Defederalized Democrat Links
Drutman, Lee. "The Senate Has Always Favored Smaller States. It Just Didn't Help Republicans Until Now." FiveThirtyEight, July 29, 2020. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-senate-has-always-favored-smaller-states-it-just-didnt-help-republicans-until-now/
Totenberg, Nina. "What Is The Federalist Society And How Does It Affect Supreme Court Picks?" NPR, June 28, 2018. https://www.npr.org/2018/06/28/624416666/what-is-the-federalist-society-and-how-does-it-affect-supreme-court-picks
Keith, Katie. "Supreme Court Declines To Hear Yet Another Challenge To The Affordable Care Act." Health Affairs, January 2021. https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/supreme-court-rejects-aca-challenge-law-remains-fully-intact
Rebecca Lebel. "Biden’s historic climate law has a problem." Vox, August 2023. https://www.vox.com/climate/2023/8/16/23815837/inflation-reduction-act-joe-biden-impact-manufacturing-consumers
Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013). https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-96_6k47.pdf
Cochrane, Emily. "Republicans Block Voting Rights Bill, Dealing Blow to Biden and Democrats." The New York Times, June 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/22/us/politics/filibuster-voting-rights.html
William A. Galston "# The collapse of bipartisan immigration reform: A guide for the perplexed" https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-collapse-of-bipartisan-immigration-reform-a-guide-for-the-perplexed/ and https://www.npr.org/2024/02/09/1230516258/with-the-border-bill-dead-heres-where-immigration-reforms-stands
Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the University of California, 591 U.S. ___ (2020). https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/18-587_5ifl.pdf
https://19thnews.org/2021/03/15-minimum-wage-increase-explainer/ https://www.minimum-wage.org/wage-by-state and https://www.fisherphillips.com/en/news-insights/trump-scraps-17-75-federal-contractor-minimum-wage.html
"California's Climate Policy Fact Sheet." https://www.law.berkeley.edu/research/clee/research/climate/projectclimate/california-climate-policy-fact-sheets/
"State Minimum Wages." National Conference of State Legislatures, January 2024. https://www.ncsl.org/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wages
"Automatic Voter Registration." National Conference of State Legislatures, February 2023. https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/automatic-voter-registration
Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/570/529/
Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, 594 U.S. (2021). https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-1257_g204.pdf
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, 597 U.S. (2022). https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392_6j37.pdf
West Virginia v. EPA, 597 U.S. (2022). https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-1530_n758.pdf
Biden v. Nebraska, 599 U.S. (2023). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/600/22-506/
Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, 585 U.S. (2018). https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-1466_2b3j.pdf
Trump v. United States, 600 U.S. (2024). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/603/23-939/
SEC v. Jarkesy, 598 U.S. ___ (2023). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/603/22-859/
Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 601 U.S. (2024). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/603/22-451/
Alberta, Tim. American Carnage: On the Front Lines of the Republican Civil War and the Rise of President Trump. Harper, 2019. https://www.harpercollins.com/products/american-carnage-tim-alberta
"California Climate Change Programs." California Air Resources Board. https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/climate-change-programs
"Massachusetts Health Care Reform: Provisions and Impacts." 2025. https://legalclarity.org/massachusetts-health-care-reform-provisions-and-impacts/
"Washington State Public Option." https://www.hca.wa.gov/about-hca/programs-and-initiatives/cascade-select-public-option and https://www.wahbexchange.org/cascade-select-will-be-available-across-washington-in-2025/
"State Minimum Wages." National Conference of State Legislatures, January 2024. https://www.ncsl.org/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wages
"Cannabis Overview." 2024. https://www.ncsl.org/civil-and-criminal-justice/cannabis-overview
"Voting Laws Roundup." Brennan Center for Justice, 2024. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/voting-laws-roundup
"Annual Gun Law Scorecard." Giffords Law Center, 2024. https://giffords.org/lawcenter/resources/scorecard/
New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann, 285 U.S. 262 (1932). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/285/262/
Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord
U.S. Army Brigade Combat Team (BCT) structure data from U.S. Army Field Manual 3-96, "Brigade Combat Team" (https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/3-96/fm3-96_2015.pdf). Standard personnel strength: Armored BCTs approximately 4,500 troops, Stryker BCTs approximately 4,500 troops, and Infantry BCTs approximately 4,400 troops, though exact numbers vary based on mission requirements and readiness levels. Additional reference: Congressional Research Service, "Army Drawdown and Restructuring: Background and Issues for Congress" (https://sgp.fas.org/crs/natsec/R42493.pdf).
The 20:1000 ratio (or 1:50) for effective counterinsurgency operations originated with James T. Quinlivan's study "Force Requirements in Stability Operations" (Parameters, Winter 1995-96, pp. 59-69) and was incorporated into U.S. Army Field Manual 3-24, "Counterinsurgency" (2006) (https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/3-24/fm3-24.pdf). In paragraph 1-67, the manual states: "Twenty counterinsurgents per 1000 residents is often considered the minimum troop density required for effective COIN operations; however as with any fixed ratio, such calculations remain very dependent upon the situation." This guideline became a central planning factor in Iraq and Afghanistan operations.
Pew Research Center: Public Trust in Government: 1958-2024 https://www.pewresearch.org/
"Federal Contract Spending: Five Trends in Five Charts." Project on Government Oversight, 2022. https://federalnewsnetwork.com/fiscal-2019-federal-contracting-playbook/2019/01/federal-contract-spending-trends-five-years-in-five-charts/
Federal Grants to State and Local Governments." Congressional Research Service, 2019. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R40638
"The Code of Federal Regulations: The Ultimate Regulatory Burden." Competitive Enterprise Institute, 2022. https://cei.org/studies/ten-thousand-commandments-2022/
"Federal Spending on Benefits and Services for People with Low Income: FY2008-FY2020." https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R46986
"United States Government Manual." National Archives and Records Administration. https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/govman
"Federal Real Property: Improved Data and a National Strategy Needed to Better Manage Excess and Underutilized Property." Government Accountability Office, 2022. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-104639
"Budget of the United States Government" https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/budget
"The Debt to the Penny." U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service. https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/debt-to-the-penny/
"Federal Outlays and Receipts as a Percentage of GDP." Congressional Budget Office, 2023. https://www.cbo.gov/data/budget-economic-data
"Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2023: Analytical Perspectives." Office of Management and Budget. https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/budget/2023/BUDGET-2023-PER
"Federal-State Tax Collection: Alternative Distribution Rules." Tax Foundation, Policy Brief, 2021. https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/federal-tax-burden/
"Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2023: Historical Tables." Office of Management and Budget. https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/budget/2023/BUDGET-2023-TAB
"Financial Accounts of the United States." Federal Reserve, 2023. https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/
"# Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: An Overview." https://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/08/fannie-mae-freddie-mac-credit-crisis.asp
"Federal Student Loan Portfolio." U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, 2023. https://studentaid.gov/data-center/student/portfolio
"What Happened to Silicon Valley Bank?" 2023. https://www.investopedia.com/what-happened-to-silicon-valley-bank-7368676
In American history, the Senate has never successfully removed a president through impeachment, despite three trials. The Senate has only removed eight federal judges in U.S. history, despite the appointment of over 3,600 federal judges since 1789. See: "Impeachment: An Overview of Constitutional Provisions, Procedure, and Practice." Congressional Research Service, 2023. https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46013
West Virginia v. EPA, 597 U.S. ___ (2022). https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-1530_n758.pdf
"After Chevron: What the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Decision Changed, And What It Didn’t". https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2024/07/18/after-chevron-what-the-supreme-courts-loper-bright-decision-changed-and-what-it-didnt/
"Supreme Court Reform". https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/strengthen-our-courts/supreme-court-reform
In Trump v. United States, 600 U.S. ___ (2024), the Court established that presidents have absolute immunity for "official acts" and presumptive immunity for other actions, creating unprecedented protection from legal accountability. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/603/23-939/
CNBC, "What’s in a name? Lots when it comes to Obamacare/ACA," https://www.cnbc.com/2013/09/26/whats-in-a-name-lots-when-it-comes-to-obamacareaca.html; and Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll showing consistent partisan differences in ACA support, with individual provisions like protections for pre-existing conditions having much broader support than the law as a whole, https://www.kff.org/interactive/kff-health-tracking-poll-the-publics-views-on-the-aca/
Census.gov, Calculating Migration Expectancy Using ACS Data
The Census Bureau tracks the level of migrations in a given year.
Another way to look at the data is to ask how many adults are still living in their birth state.
The ongoing debate regarding health care in America, with countless challenges to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A single court case could wipe out healthcare for tens of millions, as well as the prohibition on denial of coverage due to a "pre-existing condition."
The timeline governing initiatives varies by state. As a rough guideline, the process for California takes about a year, roughly six months to gather signatures, five months in advance of an election. It only takes a little over 620,000 signatures to quality for the ballot in California.
The complete text of the Federalist Papers is available through multiple sources, including the Library of Congress's collection at https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/full-text and Yale Law School's Avalon Project at https://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/fed.asp
AP News, Governors form compacts to coordinate reopening society, April 13th, 2020. Also, Wired, State Alliances Are Leading the US Fight Against COVID-19
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_presidential_election_in_Washington_(state), by AveryTheComrade - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=96035637
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_presidential_election_in_South_Carolina by TylerKutschbach - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95908711
Statista, size of urban and rural population of the U.S. 2020
1800-1990: Changes In Urban/Rural U.S. Population - SeniorLiving.org
FiveThirtyEight urban/rural analysis
[US Census Bureau](https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geo-areas/urban-rural/ua-facts.html
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/which-states-are-in-the-south/
For a brief summary of the migration of black Americans, check out https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2019/03/06/black-migrations-black-history-slavery-freedom/2807813002/
Stepping back, roughly 3.4% of GDP currently is spent on defense. That's a lot. That said, it's a far cry short of the U.S. national health expenditure as percent of GDP - 18% in 2020.
"Donald Trump Will Be President Thanks to 80,000 People in Three States." Washington Post, December 1, 2016. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/12/01/donald-trump-will-be-president-thanks-to-80000-people-in-three-states/
"Inside Biden's Winning Coalition." Brookings Institution, November 12, 2020. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/bidens-victory-came-from-the-suburbs/
"Election 2024: Results Show Decisive Electoral College Victory Despite Close Popular Vote." Associated Press, November 6, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/2024-election-results-presidential-trump-harris-b57d22bd872cde31d501c7a2cd245f83
"Federal Pandemic Early-Warning Program Ended Before Coronavirus Outbreak." Los Angeles Times, April 2, 2020. https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-04-02/coronavirus-pandemic-program-viruses-detection
"Timeline of Federal Coronavirus Responses." Washington Post, April 27, 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/04/27/timeline-coronavirus-responses/
California as a "nation-state."
If you really want to explore the dynamics of potential American breakdown, I recommend the podcast It Could Happen Here.