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American Indicators
POLITICS & GOVERNMEN T
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THE REVIEW
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2008 ONLY A THIRD OF YOUNG ARE WITH GOP PEW REPORT FRIENDS COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL LEGISLATION STUDY: YOU'RE AS LIKELY TO DROWN IN A TOILET AS TO BE KILLED BY A TERRORIST DAVE LINDORFF, OPED NEWS - The New York Times, in its science section, reports that a new study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry has found that while the risk to Americans of dying at the hands of a terrorist was roughly equal to the chance of "drowning in a toilet," the risk of cardiovascular disease among people who are frightened about the threat of terrorism is 300-500% higher than for people who are not worried. AMERICAN CHANGES FROM THE PEW CENTER 2006 At the start of this year, 5,132 Hispanics were in elected office around the country - a 37 percent increase from 1996, when 3,743 Latinos held elected posts. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060622/ap_on_el_ge/latinos_government POLL FINDS REPUBLICANS FAVOR FASCIST STATE This poll by Zogby shows Republicans favoring key elements of a fascist police state including random searches and roadblocks and tapping of telephone conversations. 2005 MARCH 2006 WHERE YOUR TAXES GO MOST LIBERAL AND CONSERVATIVE CITIES BASED ON VOTING PATTERNS  2004 REPUBLICANS AREN'T EVEN GOOD FOR THE RICH ROBERT S. MCELVAINE, HISTORY NEWS NETWORK - There are certain things that everyone knows. The rich get richer faster during Republican administrations. Such self-evident "facts" are accepted without reference to evidence. Yet there is evidence available against which to test the belief, which most rich people seem to accept as an article of faith, that Republican administrations are better for the rich. United States Census Bureau data on mean household income from the beginning of the Nixon Administration through 2002 (the last year for which these data are currently available) show that this almost universally held belief is simply, almost spectacularly, wrong. During that period, Republicans held the White House for 22 years and Democrats for 12 years. In constant 2002 dollars, the average annual gain in income by the richest five percent of American households under Republicans (Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and the two Bushes) was $1706. Under Democrats (Carter and Clinton), the richest five percent saw their income rise by an annual average of $6,921. The startling bottom line is that over the last three-plus decades the income of the richest Americans has risen at a rate four times faster under Democrats than under Republicans. Above that bottom line are other findings that should be sobering to wealthy Americans intoxicated by the ideology and tax cuts preached and practiced by Republicans. A few examples: - All of the comparatively small cumulative gain in income by the rich under Republicans came during the Reagan years. Under the other four Republican administrations since 1969, the richest five percent of households lost an average of $444 per year. In nine of the last 34 years, the income of the richest five percent declined. Eight of those nine years of loss for the rich came when a Republican was in the White House. The only year under a Democrat in which the richest Americans did not gain was the last year of Jimmy Carter's presidency, 1980. - In the eight years under Clinton, the richest five percent gained an annual average of $10,241; in the six years so far calculated under the Bushes, the rich lost an annual average of $1999. It is true that the rich fared well during the Reagan years: an average annual gain of 3.6 percent with his huge tax cuts and massive deficits. Yet under Clinton, with his tax increase on upper income people (which Republicans insisted would cause economic ruin and against which every Republican in Congress voted) and ultimate balancing of the budget, the mean income of the rich increased at the significantly faster annual rate of 4.9 percent. - A similar story emerges from a look at the stock market, usually seen as another benchmark of how the rich are faring. During the same administrations, from Nixon to the second Bush, the Dow has gained an annual average of 7.1 percent under Republican administrations and 11.1 percent under Democrats. CTR FOR VOTING & DEMOCRACY - The 2004 election was in fact a very status quo one, reflected by the near exact Electoral College mirror of 2004 to 2000 and the almost perfect stasis in U.S. House races. Even the Senate gains from Republicans fit into this pattern, with all Republican gains coming on ground that already was firmly Republican in 2000. Of course when Republicans control the White House and Congress, a status quo election is a victory for their party. - The House of Representatives has reached a breathtaking level of non-competitiveness. More than 95% of seats were won by margins of more than 10% - a record. Only four incumbents outside of Texas didn't win by at least 4%, and only three were defeated. The House has changed partisan control only once since 1954 - and unless Republicans suffer major setbacks in the 2006 midterm election, it almost certainly won't change hands anytime soon. This lack of competition is partly due to redistricting, partly due to incumbent advantages, partly due to campaign finance - but primarily due to winner-take-all elections in single-member districts. - 48 of 51 the Electoral College contests (in the 50 states and the District of Columbia) voted for or against Bush according to how they had voted for Bush in 2000. A shift of only 35,000 votes in Iowa and New Mexico (Bush's narrowest wins in 2004 and Gore's closest wins in 2000) and New Hampshire (Kerry's closest win in 2004 and one of Bush's two closest wins in 2000) would have resulted in all 51 contests going exactly as they had gone in 2000. - If Bush's victory had been smaller - perhaps by one million votes instead of three - John Kerry likely would have won Ohio and thus the Electoral College and the presidency. That win would have meant two consecutive dysfunctional presidential elections where the popular vote winner did not win the presidency. This year's race easily could have gone to a 269-269 tie, after which the U.S. House would have picked the president, with one vote per state - a tie would have occurred if Kerry had won a total of 46,000 more votes in Iowa, Nevada and New Mexico (and perhaps a good deal less once all the provisional ballots are counted). - In U.S. Senate races Democratic candidates overall won approximately three million more votes than Republicans. Five of their six seat gains were in open seats without incumbents, and each of the winning Republicans in these open seat races ran behind George Bush's winning total in the state. - The sixth seat gain for Republicans was in South Dakota, where Tom Daschle was defeated by less than 5,000 votes (and where he and his opponent John Thune spent more than $30 million in an election where 390,000 votes were cast - more than $75 per vote). - Open seats went heavily to the party that had already been holding that seat - 29 of 33, with one of those seat changes in a much-changed district in Texas. Of those 33 seats, 30 went to the candidate of the party whose presidential candidate had carried the district in 2000. - Tom Delay's Texas gerrymander was immensely successful for Republicans. Democrats lost no seats in the 2002 elections after the 2002 redistricting, resulting in a delegation that was 17-15 Democratic. Today, in the wake of this week's elections in the 2003 plan, the delegation is 21-11 Republican, a shift of six seats. Just as conceived by the plan's architects, white congressional Democrats were decimated, reduced from 10 in 2003 to three. Of these three, one (Edwards) won by just 4% in his heavily Republican district, and the other two represent Latino-majority districts. By 2012, it is quite possible that no white Democrat will represent Texas in Congress. - Women increased from holding 60 U.S. House seats to 64 seats, just shy of 15% of the House. Women maintained their 14% of U.S. Senate seats and will drop from nine gubernatorial seats to seven or eight depending on whether Christine Gregoire wins her undecided Washington State election. - After gaining no U.S. House seats in 2002 after redistricting, African-Americans gained three new House seats in Texas, Missouri and Wisconsin. Asian Americans gained a new seat in Louisiana, and Latinos a new seat in Colorado. After six years without an African-American or Latino in the U.S. Senate, African American Barack Obama won in Illinois and Latinos Ken Salazar and Mel Martinez won in Colorado and Florida. White men and women now hold 49 of 50 gubernatorial seats and 95 of 100 Senate seats. - Gubernatorial elections continue to be the single-most competitive level of election in the United States. Fully half of all states have had a governor from a new party in the past four years. Four of the 10 governor's races that have been decided changes parties - the 11th race in Washington is too close to call. -According to the National Conference of State Legislators, Democrats gained 76 state legislative seats around the nation and picked up more legislative chambers than their Republican counterparts. As a reflection of a 50-50 nation, Democrats lead by just 12 seats out of a total of 7,382 seats. Only 61% of state legislative seats were even contested by both major parties - Turnout in the presidential battleground states increased by 6.3%. Turnout in the other states increased by only 3.8%. Turnout in noncompetitive New York rose by only 0.8%, while in hotly contested Florida and Ohio it rose by more than 8%. http://fairvote.org THE STATISTICAL CASE FOR THE DEMOCRATS WITH THEIR WORST candidate since Michael Dukakis, no coherent policies, and rampant corruption, there are plenty of reasons not to vote Democratic. The Review, however, in its endless search for the positive has found something interesting: if you are into probabilities then the Democrats are for you. A few examples: - Since Roosevelt, Democratic presidencies have increased jobs an average of 3.2%, ranging from Roosevelt's 5.3% to Kennedy's 2.3%. All Democrats have done better than the best Republican, Richard Nixon, who saw job growth of 2.2%. The Republicans have averaged job growth of only 1% excluding Herbert Hoover who had a disastrous 9% loss. - Again, purely statistically, your best chance for job growth is to vote for a candidate who is not named Bush. The two Bushes had the worst jobs record this side of Hoover, a 0.6% increase under Daddy and a 0.7% loss under Bush the Lesser. - Your chances of having no wars under a president is 35%. The chances of having two wars under one president is 14%. You chances of having two wars if the president is named Bush is 100%. - According to Money Magazine, your chances of a major stock market crash is much greater under a Republican president. Examples: 1929 and 1987 plus the 1969-1974 bear market. The best bull runs occurred under the Democrats. - According to Stock Trader's Almanac, the Dow Jones industrials have gained an average of 9.1% a year since 1901 under Democrats but only 6.4% a year under Republicans. Since 1943, the score has been 13.6% for the Democrats and 11.7% for the GOP. - PROGRESSIVE REVIEW HARPER'S INDEX - Chance that an American adult believes that politics and government are too complicated to understand: 1 in 3 . Chance that an American who was home-schooled feels this way: 1 in 25 Percent increase in turnout among voters age 18-29 compared to 2000: In the Iowa caucus: 400% In the New Hampshire primary: 50%

THIS REMARKABLE CHART - FROM THE CENTER FOR VOTING & DEMOCRACY -ILLUSTRATES THE DECLINE OF DEMOCRACY IN ONE OF OUR LARGEST STATES, PENNSYLVANIA, SINCE THE 1960S. NOTE THAT DURING THE 1960S AND AND BEFORE LESS THAN FIVE PERCENT OF ALL ASSEMBLY SEATS WERE UNCHALLENGED. TODAY IT IS CLOSE TO TWO-THIRDS OF ALL SEATS.

2003 TOP 25 ZIP CODES FOR FEDERAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS SOURCE OF ONE TENTH OF ALL FEDERAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS CHECK OUT YOUR STATE AND ZIP 10021 $28,354,950 New York, NY 10022 $15,149,025 New York, NY 60614 $12,685,571 Chicago, IL 90024 $11,863,816 Los Angeles, CA 90067 $11,206,224 Los Angeles, CA 94022 $9,201,024 Los Altos, CA 10028 $8,780,212 New York, NY 20007 $8,384,906 Washington, DC 33480 $8,365,803 Palm Beach, FL 90210 $8,048,115 Beverly Hills, CA 10128 $7,719,879 New York, NY 20854 $7,578,780 Potomac, MD 22101 $7,574,600 Mc Lean, VA 10023 $7,270,520 New York, NY 10019 $6,913,588 New York, NY 90035 $6,697,701 Los Angeles, CA 20008 $6,503,707 Washington, DC 20815 $6,335,820 Chevy Chase, MD 77002 $6,332,797 Houston, TX 77019 $6,291,752 Houston, TX 75205 $6,022,591 Dallas, TX 10024 $5,990,310 New York, NY 6830 $5,850,696 Greenwich, CT 60611 $5,701,727 Chicago, IL 10017 $5,653,153 New York, NY COLOR OF MONEY GRASSROOT ROT THE DEMOCRATS' REAL PROBLEM The election of three GOP governors - one in the largest state and two in the south - are a reminder (albeit one being widely ignored) of the true problem the Democratic Party faces. One of the great disservices of the media is to perpetuate the notion that American politics rises and sets on the presidency. In fact, the election of a president is the end result of many other decisions and choices made throughout the country that often are of little interest to the press. For example, the makeup of state legislatures strongly effects decennial redistricting; governors often serve as the ward leaders of national politics, and so forth. The charts on this page illustrate what really has happened to the Democratic Party and why, even in the midst of a disastrous foreign policy and bad economic conditions for many Americans, it is doing so poorly. These charts show a party that has been in general decline over the past four decades. In fact, in the Senate and the House, the peak of Democratic power was way back in 1937. The party has been on a downward trend ever since. More recently, it was the Carter administration - not Reagan's - that accelerated the party's fall followed by the disastrous effect the Clinton years had on the party. The party did worse under Clinton than it had under any incumbent since Grover Cleveland. None of this is incorporated into the mythology of either the party or the media, both of which persist in blaming party progressives for the Democrats' problems, when in fact it has been those such as Carter and Clinton who so muddled the party's social democratic image that in the end no one quite knew where it stood. There is a lesson here for the candidates this year, but so far Howard Dean seems the only one who understands that for the party to grow it must reach out to new (or former) constituencies or it will continue to die of grassroot rot. SOURCES: NEWSAIC, National Governors' Association, Spectrum: Journal of State Government ONLY A QUARTER OF AMERICANS CAN NAME EVEN ONE CABINET DEPARTMENT Most Americans (58%) are unable to identify even a single department in the United States Cabinet, according to a recent national poll of 800 adults. Only 4% of those surveyed specified at least five of the 19 executive-level departments, a figure comparable to the poll's overall margin of error. Says Kellyanne Conway of the Polling Company, the firm that conducted the survey: "An incredible 70% of 18-34 year olds failed to specify a single agency or department, and while a majority of men (52%) could name at least one, less than one-third of women (32%) could do the same." Top identifications Dept of Defense 23% Dept of Treasury 14% Dept of State 13% Dept of Homeland Security 12% Dept of Interior 11% Hispanics (79%), African Americans (75%), 18-34 year olds (70%), women (68%), and Pacific coast residents are among the groups most likely to say "I don't know" when asked to name at least one department within the current United States Cabinet. [Your editor recently spoke to a group of high school students from Houston, Texas. An organizer of the event explained the three branches of government and then asked students to name any departments or agencies within the executive branch. They came up with the FBI, CIA, and DEA] 2002 Women senior researchers at Washington think tanks as a % of total [Compiled by Women's E-News] Urban Institute 55% Heritage Foundation 31% Hudson Institute 31% Rand 31% Brookings 24% Ctr for Strategic & International Studies 18% American Enterprise Institute 14% Economic Policy Institute 10% Cato Institute 7% Economic Strategy Institute 0% DARRYL FEARS, WASHINGTON POST - African Americans are becoming less likely to identify themselves as Democrats, and give Republican Secretary of State Colin L. Powell a higher approval rating than civil rights icon Jesse L. Jackson, according to an opinion poll released by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. . . Overall, 63 percent of survey respondents identified themselves as Democrats, down from 74 percent in a similar survey taken two years ago. Ten percent identified themselves as Republicans, up from 4 percent two years ago. . . The survey showed that the 45 percent of black Americans directly opposed sending troops to the Middle East, and that one-third questioned whether military action is necessary. About 20 percent supported President Bush's call to forcefully end President Saddam Hussein's reign over Iraq.. . . Regarding domestic leadership, African Americans gave former president Bill Clinton an 81 percent approval rating. At the same time, Jackson's approval rating plummeted to 60 percent from 83 percent two years ago. RANK BY 1998 VOTER TURNOUT [FED ELECT COMM] STATE % Tennessee 24 West Virginia 25 Mississippi 26 Texas 26 Arizona 29 New Jersey 30 Louisiana 31 Georgia 31 Delaware 32 Pennsylvania 32 Nevada 33 District of Columbia 34 Florida 34 Utah 35 Oklahoma 35 California 35 New Hampshire 35 North Carolina 35 Indiana 36 UNITED STATES 36 New York 37 South Carolina 37 Virginia 37 Arkansas 37 Kansas 38 Kentucky 38 Illinois 39 Missouri 39 Connecticut 39 Maryland 39 New Mexico 40 Alabama 40 Ohio 41 Rhode Island 41 Massachusetts 41 Michigan 42 Idaho 43 Iowa 44 Maine 44 Nebraska 44 Washington 44 Colorado 45 North Dakota 45 Oregon 45 Hawaii 45 Wisconsin 45 Vermont 48 South Dakota 49 Wyoming 49 Alaska 51 Montana 52 Minnesota 60 Richard Winger of Ballot Access offers some interesting historical perspective on third party life-spans. According to Winger, the first anti-slavery party in the U.S. was the Liberty Party, which polled only three-tenths of 1% of the vote for President in 1840. In 1848 it was reformulated as the Free Soil Party, which got bigger yet; in 1854 it was reformulated again as the Republican Party, which first elected a President in 1860. It took 20 years before an anti-slavery candidate was big enough to win the Presidency. Winger later wrote to say that we versimplified things a bit: In fact, "The Socialist Labor Party was the original party of socialism in the USA, and it split in half in 1898 and half the members went into the brand new Socialist Party. But the two parties continued to exist as competing organizations, and they both still exist. If anyone loyal to the Socialist Labor Party sees your summary, they will probably direct a nasty missive at you. The SLP national HQ was in New York city until the 1970's, when the party moved to Palo Alto, California. It still puts out the People newspaper, but stopped running candidates for office after the 1976 election." The life cycle of the Socialist Labor Party was 36 years from beginning to its peak in 1912 when, as the Socialist Party, it got 6% of the presidential vote and had over 1,000 elected office-holders including a member of Congress. The party also won in six subsequent congressional elections. The parties of agrarian unrest started in 1874, under the Anti-monopoly label. In 1876 the party was renamed the Greenback Party and in 1890 the Farmer's Alliance. In 1892 under the Peoples Party label it won four states in the electoral college; in 1894 it polled 18% of the vote for U.S. House; and in 1896 it took over the Democratic Party. That was 22 years from beginning to peak. More recently, Carol Miller's 17% of the congressional vote in New Mexico's special election was the highest vote total ANY third party has received in a U.S. Congressional race since 1924. REP HENRY WAXMAN - In the 1980 Presidential debates, Ronald Reagan asked the memorable question, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" Over twenty years later, and almost two years into the term of President George W. Bush, this question is still relevant. An analysis of current indicators of the nation's social and economic well-being shows that many are again declining. - Unemployment is increasing. The unemployment rate averaged 4.1% in 2000 and reached a 30 year low of 3.9% in October 2000. Today, the unemployment rate has increased to 5.7%. There are presently 8.1 million unemployed Americans, an increase of 2.5 million compared to 2000. The number of Americans experiencing long-term unemployment -- over 27 weeks -- has almost doubled in the last year. - Job creation has reversed. In 2000, the year before President Bush took office, the economy created 1.7 million new jobs. This trend has been reversed, and the economy has lost almost 1.5 million jobs since President Bush took office in January 2001. - Poverty is increasing. After decreasing for eight straight years and reaching its lowest level in 25 years, the poverty rate increased from 11.3% in 2000 to 11.7% in 2001. In the first year of the Bush Administration, 1.3 million Americans slipped back into poverty, with a total of 32.9 million Americans living in poverty in 2001. - Incomes are falling. After increasing every year since 1991, and reaching an all time high in 2000, median household income in the United States fell 2.2% in 2001. Median incomes fell for households in every income group in the country except for those earning over $150,000. - Hundreds of thousands of Americans are filing for bankruptcy. Almost 800,000 Americans filed for bankruptcy in the first half of 2002. In the second quarter of 2002, over 400,000 bankruptcies were filed in the United States, an all-time high. - Mortgage foreclosures are at record highs. In the second quarter of 2002, 1.23% of home loans were in the foreclosure process, a record level. Over this same time period, almost 5% of mortgage loans were delinquent, up almost 20% from the average delinquency rate in 2000. - The federal budget deficit is increasing. In 2000, the year before President Bush took office, the federal budget, excluding Social Security, showed a surplus of $86.6 billion. The most recent figures from the Congressional Budget Office indicate that for FY 2002, the federal budget, excluding Social Security, will show a deficit of $314 billion. This represents the largest budget decline in U.S. history, and it is the third-largest on-budget deficit in history, exceeded in size only by the deficits of 1991 and 1992 under the first President Bush. - The number of Americans without health insurance is increasing. Between 1999 and 2000, the number of uninsured Americans fell by 600,000. But this trend has reversed itself and in 2001 the number of uninsured Americans increased by 1.4 million. Over forty-one million Americans -- 14.6% of the population -- had no health insurance coverage in 2001. The percentage of small businesses offering insurance to their employees fell by 10% between 2000 and 2002.13 - Health insurance costs are increasing rapidly. Health insurance costs increased by 12.7% in 2002, the second consecutive year of double-digit increases and the largest annual increase in costs since 1990. - Prescription drug prices are rising rapidly. Overall, prescription drug prices increased by almost twice the rate of inflation in 2001. For seniors, who use the most prescription drugs, cost increases were even higher. The cost of the 50 most popular drugs for seniors increased by 7.8% in 2001, over three times the rate of inflation. The price of Prilosec, the most popular drug for seniors, increased at over four times the rate of inflation. - Drug use is increasing. Drug use among all Americans increased by 13% between 2000 and 2001, including significant increases in the use of marijuana and cocaine. Among young adults, the percentage of drug users increased by over 20% between 2000 and 2001. The number of Americans in need of drug treatment increased from 4.7 million in 2000 to 6.1 million in 2001. - Air pollution is increasing. Recently released data indicate that the number of times that air quality exceeded the health standard for ground-level ozone, or smog, almost doubled between 2000 and 2002. - Fuel economy is declining as global warming accelerates. Automobile and light truck fuel economy declined in 2001, reaching their lowest levels since 1980. Overall, average fuel economy levels have declined by 8% since reaching their peak in 1998. At the same time, 2001 was the second warmest year on record, and areas across the country are experiencing their worst droughts in decades. THE LIST Short politicians 4' 6" Robert Reich 5' 2" Fiorello La Guardia 5' 4" James Madison 5' 4" Stephen Douglas 5' 7" John Adams [Americ n Prospect] Top recipients of campaign cash From Lawyers/law firms:$8.4million Jean Carnahan (D-MO) From Retirement groups: $4.9 million Paul Wellstone (D-MN) From Health Professionals: 4.9 million Greg Ganske (R-IA) From Real Estate: $4.1 million Charles Schumer (D-NY) From Securities/Investment firms: $4.0 million Charles Schumer (D-NY) From Insurance: $3.8 million Max Baucus (D-MT) From Transport Unions: $3.6 million Don Young (R-AK) From Commercial Banks: $3.0 million Phil Gramm (R-TX) 2001 Were the New York metropolitan area a country, its $437.8 billion economy would rank 14th in the world, just behind South Korea, but ahead of Australia and Taiwan. In addition to New York, the metropolitan areas of Los Angeles-Long Beach, Calif. ($363.7 billion), and Chicago ($332.8 billion) would rank among the world's top 20 economies were they countries, according to the study. The nation's largest cities grew nearly twice as fast in the 1990's as in the 1980's, with three out of every four urban centers gaining population, analyses of the 2000 census figures show. In most cases, suburbs grew even faster than nearby cities. The New York region included New York City and some northern suburbs, but Nassau and Suffolk Counties and Newark were counted separately. Of the 22.2 million jobs created in 1990's, 84 percent were generated in metropolitan areas. Last year, the average metropolitan area worker collected $38,000 in wages and benefits, compared with a non-metropolitan area worker who earned $24,800. The income gap between metro and non-metro workers has increased to $13,200 per worker from $4,600 in 1985. [NY Times] · Percentage of the public that thinks politicians often do special favors for people and groups who give them campaign contributions: 80% · Percentage who think this is not a problem: 11% · Percentage of candidates for statewide office who report spending at least one out of every four of their waking hours raising money for their campaigns: 55% · Percentage who report spending more than half their time raising money: 23% · Percentage of the public that thinks unlimited contributions to political parties (soft money) should be banned: 66% · Percentage who want President Bush to sign the McCain-Feingold bill banning soft-money, raising individual contribution limits and restricting issue ads: 51% · Percentage of likely voters in North Carolina who favor replacing private campaign contributions with public funding for governor, state legislature and other state campaigns if the candidates voluntarily agree to spending limits: 60% · Percentage of North Carolinians who would vote for a candidate for public office who used "special interest money" rather than one using "taxpayer money" to fund his campaign, assuming their were no other differences between the two: 35% · Percentage who would vote for the candidate using "taxpayer money": 47% [From Public Campaign] Percent of Americans who believe the federal government poses an immediate threat: 52% (An increase of 13 points since 1995) [Gallup] - Only 13% of all federally elected offices are held by women. In 1977, the disclosed wealth of the top ten senators was $133 million. Today it is 1.83 billion. · How much of their campaigning time one out of four candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives spend fundraising: 50%+. · Average amount raised per week by successful House candidates over the course of the 1999-2000 election cycle: $8,800. [Public Campaign] Number of televised political ads aired by presidential and congressional candidates during the 2000 election: 839,243 [John McCaslin, Washington Times] - Percent of lawyers in all state legislatures, 1976: 22% - Percent of lawyers in all state legislatures, 1995: 15% - Percent of lawyers in Congress, 1969: 58% - Percent of lawyers in Congress, 1999: 43% - Percent of lawyers in adult population: less than 1% - Percent of lawyers in New York state legislature, 1969: 61% - Percent of lawyers in New York state legislature, 1999: 34% - Percent of lawyers in California state legislature, 1969: 48% - Percent of lawyers in New York state legislature, 1999: 22% - Percent of retired persons in Maine state legislature: 41% - Percent of educators in Maine state legislature: 30% - Percent of business people in Maine state legislature: 23% - Percent of health and social services workers in Maine state legislature: 17% - Percent of lawyers in Maine state legislature: 11% [NY Times, Casco Bay Weekly] - Percent of Fortune 1000 CEOS who watched all three presidential debates: 6% - Percent of Fortune 1000 CEOS who watch "The Simpsons" regularly: 21% - Percent of Fortune 1000 CEOS who were able to name more members of the new "Survivor" cast than members of President Bush's proposed cabinet: 33% [Jerico Communications] 2000 One out of three black males can't vote in Florida owing to felony convictions. -- Percent of Americans who think Al Gore's 1996 fundraising practices were illegal or unethical: 51% The age of the Coast Guard fleet is greater than that of 38 of the world's 41 leading maritime services. [USCG Admiral John Shkor] -- Number of TV commercials run by New Jersey Democratic senatorial candidate Jon Corzine: 3,711 -- Chance someone watching a local station would see a commercial rather than a news report on the campaign: 10 to 1. [Alliance for Better Campaigns] 1999 According to the Center for Responsive Politics, in 95% percent of Senate and House races, the candidate who spent the most won. Incumbents were by far the biggest winners and the biggest spenders. Incumbent Senators enjoyed a reelection rate of 90% percent. In the House of Representatives, only six incumbents out of 401 lost. -- Percent of Americans who chose not to vote in 1996: 51% -- Percent of Americans who chose not to vote in 1998: 64% -- According to voting expert Curtis Gans, more than half the children in American now live in households in which neither parent votes. [New York Times] -- Percent of eligible Americans who voted in 1998: 36% -- Number of congressional incumbents who faced no major party opposition in 1998: 95 [More than two in five state legislative races were uncontested as well][John Anderson, Center for Voting & Democracy http://www.fairvote.org] -- Percent of Americans who believe the federal government should provide health care for all: 46% -- Percent who agree that "I'm frustrated and angry about the state of the healthcare system in this country: 61% -- Decline in percent of black voters who consider themselves Democrats 1994-99: 17% -- Increase in percent of latino votes who consider themselves Democrats 1994-99: 32% [Pew Research] -- Percent of Americans who feel the health care system needs fundamental changes: 61% -- Percent of Americans who feel the health care system needs to be completely rebuilt: 25% -- Percent of Americans who feel the health care system needs only minor changes: 12% -- Percent of Americans who feel HMOs have harmed the quality of health care: 56% -- Percent of Americans who feel HMOs have improved the quality of health care: 20% [CBS News] -- Doctors who report managed care denying requests for diagnostic tests and procedures: 4 out of 10 -- Doctors who report managed care denying requests for prescription drugs: 6 out of 10 -- Doctors who report managed care regularly denying requests for referrals to specialists: 1 out of 3 [Kaiser Family Foundation] Number of Pentagon and defense industry employees currently working without completed security investigations: 600,000 [USA Today] -- Percent of taxpayers checking the political contribution box on their returns in 1980: 29% -- Percent of taxpayers checking the political contribution box on their returns in 1996: 13% [Committee for the Study of the American Electorate] Top soft money and individual contributions from major sports teams 1997-98 Orlando Magic: $1,121,000 (94% to GOP) San Francisco Giants: $698,000 (79% to Democrats) Mighty Ducks of Anaheim: $610,000 (52% to Democrats) California Angels: $610,000 (52% to Democrats) --Increase in the size of federal government spending during the last four budgets controlled by congressional Democrats: 14.4% --Increase in the size of federal government spending during the four budgets controlled by congressional Republicans: 13.9% [Harry Browne, Libertarian Party] --Amount the defense budget would increase in five years under the Senate budget proposal: 22% --Amount the defense budget would increase in five years under the President's budget proposal: 15% --Amount community & regional development funds would decrease in five years under the Senate budget proposal: 77% --Amount community & regional development funds would decrease in five years under the President' budget proposal: 22% -- Size of the US military budget compared with the combined military budgets of seven "rogue" nations the Pentagon sees as its major competition: 18 times larger. -- Amount the Pentagon plans to spend on three new jet fighters to replace the most advanced fighter planes in the world: $322 billion. -- Cost of six C-130 cargo planes -- not requested by the military -- to be built in the district of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich: $400 million. -- Cost of an unrequested amphibious ship to be built in the home state of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott: $1.5 billion. -- Amount Allied Signal overcharged the government for some spare parts: 618% -- Amount charged by one defense contractor for a 57 cent screw: $76. -- Federal agency named the most wasteful department in the government in a 1998 GAO report: The Defense Department. -- Number of major divisions of the Defense Department able to pass the GAO audit: 0 -- Value of DOD property, equipment and supplies: $1.2 trillion. -- Amount DOD couldn't account for in the GAO audit: $250 billion -- Number of the past 15 audits that the GAO has failed: 15 [GAO, Project on Government Oversight, Peace Action Education Fund] Groups that have too much power according to more than 75% of Americans: political action committees, big companies, news media, political lobbyists. Group that 89% of Americans think has too little power: small business. Greens and populists please copy. [Louis Harris] Registration for alternative parties climbed 13% last year. [Village Voice] Cost of planned White House renovations: $300 million Percent of Congress composed of lawyers, 1969: 58% Percent of Congress composed of lawyers, 1999: 43% Percent of California legislature composed of lawyers, 1969: 48%% Percent of California legislature composed of lawyers, 1999: 22% Number of California cities that have cancelled elections for lack of more than one person in the race: 7 [LA Times] -- Percent decrease in number of middle grade federal employees as a result of widely publicized downsizing of the government: None; the number actually went up 5%. -- Percent decrease in number of executive grade federal employees as a result of downsizing: None; the number actually went up 2%. -- Percent decrease in number of low-grade federal employees as a result of the downsizing: 22% -- Percent of judges appointed by Clinton in 1998 who are women or of ethnic minorities: 50% -- Percent of judges appointed by Clinton in 1998 who are millionaires: 43% -- Percent of all judges appointed by Clinton who are millionaires: 36% -- Percent of all judges appointed by who were millionaires: 33% -- Percent of all judges appointed by Reagan who were millionaires: 21% -- Number of blacks Clinton has appointed to the Court of Appeals in 6 years: 5 -- Number of blacks Jimmy Carter appointed to the Court of Appeals in 4 years: 9 [Alliance for Justice] 1998 -- Percent of teenagers who know the zip code for Beverly Hills (90210): 75% -- Percent of teenagers who know the city in which the Constitution was written: 25% -- Percent of teenagers who know how many brothers are in the musical group Hanson : 81% -- Percent of teenagers who know how many senators are in the Congress : 21% -- Percent of teenagers who know Leonardo DiCaprio was the star of "Titanic": 90% -- Percent of teenagers who know Al Gore is vice president: 74% -- Percent of teenagers who know the names of the Three Stooges: 59% -- Percent of teenagers who know the names of the three branches of government: 41% -- Percent of teenagers who know the name of the actor who played the Fresh Prince of Bel Air on TV (Wil Smith): 95% -- Percent of teenagers who know the name of the chief justice (William Renquist) 2% -- Percent of teenagers who know the star of "Home Improvement (Tim Allen): 90% -- Percent of teenagers who know the name of the Speaker of the House (Newt Gingrich): 33% [National Constitution Center http://www.consitutioncenter.org] Ratio of lawyers in the House to lawyers in the voting-age population: 38-to-1. Ratio of House members with real estate, insurance and finance backgrounds to ordinary citizens with those backgrounds: 4-to-1. Ratio of K-12 teachers in the House to K-12 teachers in the voting-age population: 3-to-1. Ratio of college professors in the House to college professors among voters: 9-to-1. Change in the number of states that have at least one female representative since the "Year of the Woman" in 1992: -6. Change in the number of black House members after the 1996 election: -1. Percentage of blacks in the voting-age population: 13. Percentage of black members of the House: 8. Percentage of eligible voters who voted in the 1996 House elections: 46. Percentage of eligible voters who voted for a winning candidate: 29. Percentage of actual voters who voted for a losing candidate: 37. Percentage of 1996 House races won by a landslide of at least 20 percent: 64. Number of the 435 House seats where incumbents have no opposition in this November's election: 84. [Center for Voting & Democracy] Rank of "too busy" among the reasons given by Californians for not voting in the 1996 election: 1 [California Voter Foundation] -- Percent of public that earns more than $100,000 a year: 5% -- Percent of those contributing to congressional campaigns who earn more than $100,000 a year: 81% [Public Campaign] Percent of voters who cast ballots in the 1970 primaries: 32% Percent in 1994 primaries: 22% Percent in 1998 primaries: 20% [Center for Study of the American Electorate] Number of fundraising events Clinton attended in 1996: 237 Number of hours devoted to fund-raising in one sample week: at least 20 --Los Angeles Times The percentage of those favoring a woman's right to choose whether to have an abortion (45%) is almost precisely the same as it was in 1973, according to National Opinion Research Center surveys. The figure hasn't varied more than seven points in the interim. "Reinventing government," according to Scripps Howard, has resulted in 300,000 lower-ranking jobs in government but 3,500 more high paid bureaucrats. 1997 Percent of guests of President Clinton on Air Force 1 who were business executives (39%), lawyers (21%), politicians (14%), labor leaders (14%); investment executive (7%), urologists (2%), liberal activists (2%). 1996 Percent of eligible voters casting ballots for Clinton in 1992: 23.8%. In 1996: 23.9%. Last election with a lower turnout: 1824. Percent of gun owners who voted for Bill Clinton: 49% [Voter News Service] Number of Iowa city council seats for which there were no candidates in 1995: 81. Number of mayor's seats without candidates: 131 [International City/County Management Association] Percent of Clinton's 835 top aides who are lawyers: 29% Percent who went to Harvard or Yale: 29% Percent who have PhDs: 12% --The Almanac of the Executive Branch 1995 Percent of New Zealand legislative seats elected by proportional representation that were won by women: 45%. Percent of seats elected by district that were won by women: 15% [Center for Voting & Democracy]