1. What event has caused Trump to make changes to his staff and advisers? " Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives, Trump concluded that now was the time for a shake-up he’s long wanted."

2. How did CNN describe the relationship between the president and the Chief of Staff this week? They reported that the two are no longer talking.
3. Who was Trump's original Chief of Staff and what job did he come from before that?  Reince Priebus, the former RNC chair was his job before Chief of Staff.
4. Why did Trump pick Kelly (the military general) to become his new Chief of Staff? "Priebus was “weak,” and that replacing him with a tough guy general would be good."

5. In what ways did Kelly influence policymaking while he was Chief of Staff? by " installing a more rigorous process and structure to the infamously chaotic White House." 

Gerrymandering in North Carolina

1. Look at the map.  By what margins did Democrats win in the 3 districts that they won? They won by 20+.

2. Look at the map.  By what margins did Republicans win in the 9 districts that they won? It ranges from +5 to +20.

3. What percent of the votes for Representatives did Republicans and Democrats earn statewide? Republicans go 50% and Democrats got 48% of the votes.

4. What have federal courts said about the district lines in North Carolina? They said the lines were gerrymandered and considered unconstitutional.

5. What did Democrats fail to do in both North Carolina and Ohio? "Democrats failed to pick up a single House seat despite winning close to half of the popular vote."

6. Why did Pennsylvania have new districts for this election? What was the result of the House elections in Pennsylvania this year? A new nonpartisan map was court ordered; 45% Republicans and 55% Democrats were the House results for Congress.

7. How does the article describe the residential patterns of Republicans and Democrats? "Democrats tend to be concentrated in urban areas, while Republicans are distributed more efficiently across suburban and rural terrain."

8. After the district lines were rejected because they were based on race, what justification was used for the new district lines? They were redrawn largely based on party.

9. How do the district lines counter the large number of Democratic votes in cities like Greensboro, Winston Salem, and Fayetteville?"Of the 57 counties where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans, only 17 have a Democratic representative in Congress."

10. What other laws has North Carolina passed that disenfranchised voters in the state?A voter identification law "tried to revoke thousands of voter registrations before the 2016 election, only to be blocked by a judge who called the process “insane.”"

1. In the two weeks approaching the mid term elections, what % of coverage did FoxNews dedicate to coverage of the caravan in Central America? 3 percent of 15-second segments over the course of a day were dedicated to the caravan.
2. Compare mentions on CNN and Fox on Monday & Tuesday to mentions on Wednesday & Thursday. Each had mentioned it more than 80 times, but that dropped off to less than 80 times across four news channels combined.
3. Which of the four networks covered by the chart devoted the most coverage to the caravan? Fox Business dedicated the most coverage.
4. Where does the article claim that the caravan is currently? They have reached Mexico city and will continue to push on after a few days break.
5. What other stories may have taken coverage away from the caravan? Midterms, Jeff Sessions, and Trump and the press have gotten more news time recently. 
6. How did Trump impact coverage of the caravan leading up to the election? He saw it as "a campaign issue in multiple speeches," causing coverage to decline. 
7. What event had a similar impact on the 2016 election? FBI's Comey announcing Hillary Clinton's emails
8. What event had a similar impact on the 2014 election? The Ebola outbreak
9. Why does the article suggest that Fox may have covered the caravan more than other networks? It suggests that they did so because their audience is largely supportive of the president. 

1. Why don't all polls close at exactly the same time?
 People who are in line at 7/8 pm get to stay and vote, and the length of that line can be different at every station.
2. What do poll workers at each site have to do once voting is complete in order for votes to be counted? 
They have to shut down the machines, put all the memory cards into one machine, and then print multiple copies of the receipt with vote totals.
3. In what ways are the actual vote counts delivered from actual polling places to the central location of election administration? They can be delivered by a phone call, voting machines can transmit it electronically, or memory cards can be physically delivered.
4. Why might the votes come in slower from rural areas? 
They might be far from the headquarters. 
5. Why might journalists be the first source of election results in some states but not in all states? 
Some state's websites will not and then others do not provide results the night of. 
6. Why may absentee ballots slow the official election results? States will count them if they are postmarked with the date of election day, so they have to wait for all of those to come in. 
7. What are provisional ballots? 
They are filled out if someone does not appear to be a registered voter, but they are tallied last.
8. Why are the official results made public much later than when the election is "called"? 
"each vote is counted and verified, then officially certified, first by the local counties and then by the secretary of state or state Board of Elections."
9. Why was the speed of getting election results emphasized during the Progressive Era? 
" the faster the votes were counted, the less time there was for shenanigans."

1.  What is the actual change Trump wants to make to US citizenship policy?
"...he wants to use an executive order to end birthright citizenship for children born in the US to unauthorized immigrant parents."

2. What does the Constitution say about citizenship?
The 14th Amendment which says that all persons born in the US and “subject to the jurisdiction of its laws” are citizens.
3. How does Trump give false information about the US compared to the rest of the world about this issue? 
"He claims the US is the only country that does this, but more than 30 do."

4. What steps would have to take place before Trump was ready to sign an executive order?
"it would need extensive review from the Department of Justice (specifically the Office of Legal Counsel) to assess its legality, and from the Department of Homeland Security and other departments to work out consequences."
5. What did the Supreme Court decide in Wong Kim Ark?
It states that "the children of noncitizens born in the United States are citizens."
6. Why might the Trump Administration feel that INS v Rios Pineda gives him legal grounds to issue this EO?
"The Supreme Court has never explicitly held, as a matter of law, that children of unauthorized immigrants born in the United States are citizens." "The statement was just dicta, or rhetoric."
7. Why might recent changes to the Supreme Court make the president confident that the SC would side with his actions?
He has many people on the Court that he has appointed and that side with him meaning they just might do what he says. 

Five Questions About the Carbon Tax

1.   What action has Exxon taken to promote a carbon tax?

They endorsed the CLC proposal and are putting up $1 million to lobby for it. 

2.  How does this article define a carbon tax?
-" a per-ton tax on the carbon dioxide emissions embedded in fuels or other products."

3.  What would be the predicted impact of a $50 per ton carbon tax?

"The tax would ultimately cover more than 80 percent of the economy’s total greenhouse gas emissions." and "emissions fall 39 to 46 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, putting the US well ahead of its pledged Paris goal of 26 to 28 percent by 2025. "

4.  How expensive would the tax need to be to reduce emissions by 80%?
It would need to exceed $100 per ton.

5.  Which industry would be most impacted by the implementation of a carbon tax?

Electricity would be most affected.

6. How would the carbon tax impact the transportation industry?
"...without commercially available liquid-fuel alternatives, the only way to reduce emissions quickly is to drive less, and driving behavior has proven resistant to price pressure."

7. Why is the carbon tax likely to be a regressive tax?

Since " It hits the poor harder than the rich because the poor spend a larger percentage of their income on energy services" it is regressive.

1. What is the last that anyone knows about journalist Jamal Khashoggi?
He was last seen  on October 2 whenever he was walking into the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to obtain a document verifying his divorce.
2. What does Turkey say happened?  What does Saudi Arabia say happened?
Turkey says they have concrete evidence he never left the building and was murdered there. Saudi Arabia says he left through a back entrance, but there is no evidence to corroborate that. 
3. Why would the Saudi Arabian government have motive to murder him?
He reported on the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and criticized his leadership, so he feared arrest and fled the country.
4. How has Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman tried to change Saudi Arabia?
He has allowed women to drive and opened cinemas in the Kingdom, but has also championed a bloody war with Yemen.
5. How did Khashoggi come to work for The Washington Post instead of the Saudi paper Al Watan?
In the Saudi paper he would not be able to express his actual views on the prince because it is not allowed int he culture, so writing for Washington Post let him speak his mind freely.
6. Why did he visit the Saudi Consulate in Turkey?
He visited in order to file paperwork for his upcoming wedding to a Turkish woman.
7.  The US is an ally of both.  Why don't they get along?
"Turkey and Saudi Arabia already have a strained relationship. The gulf monarchy is engaged in an ongoing blockade of Qatar, one of Turkey’s allies, and Riyadh doesn’t agree with Turkey’s embrace of political Islam or its close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. "
8. How is the president responding to the issue?  How are Senators responding?
The President is still treating everyone as if relations are not strained and believes nothing should be broken while they investigate. Senators are taking this more seriously as an immediate break in the relationship if Saudi lured and murdered an American; they are also pushing Trump to impose sanctions on those involved.
9. Why doesn't the president want to cause too much trouble with Saudi Arabia?
He does not want to risk losing lucrative weapons sales to them.

​ 

​1. What is the earliest that Brett Kavanaugh could join the Supreme Court if he is approved by the Senate? October 8th is the earliest he could be on the bench if the FBI does not turn anything up.    2. What does the Supreme Court do without a 9th justice? They just continue to work as the Supreme Court does, because they had only 8 before when someone had died. 3. What is the potential problem with having only 8 justices? The only problem would be if there is a 4-4 case and there is no tie breaker because of the even number. 4. How many cases are already scheduled to be heard by the Court? They already have six cases scheduled for week one and then five more the following week, then 6 more, and then another 6 all week after week. 5. If Judge Kavanaugh does join the Court, what happens to the cases that he has not heard? They just move on and he does not get to vote on those cases, especially because they'll likely be unanimous.  6. What is the upcoming Supreme Court case about that deals with the 8th amendment? They are voting on the idea if someone can be executed if they do not remember committing the crime after suffering several strokes.  7. What is the result if the Supreme Court decision is a 4-4 tie? Then the lower court's ruling will stay in effect.  ​

1. How did Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein react to President Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey?
"The Times claims Rosenstein told other officials that he might be able to persuade Attorney General Jeff Sessions and then-secretary of homeland security John Kelly to invoke the 25th Amendment."
2. What does Section 4 of the 25th Amendment give the Cabinet the power to do?  Why would they do this? 
It gives them the power to decide if the president is unfit and they may do this if the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.

3. What does Congress do if the Cabinet exercises this power?
Congress would need to decide if this can go through, if the president disputes it, and they vote needing a two thirds majority to keep the Vice President in charge. 
4. What happened to the presidency when James Garfield or Woodrow Wilson were unable to fulfill their duties as POTUS?
They "lingered on the presidency" and just let them ride it out since they were still breathing, just less capable.
5. What event finally got Congress to address the problems with presidential succession?
"The chaos and instability that followed John F. Kennedy’s assassination finally spurred Congress to move toward solving these problems. "

6. Besides the powers adressed in #2, what else is covered in the 25th Amendment?

"It provided, finally, for a simple way to fill a vacant vice presidency — the president nominates someone, and both Houses of Congress take a vote."

7. What would have to happen in order for VP Mike Pence to assume power right now?
'The vice president and eight Cabinet secretaries have to do is put in writing that the president is “unable” and send that message to the Speaker of the House and the Senate’s president pro term.'
8. What does "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office." mean?
There is not a definitive answer to what it means but " it could entail not just physical inability but a judgment call on mental health or even, conceivably, poor character or simple disagreement."

9. What could the president do if he disagrees with his Cabinet?
"If the president does this, he or she would get their powers back in four days — unless the vice president and at least eight Cabinet officials say, in writing, that he is still unable."
10. How does this article differentiate this action from a coup?
It says it can feel like one but it is technically not "because it’s indisputably legal and constitutional."

1. What does the "original Constitution" (Articles 1-7 only, no amendments) say about voting rights?

“Suffrage was treated as a privilege reserved exclusively for property-owning white men, but it was not enshrined as an inalienable right in the Constitution.” They did not guarantee the right to vote for anybody.

2. What does Lichtman mean when he says voting amendments are in "negative terms"?

He means that the amendments are defined by what states or the national government can not do, rather than what they can.

3. Why does he think that the Framers left the right to vote guarantee out of the Constitution?

“Because they knew that to get the Constitution established, three-quarters of the states at minimum had to ratify it” so they did not put the guarantee since at the time voting was really only open to white property-owning men.

4. Why does he say that we are now in a "period of backsliding" when it comes to voting rights?

“We don’t have the gross denials of the right to vote that we once did in this country. But we have newer and more obscure forms of voter disenfranchisement.”

5. What forms of voter suppression does he mention?

Voter ID laws, purges of voter rolls, and racial or political gerrymandering are some forms of voter suppression he mentions.

6. Why is it difficult to overturn laws that suppress voting rights?

Without that guarantee of voting in the Constitution, the states really do get to do whatever they like with voting because it has been left up to them for a long time.

7. Where does he expect to see the biggest changes in the protections of voting rights to come from?

He believes state courts are who have the ability and who will change voting rights.

8. What was strange about the way votes in Florida were counted in the 2000 elections?

180,000 votes were invalidated and the votes made the ratio for African American to White votes 1:5 (one out of every 10 blacks was equal to one out of 50 whites.)

9. How many states added photo ID laws for voters after Barack Obama's election in 2008?

Supposedly, 15 states have made their voter ID laws stricter.

10. What kinds of policies does Lichtman suggest that the US needs?

More anti-gerrymandering referendums and same day and automatic registration are some policies he recommends altering/adding.

1. What challenges do Democrats face in winning control of the Senate?

They must win all or most of 6 states and then also win Republican held seats in Nevada, Arizona, and Tennessee or Texas.

2. There are 33 Senate elections happening.  How many are classified as "competitive"?

10 elections look seriously competitive.

3. In North Dakota, why will it be challenging for Heidi Heitkamp to win reelection?

The opponent, Cramer, is close with Trump, who the state voted 63% for in the election.

4. What does polling in Missouri currently tell us about Senator Claire McCaskill?

She has a very good chance of winning even with 44% disapproval because teh polls show a .6 difference between the candidates.

5. In Nevada, what unique situation in Senator Dean Heller in?  How do Nevada voters feel about President Trump?

He is tied to Trump and has repealed things left and right since Trump and GOP money convinced him to do so, and in a state that voted Hillary, with a 51% disapproval rate of Trump, things are harder now for Heller.

6. Who are the two candidates in Tennessee?  How do Tennessee voters feel about President Trump?

Marsha Blackburn and Phil Bredesen; 56% approval of Trump and 40% disapproval

7. In Florida, what advantage does Rick Scott have over Bill Nelson?

Scott has a ton of money that he has no problem spending, whereas Nelson does not and it is putting him behind in the race.

8. In what way might the Florida governor race impact the Senate election?

Andrew Gillum is the first black Floridian to make the ballot for governor and this could boost the Democratic vote in the Senate.

9. What unique stance has Senator Jeff Flake taken in Arizona?

He bashes Trump and describes him as dangerous but votes for his agenda almost every time.

​10.  What has changed about the Texas Senate race since earlier in the summer?

Cruz was leading by double digits but now that has diminished to only a few points lead.

11. In Indiana, why does Joe Donnelly avoid associating himself with Democrats, even though he is a Democrat?

It allows him to appeal to both parties and come off as bipartisan.

12.  Why is it strange that a Democratic Senator represents West Virginia?

Democratic does not seem to fit with West Virginia because Trump won with 68% approval rate which was his highest margin in the country.

Brett Kavanaugh's Confirmation Hearings

Then, answer the following questions:

1. Who holds this meeting and how long is it expected to last?

The Senate Judiciary Committee holds the meeting and is expected to last all week

2. What is the purpose of these hearings?

It is mainly used to vet contenders for the high court.

3. Why are Democrats arguing that this judge may have a conflict of interest in the future?

They are worried due to “his willingness to preserve protections for those with preexisting health conditions, and his stance on gun control, among a slew of subjects.”

4. What do most people expect to be the result of these hearings?

Majority of people expect him to simply sail through the whole thing.

5. What did Brett Kavanaugh do before he was nominated to this post?

He was a DC Circuit Court of Appeals judge before this.

6. Why do you think his role in the Clinton investigation is important to some people?

Due to the fact that it was such a big case and what got his name out there, people would be worried of corruption or who his allies are in such a big scandal.

7. Which of Kavanaugh's political opinions seem the most important to Democrats?

They seem most focused on his views of abortion and health care.

8. Other than Kavanaugh, who else will be questioned in these hearings?

28 witnesses will testify on Friday alongside Kavanaugh.

9. What is the purpose of the Committee voting on Kavanaugh?

The Committee has the responsibility of deciding whether or not to recommend him to the full Senate.

10. How many votes are required to confirm him?  Do Republicans have enough votes now?

The requirement is majority of 51 votes is what is need. Republicans do have enough votes because in order for Democrats to stop his nomination, they would all have to vote the same and sway a couple Republicans.

11. What approach are Democrats taking before the Senate votes on his confirmation?

Activists are urging people to protest and call their Congressmen to pressure lawmakers who have responded to influence like that before.  

1.  What was John McCain's role in the federal government?

He was the Senator from Arizona for 30 years.

2. Who will be in charge of naming a replacement for him?

Doug Ducey, the Arizona governor, has to replace McCain with another Republican.

3. How long will that replacement serve?

They will hold that place until 2020.

4. What restrictions are there for who can be chosen to replace McCain?

They must be from the same party as McCain, Republican.

5. Why won't voters vote on a replacement for McCain in this November's elections?

Since he did not leave before May 30 there will not be a vote in November; this senator will serve until 2020 and then a vote will take place for who serves the rest of McCain’s 6 year term.

6. Why are Republicans happy that McCain's seat is not up for election this November?

The other Arizona Senator seat, held by Flake, will be up for grabs this election and there is a solid chance for a Democrat to take it.

7. What is the current Republican majority in the Senate?  

As of now, it is only a 51-49 majority held by them.

8. Why might McCain's replacement be better for Republicans than McCain was?

McCain was not a traditional Republican so his vote was not always very reliable, meaning the next choice for Senator is most-likely going to be more Republican and more likely to make the same choices as the rest of the party.

cool?