Blog Post 1.5: Congress and POTUS

1. What is Nancy Pelosi's role in Congress?
She is the Speaker of the House.
2. What is President Trump alleged to have done?
Trump may have attempted to have Ukraine interfere in the 2020 presidential election.
3. What is Nancy Pelosi's goal, since she does not want to impeach the president?
She suggests that laws ought to be passed to make clear when and how a sitting president could be indicted once Trump is no longer in office.
4. What does Pelosi say has harmed Congress's ability to investigate the Executive Branch?
The executive branch is not cooperating, and they're declaring they have executive privilege.
5. How did the Director of National Intelligence (who works for the president) violate the law?
He declined to relay the whistleblower's complaint to Congress, which is required by law.
6. What is Adam Schiff's role in Congress?
He's the House Intelligence Committee chair.
7. Why do "moderate Democrats" want to avoid impeaching the president?
Moderate Democrats and those representing swing districts have warned that moving forward on impeachment would alienate their voters.
8. How does the American public feel about the issue?
70% of Democrats say they support impeachment proceedings, while only 6% of Republicans said the same.

Blog Post 1.4: Judicial Impeachment

1. How much of the House must agree to impeach a judge? How much of the Senate must agree to remove a judge?
A majority of the House must approve an indictment to impeach, and a two-thirds majority of the Senate is required to convict for the justice to lose his position.

2. Has this process ever been used before for the Supreme Court?  How many times? 
A Supreme Court justice has been impeached before, but he wasn't removed. This occurred only once.

3. Where in the Constitution does it set up the impeachment process?
Article II, Section 4

4. What are the reasons for the impeachments of the 5 most recent judicial impeachments?
Harry Claiborne: falsifying income tax returns
Alcee Hastings: receiving a $150,000 bribe to reduce prison sentences for members of the mob
Walter Nixon: committed perjury 
Samuel Kent: obstructed justice and lied about his sexual abuse of female employees
Thomas Porteous: committed perjury

5. Why does the current makeup of the Senate make it unlikely that Supreme Court justices Kavanaugh or Thomas would be removed if impeached today?
Both of them have enthusiastic supporters in the Senate, and not enough Republicans would defect to make removal viable.

6. Why is it hard to tell which offenses are "impeachable offenses" for a justice?
It's hard to tell which offenses are sufficiently serious enough to justify impeachment. Thus, it's just whatever the House and Senate think it is.

Blog Post 1.3: Iowa Caucuses

1. What was the Iowa Democratic Party's plan for changes to this year's Iowa Caucus?
They wanted to hold a virtual caucus over a phone system alongside the regular caucus.

2. Why has the Democratic National Committee decided to recommend rejecting these plans?
They say it could be susceptible to hackers.

3. Why had the Iowa Democratic Party recommended these changes?
They wanted Iowa's caucus to be more accessible to voters who can't show up in-person.

4. Why is it so important that Iowa is the first contest?  How do they influence the nomination process?
The first caucuses show which candidates have momentum and which don't. Iowa decides the first people to get cut, deciding who won't be the final nominee.

5. Why are caucuses controversial as a nomination process?
Caucuses are long, complicated affairs where people sort themselves into groups based on the candidates they support. These can take a lot of time and exclude certain groups of people, meaning many people cannot participate. 

6. What is the problem with more people participating in the caucus process in recent elections?
Caucuses are meant for few people, between 50-100.

7. Why are many arguing that this new form of caucus could be manipulated?
Some fear the system could easily be hacked. A test at the Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting in San Francisco showed tele-caucuses could be hacked.

8. What would be the problem with Iowa changing to a primary?
Then Iowa wouldn't be the first-in-the-nation caucus anymore, and it would not be the first primary either.

9. How does New Hampshire ensure that it is the first primary?
A NH law states that if any other state tries to move its primary before NH, then the NH Secretary of State can change the primary date to a week before the other state.

Blog Post 1.2 "Marijuana Law Issues"

1. How much of the US population lives in a state or district with access to legal marijuana?

More than a quarter of the US population lives in a state that gives access to legal marijuana.

2. Where in the US were the first places to make marijuana fully legal?

Colorado and Washington were the first states to make marijuana fully legal.

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 may have marijuana fully legalized, while others may only allow medical marijuana. Some states have decriminalized marijuana and others have not. Vermont and DC do not allow marijuana sales for recreational purposes.

4. What is the difference between marijuana legalization and marijuana decriminalization?

Legalization represents the removal of all government-enforced penalties for possessing and using marijuana while decriminalization generally eliminates jail time but other penalties remain in place.

5. Why does the ACLU argue that marijuana prohibition is bad for the government?

It costs a lot of money and law enforcement's time. It also damages the government's credibility.

6. Why do some argue that "Big Marijuana" corporations would be dangerous if marijuana were legalized?

They would market and sell to heavy pot users that may have a drug problem. 

7. How has public support for marijuana legalization changed since the year 2000?

Support for the legalization of marijuana has increased from 12 percent in 1969 to 31 percent in 2000 and 66 percent in 2018. 

8. How does the federal government classify marijuana?  What does that mean?

The federal government classifies marijuana as a schedule 1 drug, meanning it has no perceived medical value annd has a high potential for abuse. 

9. How have the Obama and Trump administrations treated the states that have decided to legalize marijuana?

The Obama administration took a relaxed approach to marijuana legalization, generally letting states do as they wish as long as they met certain criteria. The Trump administration suggested it would take a tougher line, but the current Attorney General said he would go back to Obama's policies. 

10. Why are many marijuana businesses in "legal states" operating only in cash and not using banks?

Many banks are nervous about dealing with businesses that are essentially breaking federal law.