Marissa Pittman’s Government Blog

1. In changing environmental policy, how much bureaucratic regulation has the Trump Administration reduced? According to the article, " The  New York Times has identified 53 separate rules that have completed the rollback process  and 32 more that are still in the works." 2. How has the Trump Administration changed America's approach to resource extraction? Overall, resource extraction has improved. Coal mining is not declining anymore. 3. What changes has the Trump Administration made to the Medicaid program? The Trump Administration has included the possibility of work requirements. 4. What has been the result of these changes? In Arkanas, 20,000 people lost health insurance. 5. What policy changed has caused the biggest changes in the federal deficit? Due to tax cuts for large businesses, the federal government’s corporate revenue was reduced. 6. How has the Securities and Exchange Commission changed its enforcement of regulations about the stock market? ...

1. How much has Trump spent advertising on Facebook about the impeachment process? According to the article, Trump spent approximately $1.6 million on Facebook ads about impeachment. 2. Which voters is he targeting his ads towards? His ads are targeting his voter base. 3. What are the ads about? The ads promoted conspiracy theories about the impeachment process. 4. How much did political groups spend on advertising on Facebook in the 2018 elections? The article stated that political groups spent $284 million on advertising. 5. What percentage of Trump's advertising is about the impeachment? "Nearly 30 percent of his total Facebook ad[s] " are about impeachment.   6. What age groups is Trump targeting with this advertising? Over ninety percent of his ads are targeting those over the age of 35. Around thirty percent of ads target those over 65.  7. Where is Trump avoiding using these ads? In order to maximize impact, he avoids using these ads in states were he ...

Blog 2.3 1.What changed about Virginia's government in last week's elections? Democrats took control of both houses as a result of last week’s elections. 2. What would the Equal Rights Amendment proposed in 1972 do? It guarantees equal rights despite an individual’s sex. 3. How many states ratified the amendment when it was originally proposed?  What states have ratified it recently? Originally, 35 states ratified the amendment when it was proposed. Recently, 2 other states have ratified it, which makes the count increase to 37. 4. According to the constitution, why is it necessary to have a 38th state ratify the amendment? There must be ⅔ of states in favor of ratification. 5. What stipulation for its ratification did Congress add to the proposal in the 1970s? It was given a seven year deadline to be ratified. 6. How did the Virginia legislature vote on ratification of the ERA last year?  It was rejected by the GOP controlled legislature. 7...

1.  Why is the Liberty and Justice Celebration dinner important to candidates? The Liberty and Justice Celebration Dinner is the largest convening of Iowa voters. Also, it is extremely close to the Iowa Caucus, so it is imperative that candidates stand out in their final campaign moments. 2. What percentage of voters still consider themselves undecided?  What percentage of voters are currently certain of their choice in candidates? According to a Suffolk University/ USA Today poll, twenty-nine percent of voters are undecided. A Des Moines poll found that only twenty percent of voters are certain about their choice for president. 3. Which candidates are seeing an increase in support? Which candidates are seeing a decrease in support? Pete Butting has seen an increase in support recently. Former Vice President Biden has had a decrease in support. Senator Bernie Sanders is seeing a decrease in support as well. 4. What message does Pete Buttigieg use to try to...

After the impeachment process, how did Clinton's relationship with the public and his party change? Clinton’s approval polls were very high, indicting that the people approved of the work he            was doing. As a result, his party embraced him with open arms and supported him. 2. What are differences between the investigations that led to the Clinton impeachment and the potential Trump impeachment? The Clinton’s investigation was driven by Starr’s report. On the other hand, the Democrats are constructing a case for impeachment daily. While Clinton’s affair was seen as a “private affair” by the public, Trump’s actions are extremely public. 3. What trends in public opinion about impeachment occurred in the lead up to the formal announcement of impeachment by the House against President Clinton? Impeachment was not popular during the events leading up to Clinton’s formal impeachment announcement. According to a poll, forty-eight percent of...

1.What is the most basic finding of the polls that have been released in the last week? According to the most recently released polls, there is an “uptick in support for impeachment”. 2. What did YouGov and the Economist find that most Americans feel about the president's actions? YouGov and the Economist found that,” 52 percent of Americans said it is inappropriate for the president to request a foreign government [to] open an investigation into a potential political opponent”.  3. What did that same poll find about American attitudes toward the president if he withheld funding to the Ukraine? The same poll found that 62 percent of Americans thought that was inappropriate. 4. What change in attitudes did the Quinnipiac poll find? It found that overall there was a 5-percent-point increase favoring impeachment, and among Democrats, there was a 12-percent-point increase. 5. What is important about the time frame in which the poll was conducted? The poll was...

1.What is Nancy Pelosi's role in Congress? Nancy Pelosi is the Speaker of the House. 2. What is President Trump alleged to have done? Allegedly, President Trump sought help with election interference from Ukraine in the upcoming 2020 presidential election. 3. What is Nancy Pelosi's goal, since she does not want to impeach the president? Instead of impeaching President Trump, Speaker Pelosi is suggesting that laws governing presidential indictments. 4. What does Pelosi say has harmed Congress's ability to investigate the Executive Branch? According to the House Speaker Pelosi, the White House’s lack of cooperation and declarations of executive privilege harm Congress’s ability to investigate the Executive Branch. 5. How did the Director of National Intelligence (who works for the president) violate the law? Declining to share the whistleblower’s complaint to Congress, Joseph Maguire violated the law. 6. What is Adam Schiff's role in Congress? Ada...

Blog 1.4 1. How much of the House must agree to impeach a judge? How much of the Senate must agree to remove a judge? According to the article, “a majority of the House must approve an indictment to impeach, and a two-thirds supermajority of the US Senate must convict for the judge or justice to lose their office”. 2. Has this process ever been used before for the Supreme Court?  How many times?  The process has only been used once, but they were not impeached. 3. Where in the Constitution does it set up the impeachment process? Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution establishes the impeachment process. 4. What are the reasons for the impeachments of the 5 most recent judicial impeachments? In 1986, Harry Claiborne was impeached for falsifying income tax. Now representing Florida, Alcee Hastings was impeached for receiving bribe of $150,000. Walter Nixon was removed due to perjury.In 2009, Samuel Kent was accused of perjury and for lying about sexual ab...

Blog 1.3 1. What was the Iowa Democratic Party's plan for changes to this year's Iowa Caucus? This year,  the Iowa Democratic Party’s Plan was to start a “virtual caucus” in addition to the one in February. 2. Why has the Democratic National Committee decided to recommend rejecting these plans? Due to an influx in the prevalence of hacking, the DNC has decided to recommend rejecting these plans. 3. Why had the Iowa Democratic Party recommended these changes? They wanted to make the caucuses inclusive to those that could not attend in person.  4. Why is it so important that Iowa is the first contest?  How do they influence the nomination process? According to David Redlawsk, “Iowa doesn’t decide who will be president, but it decides who will not”. Essentially, it helps weed out candidates. 5. Why are caucuses controversial as a nomination process? Caucuses demand a myriad of time, so it becomes difficult for people with disabilities or evening com...

Blog 1.2 “Marijuana Law Issues” 1. How much of the US population lives in a state or district with access to legal marijuana? According to the article, “ more than a quarter of the US population lives in a legal marijuana state.” 2. Where in the US were the first places to make marijuana fully legal? Washington state and Colorado were the first places to make marijuana legal for both medical and recreational uses.  3. In the states where marijuana is legal, what differences might there be state to state?  And how are Vermont and DC different? Some states, such as Vermont and DC do not allow marijuana sales for recreational use; however, they do all marijuana to be gifted to people and for residents to grow it. Some states have enabled possession limits and growth limits as well. 4. What is the difference between marijuana legalization and marijuana decriminalization? Legalization means that there is a “removal of all government-enforced penalties for posses...

1.  How did the Koch brothers describe their political goals and how did they participate politically? The brothers wanted to roll back environmental and business regulations. Additionally,ensuring that liberty was protected was important to them. They promoted their ideas by sponsoring academia and founded libertarian organizations. Furthermore, they gave millions of dollars to Republican candidates.  2. How did the Koch family become wealthy? Fred C. Koch, their father, established an oil refinery company, and Charles Koch amplified it to another level. This propelled Charles and David to be some of the richest people in the world. 3. How did David Koch first become involved in politics? He worked on a presidential campaign in 1980 for a Libertarian candidate. Also, he ran for Vice President.  4. Why did the Koch's escalate their political efforts when Obama became president? The Koch brothers believed that President Obama’s policies would impede up...

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