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Some background and discussion of my recent NYT blog column on conflicting interpretations of survey findings about economic inequality.

From Princeton political scientist Nolan McCarty’s blog: For me at least, one of the frustrations about the debate over extending the cut in the payroll tax is extent to which politicians have tried to exploit the public’s lack of understanding about how the Social Security system works. The first lie is the Republican claim that […]

It may seem like a no-brainer that low corporate tax rates will attract investment from multinational corporations. However, the empirical evidence is surprisingly scanty, and in a forthcoming article in Comparative Political Studies (earlier non-paywalled version here), Nate Jensen finds no significant relationship across OECD countries, even when he tries to control for endogeneity. The […]

Roger Simon, the Chief Political Columnist for Politico: I have never been called by a political pollster and don’t know anybody who has, but I know some pollsters, who assure me they don’t make the numbers up, and I believe them. From George Gallup’s mock Q-and-A in A Guide to Public Opinion Polls, which he […]

In 2007, a White House political affairs official made a presentation to political appointees in the General Services Administration, asking them to prioritize spending in 55 congressional districts that the Republican Party was either targeting or trying to defend. As this new article (paywalled – can’t find a non-paywalled version) by Sanford Gordon in the […]

A new article hypothesizes about what would happen if North Korea collapsed.

Partisan polarization is to blame for the near extinction of the conference committee.

Be wary when mixing math, hyperbole, and election analysis.

Gregg Easterbrook: Gingrich is a wild card. He probably would end up a flaming wreckage in electoral terms, but there’s a chance he could become seen as the man unafraid to bring sweeping change to an ossified Washington, D.C. There’s perhaps a 90 percent likelihood Obama would wipe the floor with Gingrich, versus a 10 […]

Following Jordan’s excellent post, a few more thoughts about conference committees.  The House this afternoon approved a motion to go to conference with the Senate to resolve chamber differences over the payroll tax cut bills.  Although the Speaker has repeatedly referred to conference committees as “regular order,” avid Congress watchers might disagree.   Donald Wolfensberger (a […]