Asking about DC Statehood, Paying College Players and 'The Star-Spangled Banner'
June 26, 2020
Happy Friday. Thanks for another great week, everyone.
Today, thanks to some great user suggestions, we’ve got some questions about whether Washington, D.C. should be admitted as the 51st state, whether college athletes should be paid and whether it’s time to replace ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ with a new national anthem.
What do you think? Click on the Let’s Talk button to let us know.
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Results from June 25, 2020
Question 1: Which of these best describes your view of Donald Trump?
I think the first two questions are still limited. I agree with some policies from each. It seems as though being able to be politically moderate doesn't exist. Having to pick between red and blue when you know you're purple feels like a lose-lose. It's incredibly frustrating as a voter.
Question 2: Which of these best describes your view of Joe Biden?
I wish there was a meh/meh option for Biden.
I was disappointed in Biden's nomination, but Trump actively damages our democracy. It's not that Republicans are inherently better or worse than Democrats. It depends on the individual. I would vote McCain (RIP) over Biden. Probably Romney over Biden too.
I might be a little too particular on this, but I don’t really like Joe Biden personally and I’m pretty lukewarm on his policies (I put “like” because I don’t necessarily dislike them). In my view he’s a stopgap best choice so we don’t tumble into an authoritarian pit, but I’d also like my daughter to be able to experience a livable climate. If only we had ranked choice voting I believe we’d have much better candidates to choose from 😉
Question 3: Would you support or oppose a ban on the government using facial recognition technology for domestic purposes?
Many of you made the point that facial recognition is already used in the United States:
Shoe horned again on the question about facial recognition.. For what exactly, wholesale anywhere in any city like China? Categorically no. At customs checkpoints when arriving in the U.S.? Yes provided reasonable effort goes into ensuring it's not inherently biased.
The facial recognition question: The U.S. has used that since 2018 for Global Entry at airports (that's why, when you get a new passport pic, you are not supposed to smile :). I'm assuming the question is aimed at other applications? Do tell!
But Boston's city council recently banned the city’s municipal government from using any facial recognition technology to identify people in public.
Question 4: Do you support or oppose reducing funding for police departments and and reallocating those resources for other social and community services, like mental health facilities or housing?
Question 4 is misleading. A world without police isn't realistic (crime is going to happen sometimes regardless of how good our social services are). If we want less police violence, the answer is actually MORE funding for police departments, to fund proper training and teach de-escalation methods. I'm in support of increased funding for police departments for these purposes, AND increased funding for social services-- both will help reduce crime and improve positive outcomes in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Higher taxes are ok with me to support this.
I do not support “defunding” the police. I support the police departments going back to actual policing rather than the social work, of sorts, that they’d been shifted into in recent years. If that means some amount of funding comes away as we ask them to stop performing certain functions, then so be it. They aren’t trained to address many of the situations we currently ask them to handle (like mental health complaints) and, honestly, it’s just not what our current recruiting and screening tools are built to identify in police academy candidates.
Question 5: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the federal agency responsible for the country's aeronautics and space program. In Fiscal Year 2020, the United States government spent $22.6 billion on NASA, representing 0.48% of the Federal Budget. Do you believe the United States should spend more, less or about the same amount of money on NASA?
Question 6: If a private company like SpaceX offered you a fully paid trip to space, would you go?
If there are parties in space, then I’d consider going
I'd 100% take a 1-way flight to Mars.
Elon, is that you?
Make it all the way through but forget to answer today’s questions?
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