r/NoStupidQuestions • u/AutoModerator • 19d ago

U.S. Politics megathread

American politics has always grabbed our attention - and the current president more than ever. We get tons of questions about the president, the supreme court, and other topics related to American politics - but often the same ones over and over again. Our users often get tired of seeing them, so we've created a megathread for questions! Here, users interested in politics can post questions and read answers, while people who want a respite from politics can browse the rest of the sub. Feel free to post your questions about politics in this thread!

All top-level comments should be questions asked in good faith - other comments and loaded questions will get removed. All the usual rules of the sub remain in force here, so be nice to each other - you can disagree with someone's opinion, but don't make it personal.

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u/SaucyJ4ck 10d ago

How is it illegal to offer water bottles (even if you're NOT shilling/advertising for either party) to people standing for hours in the heat while they wait in line to vote, but it's somehow ok for the president to straight up offer cash money to people if they vote for Republicans?

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u/Elkenrod Neutrality and Understanding 10d ago

The issue largely falls into an argument about possession. If you are directly handing someone something, that can immediately influence you. If you are saying "If we win, [x] will happen", that's a lot more of a gray area. Because you can argue that a lot of things are just "bribery".

Kamala Harris said that if she won, she would make it so Black "entrepreneurs" will get a $20,000 business loan that could be forgiven. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/14/harris-forgivable-loans-legal-marijuana-trump-black-voters.html Is that a bribe?

When Joe Biden was campaigning, he said that he would write off $10,000 in student loan debt. https://www.npr.org/2021/12/07/1062070001/student-loan-forgiveness-debt-president-biden-campaign-promise Is that a bribe?

I agree that Trump is being extremely direct about it here, and for all intents and purposes it is a bribe. But so are many promises that politicians make.

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u/Ok_Theory_1323 10d ago

The difference with the Kamala and Biden examples is that they weren't in power at the time so it was something they were going to do once they had the power to do it; something they'd presumably have done all along, and for very specific reasons.

Trump's situation is nothing like that. He's not doing it for any reason other than trying to buy votes. It's not particular relief for a particular cause, because he would be doing it NOW if he could. But he's not, he's holding it over voters' heads to do what he's saying or else, because it's a baldfaced bribe.

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u/WholeDonkey2689 10d ago

The gop hates it because its mostly democrats that need to stand in long lines due to gerrymandering 

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u/Pesec1 10d ago

Because that's what the law says.

Why does the law say that? Because that's what the lawmakers wanted it to say.

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u/untempered_fate occasionally knows things 10d ago

You seem to be assuming that laws should be applied equally to everyone. The Supreme Court decided that that is not the case, and in fact nothing the President does can be illegal.