Jonathan Zhang's AP U.S. Government Blog

1. In changing environmental policy, how much bureaucratic regulation has the Trump Administration reduced? Trump has aimed to rollback environmental regulation. Currently, 53 separate rules have been rolled back and 32 are in the process. 2. How has the Trump Administration changed America's approach to resource extraction? The U.S. has started to become an oil/petroleum producer instead of an importer. Natural gas output is also at a record high. Natural resource extraction is on the rise and has been largely successful. 3. What changes has the Trump Administration made to the Medicaid program? Trump has allowed states to have work requirements for Medicaid. 4. What has been the result of these changes? Uninsurance rate has risen and implementation of Obamacare has fell in strength. People are having less access to reliable healthcare. 5. What policy changed has caused the biggest changes in the federal deficit? TCJA (Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017). The deficit actually ...

1. How much has Trump spent advertising on Facebook about the impeachment process? $1.6 million 2. Which voters is he targeting his ads towards? He is targeting his voter base instead of the deciding votes. He wants to assure them that the impeachment is a plot by the Democrats, not a nonpartisan political process. 3. What are the ads about? They build the conspiracy instead of addressing the actual issues of impeachment. These ads are meant to keep voters from switching sides and rile them up against Democrats. 4. How much did political groups spend on advertising on Facebook in the 2018 elections? $284 million 5. What percentage of Trump's advertising is about the impeachment? 30% 6. What age groups is Trump targeting with this advertising? 90% aimed at >35 year olds 30% of that 90% aimed at 65+ 7. Where is Trump avoiding using these ads? He isn't focusing on the states that won him the 2016 election. This allows him to test what ads are th...

​1. What changed about Virginia's government in last week's elections? The Democrats now control the House and Senate in Virginia's state legislature. They want to become the last state needed to ratify the ERA. 2. What would the Equal Rights Amendment proposed in 1972 do? It would give equal rights to everyone regardless of sex. Congress can pass legislation to enforce the legislation, and it would take effect two years after ratification. 3. How many states ratified the amendment when it was originally proposed?  What states have ratified it recently? 22 states ratified within first year, and 35 states initially ratified it during the first attempt to pass the ERA. 2 other states, Nevada and Illinois, ratified it in 2017 and 2018, respectively.  4. According to the constitution, why is it necessary to have a 38th state ratify the amendment? 3/4 majority has to be reached in the 50 state legislatures to ratify an amendment, so that is why the 38th state is crucial to c...

1. Why is the Liberty and Justice Celebration dinner important to candidates? It is the largest gathering of Iowa voters and represents a chance to change the voters' opinions before the Iowa caucus. Undecided voters can be swayed. 2. What percentage of voters still consider themselves undecided?  What percentage of voters are currently certain of their choice in candidates? 29% are undecided. 20% are certain. This leaves lots of rooms for candidates to get support. 3. Which candidates are seeing an increase in support? Which candidates are seeing a decrease in support? Buttigieg was able to gather lots of support and has the third position in the polls. Biden was supposed to be the frontrunner but is now fourth. Bernie and Biden aren't doing as well as Buttigieg and Warren. 4. What message does Pete Buttigieg use to try to stand out to voters? Buttigieg wishes to contrast himself with Warren as a centrist and Obama supporter. He rides Obama's coattails and wants to ach...

1.  After the impeachment process, how did Clinton's relationship with the public and his party change? His own party actually ended up backing him because many viewed his impeachment as a partisan move to depose a political opponent. The public didn't feel like the impeachment was warranted either since they were not directly affected by Clinton's affair. 2. What are differences between the investigations that led to the Clinton impeachment and the potential Trump impeachment? The grounds for Clinton's impeachment were solely found in the Starr report. However, there is a live case being built against Trump, which makes it so that not a single piece of evidence would be an impeachable offense, but a general case against the president would decide the outcome. 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? When initial talks of impeachment were taking place,...

1. What is the most basic finding of the polls that have been released in the last week? There has been elevated support for impeachment, but the results are not strong enough to show that the population as a whole wants Trump impeached. 2. What did YouGov and the Economist find that most Americans feel about the president's actions? Although impeachment is not favored by a majority, the majority do think that Trump has done wrongdoing in colluding with Ukraine. 3. What did that same poll find about American attitudes toward the president if he withheld funding to the Ukraine? 62% believed it was out of order to withhold aid for the reasons the President stated in the calls (the political favors). 4. What change in attitudes did the Quinnipiac poll find? After the Mueller report, people definitely believed that Trump did something wrong, but only 29% wanted to actually impeach him. Now, that number went up 5%. 5. What is important about the time frame in which the poll was cond...

1. What is Nancy Pelosi's role in Congress? She is the Speaker of the House, which is in line for the presidency after the VP and is the head of the HOR. 2. What is President Trump alleged to have done? Trump is alleged to have tried to have Ukraine interfere in the 2020 presidential election (he was said to have been communicating with a foreign leader). 3. What is Nancy Pelosi's goal, since she does not want to impeach the president? She wants to more clearly define why a President should be impeached. In this case, she wants impeachment if any President is doing any wrongdoing. She wants this to apply to future presidents mainly. 4. What does Pelosi say has harmed Congress's ability to investigate the Executive Branch? The Senate is controlled by the Republicans, which block legislation that limits the President. Also, the President has been noncooperative with information and has flaunted their "executive privilege."  5. How did the Director of National In...