Siby Suriyan's Government Blog

1. How much has Trump spent advertising on Facebook about the impeachment process? Trump has spent $1.6 million of ads about the impeachment process. 2. Which voters is he targeting his ads towards? Trump is targeting his base. 3. What are the ads about? The ads support the Republican narrative that the impeachment is a political hack job driven by Democratic desire to remove Trump from office. Furthermore, the ads are designed to sign up volunteers, donors, and supporters. 4. How much did political groups spend on advertising on Facebook in the 2018 elections? Political groups spent $284 million on Facebook advertising. 5. What percentage of Trump's advertising is about the impeachment? 30% of his ads are about impeachment. 6. What age groups is Trump targeting with this advertising? 90% of his ads are targeted for people who are over 35, and 30% of his ads are targeted for people who are over 65, 7. Where is Trump avoiding using these ads? Trum...

1.  What changed about Virginia's government in last week's elections? Democrats took control of the state's House and Senate. 2. What would the Equal Rights Amendment proposed in 1972 do? The ERA would guarantee equal rights regardless of sex. 3. How many states ratified the amendment when it was originally proposed?  What states have ratified it recently? Thirty-five states ratified it in five years, 22 within the first year. Recently, Nevada and Illinois have ratified it in 2017 and 2018, respectively. 4. According to the constitution, why is it necessary to have a 38th state ratify the amendment? For an amendment to be in the constitution, 3/4 of the states have to ratify it. Thirty eight is 3/4 of 50. 5. What stipulation for its ratification did Congress add to the proposal in the 1970s? Congress said that it had to ratified by thirty-eight states within seven years.  6. How did the Virginia legislature vote on ratification of the ERA ...

1. Why is the Liberty and Justice Celebration dinner important to candidates? The Liberty and Justice Celebration dinner is the largest gathering of Iowa voters before the actual caucus. As a result, this dinner is the final time where candidates can push their campaign to win the Iowa primary and increase their support. 2. What percentage of voters still consider themselves undecided?  What percentage of voters are currently certain of their choice in candidates? 29% of Iowa voters are undecided, and 20% of voters are certain about who they will caucus for. 3. Which candidates are seeing an increase in support? Which candidates are seeing a decrease in support? Although Biden is leading the national polling, he is last in Iowa, behind Warrren, Sanders, and Buttigieg(order from greatest support to least support). Recently, Buttigieg and Warren have seen a large increase in support, while Biden and Sanders have seen a decrease in support. 4. What message does Pete Butti...

1.  After the impeachment process, how did Clinton's relationship with the public and his party change? The Democratic party was initially reluctant to support Clinton; however, the public believed that Clinton's impeachment was motivated by partisan Republicans. So, by the end of impeachment, Clinton had high approval ratings and party support. 2.  What are differences between the investigations that led to the Clinton impeachment and the potential Trump impeachment? Clinton's impeachment was caused by the Monica Lewinsky affair, which many Americans saw as a private matter. However, Trump's scandal with Ukraine seemed more like a public issue, so Americans will actually care about Trump's affair. Furthermore, Clinton's impeachment was based off of the Starr report. Trump's impeachment is not based off of Mueller's report; rather, it is based off of Democrat's investigation into the Ukraine scandal that is producing new information to the pub...

1. What is the most basic finding of the polls that have been released in the last week? The polls show that there has been an uptick in support for impeachment; however, most Americans still do not support impeachment, although two-third of democrats support impeachment. 2. What did YouGov and the Economist find that most Americans feel about the president's actions? 52% of Americans believe that the President's actions are inappropriate. 22% said that the actions were appropriate, and 26% said they were not sure. 3. What did that same poll find about American attitudes toward the president if he withheld funding to the Ukraine? 62% of Americans said that is was inappropriate to threaten the withholding of foreign aid in an attempt to force a country to help the sitting president. Furthermore, 14% said it was appropriate, and 24% said they were not sure. 4. What change in attitudes did the Quinnipiac poll find? The Quinnipac poll shows that there is a 5 percentage po...

1. What is Nancy Pelosi's role in Congress? Nancy Pelosi is the speaker of the House. The speaker of the House determines the agenda in the House, which is powerful because she determines what issues will and will not be addressed. 2. What is President Trump alleged to have done? Donald Trump tried to pressure the Ukranian government to work with his lawyer Rudy Guliani to investigate Hunter Biden's business, Burisma. 3. What is Nancy Pelosi's goal, since she does not want to impeach the president? Nancy Pelosi's goal is to preserve and grow the number of Democrats in the House, and she fears that an impeachment proceeding would alienate purple districts-districts the Democrats won in 2018 that Trump won in 2016. Furthermore, Pelosi wants to pass a law that establishes the indictment procedure for a sitting president. 4. What does Pelosi say has harmed Congress's ability to investigate the Executive Branch? Congress's ability to investigate...

1. How much of the House must agree to impeach a judge? How much of the Senate must agree to remove a judge?   To impeach a justice, a majority of the House has to approve for an indictment, and 2/3 majority in the Senate is needed to remove him or her from the bench.  2. 2. Has this process ever been used before for the Supreme Court?  How many times?  Impeachment has been used for the Supreme Court before. One justice was impeached; however, he was later acquited in the Senate. Federalist Samuel Chase was impeached by Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans for political partisanry and to remove a political enemy. 3.Where in the Constitution does it set up the impeachment process? Under Article IV, section II, the Constitution sets up impeachment for Presidents, Vice Presidents, and other civil officers. Goverment officers can be impeached for " Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” 4.What are the reasons for the impeachment...