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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Why Only Two Major Parties?

Q: Why are there only two major parties in the U.S.?
A: The winner-take-all system in the U.S. favors two stable parties.

Giuliani Visits Mistress

Q: Did Giuliani break the law using city funds while visiting his mistress?
A: No. Reporters who broke the story didn’t suggest he acted illegally.                     

Presidential Signing Statements

Q: Are presidential signing statements unconstitutional?
A: Probably not. But they don’t have much impact, either.

Holocaust Curriculum Suspended in UK?

Q: Did the U.K. suspend its Holocaust curriculum because it offended Muslim students?
A: No, neither the United Kingdom nor the University of Kentucky has suspended teaching the Holocaust.

How Many Have Bachelor’s Degrees?

Q: What percentage of the U.S. population has at least a bachelor's degree?
A: According to the Census Bureau, the figure is 27 percent of adults.

Pork-barrel Spending

Q: What percentage of the national spending is pork?
A: About 1 percent.

Abortions: Comparing Catholic and Protestant Women

Q: Do Catholic women get abortions more frequently than Protestant women?
A: Catholics are slightly more likely to get an abortion than Protestants, according to a 2000-2001 survey.

Congressional Pensions

Q: Does a United States senator receive his full pay upon retiring?
A: No. A member of Congress can’t receive more than 80 percent of his or her final salary upon retirement, and the average is much less.

The Obamas’ Chicago Home

Q: Does Obama have a real estate problem?
A: A political patron from whom he bought a strip of land is under federal indictment, but there’s no evidence Obama did anything improper.