

6. What happened to the eminent domain lawsuits filed against President Bush?

• 60 to 70 of the 334 lawsuits against him are still pending.

7. Why would the ACLU sue the president to stop the wall?

• They say that it is an illegal declaration of a national emergency and it is an unconstitutional power grab that hurts communities.

8. How could states serve as a check on presidential power?

• States could be a check because they can sue the president, especially because their funds could be affected.

2020 Election Already!

1. What are the two reasons for a person to form an exploratory committee, according to this article?

• They can raise a lot of money, and they can start polling and traveling and hiring staff. This makes them ready for their campaign.

2. What do the candidates do during the "exploratory phase"?

• They document and report their fundraising and spending, conduct polling, travel, and hire staff. They get their names out there.

3. What do candidates have to do with the bureaucracy to make their exploratory committee official?

• They have to file a statement of their candidacy to the Federal Election Commission and use the word "exploratory" on the name of their campaign's committee.

4. Why did Elizabeth Warren's exploratory committee hire staff in Iowa?

• It is an important early state on the primary calendar.

5. What is the most important task of the exploratory committee for the candidate?

• Raising money.

6. Why are Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders less likely to use an exploratory committee?

• They already have much name recognition and a strong political infrastructure.

Trump SOTU #3

1. What issues does President Trump identify as bipartisan (both parties support them) issues?

• American jobs, free trade, the nation's infrastructure, reducing the price of health care and prescription drugs, creating a safe and secure immigration system, and foreign policy that puts America first.

2. Which amazing NASA bureaucrat was honored during the speech?!

• Buzz Aldrin.

3. What economic achievements did President Trump focus on early in his speech?

• How they created 5.3 million new jobs, 5 million Americans have been taken off food stamps, lowest unemployment rate in half a century, tax cuts, and how they eliminated the "very unpopular" Obamacare individual mandate penalty.

4. What impact has the Trump administration had on the regulatory agencies?

• He has lowered regulations so they are not doing as much.

5. Which of the president's judicial powers does Trump mention using in the past year?

• Commuting a prison sentence.

6. What policy proposal does Trump focus on?  In what ways does he justify the need for this policy?

• Building the wall (curbing illegal immigration). He says we need it because of sexual assault cases, drug cartels, human traffickers, reduced jobs, lower wages, crowded schools and hospitals, increased crime and gang violence, and a "depleted social safety net". 

7. What achievement of women in government does Trump recognize?

• More women serving in Congress than there has ever been.

8. What trade policies has Trump changed since he's been in office?

• Imposing tariffs on Chinese goods and he is wanting to replace NAFTA with U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

9. What policy proposals does Trump talk about that would impact health care in the US?

• Lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs and protect people with pre-existing conditions.

10. What foreign policy proposals does Trump discuss?

•  U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to replace NAFTA and United States Reciprocal Trade Act to place the same tariff that countries would place on American products on their products. He also says that the US is leaving the INF treaty and that troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan and Syria and to confront counter-terrorism. He also says the US will confront Iran.

11. What nation does Trump identify as the number one national security threat to the US?

• Russia

12. Why does the crowd sing Happy Birthday?!

• It was Judah Samet's 81st birthday. Judah Samet is a Pittsburgh synagogue massacre survivor and he also survived a Nazi concentration camp more than 7 decades ago.