Monkeyboy wrote:He's not talking to you, smoothie. He'll make more of an attempt to talk to you once he's won over the crazies and needs your vote.

The 112th Congress closed unceremoniously this month with a series of votes (by the House and Senate) to avert the “fiscal cliff”. With this data, we can now analyze roll call voting in the 112th Congress in its entirety and place the amount of Congressional polarization seen over the last two years in historical context. In a series of plots below, we show that partisan polarization has dramatically increased in the 112th Congress in both chambers. And, as has we have previously discussed, this phenomenon has been asymmetric: contemporary polarization of the parties is almost entirely due to the movement of congressional Republicans to the right. Polarization is measured as the difference between the Republican and Democratic means on the first DW-NOMINATE dimension, which represents the ideological (liberal-conservative) scale.

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We have previously written about asymmetric polarization, arguing that the primary driver of contemporary partisan polarization has been the steady movement of congressional Republicans to the right. This trend appears to have continued through the 112th congress. House Republicans – despite a large majority earned in the 2010 midterm elections – have continued their rightward drift, adding more conservative members than moderate members. Senate Republicans also became a more conservative group in the 112th Congress, while Senate Democrats remained mostly ideologically static. Some of this phenomenon is attributable to the fact that Democrats – particularly northern Democrats – were already holding liberal policy positions in the 1960s. The “Great Society” programs enacted during the 1960s have appeared to represent the leftward edge of what is practically achievable in American public policy (for example, from an ideological standpoint, “Obamacare” is not more liberal than Medicare, enacted in 1965). Congressional Democrats have staked out this position and have mostly maintained it in recent American history. Congressional Republicans, on the other hand, continue to pioneer new ideological territory along on the rightward edge of American public policy. It remains unclear whether and how long this pattern can persist.

Bucky wrote:What would have been PA's EV breakdown counting that way? How about the country?

drsmooth wrote:

Monkeyboy wrote:He's not talking to you, smoothie. He'll make more of an attempt to talk to you once he's won over the crazies and needs your vote.

that whole "win the crazies" part is what loses, and will continue to lose. It tells me, at root, that he is simply not paying attention. I and most of America will return the favor.

Venezuela's opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, called on Wednesday for a proof of life from ailing President Hugo Chavez, who has not been seen publicly since cancer surgery in Cuba five weeks ago.

Scott agreed with black lawmakers that the 2011 election law contributed to the chaos at the polls in November, including long lines all over the state and up to seven-hour waits in Miami-Dade. But Scott, who is seeking re-election in 2014, said it was largely a decision of the Legislature.

"It was not my bill," Scott said. "We've got to make changes, I agree. … The Legislature passed it. I didn't have anything to do with passing it."

Scott signed the bill into law in 2011. His administration spent more than $500,000 in legal fees in a largely successful defense of the law, though a federal judge struck down new restrictions on groups that register voters.

Egypt's Islamist president sought Wednesday to defuse Washington's anger over his past remarks urging hatred of Jews and calling Zionists "pigs" and "bloodsuckers," telling visiting U.S. senators that his comments were a denunciation of Israeli policies.

Both sides appear to want to get beyond the flap: Mohammed Morsi needs America's help in repairing a rapidly sliding economy, and Washington can't afford to shun a figure who has emerged as a model of an Islamist leader who maintains his country's ties with Israel.

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The flap was a new twist in Morsi's attempts to reconcile his background as a veteran of the Muslim Brotherhood — a vehemently anti-Israeli and anti-U.S. group — and the requirements of his role as head of state, which include keeping the strategic relationship with Washington.

Morsi's remarks came from a mix of speeches he made in 2010 when he was a leading Brotherhood figure. The remarks were revived when an Egyptian TV show aired them to highlight and mock Morsi's current policies. On Tuesday, the White House denounced the comments as "deeply offensive."

In the video, Morsi refers to "Zionists" as "bloodsuckers who attack Palestinians" as well as "the descendants of apes and pigs." He says Egyptians should nurse their children on "hatred for them: for Zionists, for Jews. They must be breast-fed hatred." He also calls President Barack Obama a liar.

Morsi, who came to office in June, told the visiting U.S. delegation on Wednesday that the remarks were taken out of context, aimed at criticizing Israeli policies, and not Jews, according to presidential spokesman Yasser Ali.

Morsi told them distinction must be made between criticism of what he called the "racist" policies of the Israelis against the Palestinians and insults against the Jewish faith.

Morsi also told them the remarks were part of a speech against Israeli aggression in Gaza and "assured them of his respect for monotheistic religions, freedom of belief and the practice of religions," Ali said.

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The Brotherhood's leader, Mohammed Badie, recently accused Jews of corrupting the world and slaughtering the Palestinians. A top leader of the group last month called on Israelis of Egyptian origin to return, saying the Jewish state will cease to exist in 10 years.

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Still Morsi has promised to abide by Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel and has continued security cooperation with Israel over the volatile Sinai Peninsula and their border. In November, Morsi brokered a truce between the Jewish state and Gaza's Hamas rulers in November, a feat that won him warm praise from the Americans.

jerseyhoya wrote:Taken out of context! I mean, I guess it's necessary and all, but it'd be a lot more fun if our representatives could slap him across the face and call him a bigoted POS and tell him to go fuck himself.

Going into this morning, most economists expected initial unemployment claims to improve, but after seeing the new report from the Department of Labor, few expected news this good.

New applications for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by 37,000 to a seasonally adjusted 335,000 in the week ended Jan. 12, the Labor Department said Thursday. Claims fell to the lowest level since January 2008, but the big drop likely stems from a seasonal-adjustment quirk whose effects could quickly fade and push the numbers back up in the next few weeks. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected claims to drop to 368,000 from last week's slightly revised 372,000.

The caveats certainly matter -- seasonal quirks don't last -- but for the record, the last time we saw a number this low, it was exactly five years ago this week.