Q: Does the government really make more in taxes from the sale of a gallon of gasoline than the oil companies do?
A: Possibly. Both taxes and profits account for a large share, but which is larger depends on too many unknown factors to allow for a clear answer.
Oily Words
Summary
Clinton and Obama are slamming each other and the oil companies in dueling radio ads in Pennsylvania. Both ads exaggerate and twist the facts. Both ads say, in effect, that the opposing candidate is reluctant to offend oil companies due to campaign donations. The truth is they both propose energy plans that are similar, and which the oil giants won’t like.
Obama’s ad claims, "Clinton’s taken more from big oil and other PACs and lobbyists than any other candidate,
Replacing the Vice President
Q: If a vice president assumes the presidency, who becomes vice president?
A: The new president appoints someone to fill his or her old position, subject to congressional approval.
Caucus vs. Primary
Q: What is the difference between a caucus and a primary?
A: In presidential campaigns, a caucus is a system of local gatherings where voters decide which candidate to support and select delegates for nominating conventions. A primary is a statewide voting process in which voters cast secret ballots for their preferred candidates.
Effect of Overturning Roe v. Wade
Editor’s note: We published an updated story on this issue on May 3, 2022.
Q: What would happen if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade?
A: Some states would outlaw abortion but others would not.
Congress to Outlaw Homeschooling?
Q: Is the U.S. Congress considering a bill to outlaw homeschooling in the U.S.?
A: No.
Winning Ugly in Wisconsin
Summary
In a Wisconsin throwdown, incumbent Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler narrowly lost his reelection bid after being hit with a barrage of deceptive attack ads. We’ve written about some of them in recent weeks.
Attack ads targeting the incumbent heavily outnumbered attacks aimed at the business-backed winner, Circuit Court Judge Mike Gableman. In the closing days of the campaign the ratio was roughly 2 to 1.
A misleading attack ad that ran hundreds of times implied that the incumbent overturned a murder conviction despite overwhelming evidence of the convicted man’s guilt.
What is Triangulation?
Q: What is triangulation?
A: In simple terms, it’s Democrats advocating some Republican positions or Republicans advocating some Democratic positions.
What is Public Financing?
Q: What is public financing?
A: It’s the system under which candidates can use U.S. Treasury dollars to fund their campaigns. But only if they agree to play by a complicated set of rules.
Substance Abuse
A misleading e-mail has been making the rounds, alleging that Clinton has fewer legislative accomplishments than Obama, and that they are less substantive. We’ve had questions about it from a number of readers, and blogs have jumped into the fray. So what’s the real story on the Senate careers of the Democratic presidential candidates? We find that the e-mail is false in almost every particular