Author: Victor Allis

Plot Your Politics

Federal Forces in our Cities

ActiVote asked our users about deploying federal forces to US Cities, in response to some protests turning violent and subsequent looting and destruction of property. The answers that our users could choose from can be summarized as: Federal forces should take charge Federal forces should support local law enforcement Federal forces should protect federal property…
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CARES Act Renewal

In the past few weeks, ActiVote has asked for your opinion about renewing the CARES act. The answers that our users could choose from can be summarized as:  $600/week during the pandemic $600/week for another 4 months $400/week for another 4 months was good, but no extension should not have been enacted We found that…
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Voting during COVID

This week we asked about voting during a pandemic. The answers that our users could choose from can roughly be summarized as  Vote by mail (for everyone) No-fault absentee voting (for everyone) Expand locations and hours (but not vote-by-mail) Leave it to each state. Don’t change anything We found that in general there was a…
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Mandatory Mask Wearing

On August 20th, 2020 the Featured Question in the ActiVote app was about Mandatory Mask Wearing during COVID. A summary of the answers that our users could choose from: mandate and enforce mandate in hotspots mandate within 6 feet only educate only the government should stay out of it We found that the opinions differ…
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Your place in the ActiVote Universe

While our early ancestors thought that Earth was the center of the universe, and later thought that at least our sun was that center, today we know that the universe is vast. Earth is just 1 of 8 planets, orbiting a run-of-the-mill star somewhere in the outer reaches of just an ordinary galaxy out of…
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Elected Officials Join ActiVote’s Matrix!

At ActiVote we want to make it easy to vote your values. For that to work, we aim to visualize your position in the Political Matrix, as well as those of any candidate you can vote for. With today’s release, we have made sure that all federal legislators are automatically included. Our current elected officials…
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ActiVote Poll: Prescription Drug Prices

The US spends far more on healthcare per person than any other developed country in the world. A major contributor to the cost difference is the price of prescription drugs, which are, on average, about twice as expensive as in other developed countries, and form 17% of total healthcare costs.  In recent years, pharmaceutical companies…
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ActiVote Poll: Marginal Tax Rate

The “marginal tax rate” is the percentage of tax you pay over “brackets” of your income. For instance, for the first approximately $10,000 of income, the marginal tax rate is 10%, thus about $1,000 in tax. Over the next ~$30,000 the marginal tax rate is 12%, thus another about $3,600 in tax. The “maximum marginal…
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ActiVote Poll: Federal Minimum Wage?

The Federal Minimum Wage was raised to $7.25 on July 24th, 2009. In the 10 years since then inflation has been approximately 20%, steadily reducing the purchasing value of that $7.25 wage.  An ActiVote poll asking about the Federal Minimum Wage shows that only 1% of respondents would like it to remain at $7.25. So,…
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Why we built ActiVote

Four decades ago, a newly appointed US Ambassador was asked why he had accepted the job offer after many years working in the private sector. He explained that he had spent ⅓ of his life getting an education, ⅓ of his life working for a living and was hoping to spend the final ⅓ of his…
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