April 2021 - Newshacker

Why Puerto Rico Should Be Granted Statehood

The push to make Washington, D.C. a state has never been greater. Not only has the House passed a bill that would admit the federal district as a state this Congress, making it the second consecutive Congress that passed such an act, it has also been introduced in the Senate and there has been a great push for it to become a real state. However, the push to make Puerto Rico, an American territory in the Caribbean which has a population of 3 million, a state has not garnered such attention and support. Granting Puerto Rico statehood would give more than 3 million Americans representation in government.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom Recall Effort Qualifies

A recall effort organized by Republicans against California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has reached the number of valid signatures required for the state to hold a recall election, the California secretary of state reported Monday. The state is now all but certain to be holding a gubernatorial recall election later this year, for only the second time ever in the state’s history.

Census Bureau Announces New Population Estimates

The U.S. Census Bureau finally released its long-awaited population estimates from the 2020 Census on Monday. According to the Census Bureau, as of 2020, the U.S. population was estimated to be 331,449,281, an increase of about 22.7 million or 7.4 percent from 2010, when the previous census was taken. The bureau has also announced which states will gain or lose seats in the House (and thus the Electoral College), so let’s take a deeper dive.

Derek Chauvin Found Guilty In George Floyd Murder

A month after the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin into the murder of George Floyd last May began, a unanimous jury delivered a verdict on Tuesday, finding Chauvin guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. The verdict offered a sign of optimism that America was progressing toward a future in which people of all races would be treated fairly and equally and where police officers would be held accountable for their actions.

SCOTUS: The Only 2nd Amendment Case (DC v. Heller)

The Second Amendment, which states, in its entirety, “The right to bear arms shall not be infringed,” is why America remains one of the only developed countries with such loose gun control laws. Despite its controversy and looming role in shaping partisan identity and its influence over American society, from 1939 through to 2008, the Supreme Court somehow managed to avoid hearing any cases pertaining to it, until it heard D.C. v. Heller in 2008.

An Early Look Into the 2022 Senate Elections

After talking about why increasing political polarization and hyperpartisanship are horrible for the Senate, today, we are going to discuss the 2022 Senate elections as a whole. The 2022 midterms will be the first major federal elections to be held in President Joe Biden’s first term, and we could see a Republican sweep if Biden is disapproved of in a year and a half’s time, or we could see Democrats maintain control if Biden and his party remain popular.

Partisanship is Destroying How the Senate Functions

The Senate is the most important legislative body in the United States. It is the upper chamber of Congress, and is also the body that confirms all of a president’s nominees. By design, the Senate was meant to exist to give smaller states equal representation in Congress and encourage bipartisanship, but America’s increasing partisanship is slowly eating away at the principles of how the Senate once worked.

NYC Mayoral Race Heats Up With 10 Weeks to Go

New York City, the nation’s largest city, is holding its mayoral race this November, with a primary election beginning on June 22, 2021. With incumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio ineligible for a third term, the race between the Democratic two frontrunners — businessman Andrew Yang and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams — is heating up.

SCOTUS: The Time When It Declared Texas’s Secession Illegal (Texas v. White)

Texas v. White was a landmark Supreme Court case decided in 1869 in which the court established that, shockingly, the secession of a state from the United States is unconstitutional and despite Texas’s declaration of secession from the Union during the Civil War, Texas had never actually left the Union and all acts by the state legislature declaring otherwise were “absolutely null.”

Matt Gaetz In Hot Water After DOJ Probe Revealed

Rep. Matt Gaetz, a three-term Republican congressman from Florida and a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, is currently embroiled in a major scandal. On March 30, The New York Times first reported that an inquiry into Gaetz had been opened by the Department of Justice in the final months of the Trump administration, looking into allegations over Gaetz having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl in 2019 and whether he had violated federal sex trafficking laws.

Voting Rights and How America’s Pastime Got Pulled Into Politics

Major companies have come out in criticism of Georgia’s new voter-suppression law that makes it harder to vote, especially in the urban areas. As companies headquartered in Georgia like Coca-Cola and Delta slammed the law for being “based on a lie” and President Joe Biden calling the law “Jim Crow on steroids,” Major League Baseball has chosen to move this season’s All-Star Game out of Atlanta, resulting in Republicans, who have rallied against “cancel culture,” calling on people to boycott MLB.