Why the Census may be bad news for Missouri Democrats

Mass. expected to lose House seat through Census
BOSTON — Massachusetts is expected to lose a Congressional Seat when the new Census figures are released. The U.S. Census Bureau will release the results of its once-a-decade count at 11 a.m. Tuesday, and all signs are toward a population shift from the North to the South — and a shift in U.S. House seats along with it. Massachusetts currently has 10 House seats. If, as expected, it loses one on Tuesday, state lawmakers will have to decide how to get rid of one congressman. Populati...

Mass. expected to lose House seat through Census
BOSTON — Massachusetts is expected to lose a Congressional Seat when the new Census figures are released. The U.S. Census Bureau will release the results of its once-a-decade count at 11 a.m. Tuesday, and all signs are toward a population shift from the North to the South — and a shift in U.S. House seats along with it. Massachusetts currently has 10 House seats. If, as expected, it loses one on Tuesday, state lawmakers will have to decide how to get rid of one congressman. Populati...

Measured approach to redistricting tried
Could U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat, find herself in the fight of her life in 2012? Is it possible to make a Congressional Seat centered in Republican-red El Paso County truly competitive? Statehouse leaders are hoping to find out. Speaking at the Denver Press Club on Thursday, Democratic and Republican legislative leaders announced a special Bipartisan congressional redistricting committee. The 10-member group, to be composed of five Democratic and five Republican lawmakers, will ...

Kabuki or Kumbaya?
Republican and Democratic leaders in the Colorado General Assembly on Thursday announced plans to seat a joint select committee that will guide the usually contentious process of redrawing Congressional Districts. During a briefing at the Denver Press Club to preview the upcoming legislative session, Senate President Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, House Speaker Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, Minority Leader Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, and Pace said keeping congressional redistricting out of court ...

Black segregation in US drops to lowest in century (AP)
WASHINGTON – America's neighborhoods took large strides toward racial integration in the last decade as blacks and whites chose to live near each other at the highest levels in a century. Still, segregation in many parts of the U.S. persisted, with Hispanics in particular turning away from whites. A broad range of 2009 Census data released Tuesday also found a mixed economic picture, with the Poverty rate swinging wildly among counties from 4 percent to more than 40 percent as the nation...

2012 race off to early start in Massachusetts
The election cycle is barely a month old, but two Veteran Massachusetts congressmen are already maneuvering with November 2012 in mind. Earlier this month, Democratic Reps. John Olver and Richard Neal separately announced that they intend to run for Reelection — an unusually early declaration designed to send a clear signal to State Legislators in advance of the expected loss of one House seat for the state in reapportionment. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset Politico 44 “Th...

Which States Will Gain/Lose House Seats?
The Census Bureau will release its official state population totals next week along with the resulting allotment of House seats for the next decade. Cook Political Report: "For some states, there isn't much suspense. Georgia, Nevada, and Utah are all but certain to gain an additional seat in the House, while Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania are all but certain to lose a seat and Ohio is all but certain to lose two seats. However, much like NCAA ba...

Michael Markarian: Keep Politicians' Paws off Prop B
Ever since Missouri citizens voted in favor of Proposition B -- the Puppy Mill Cruelty Prevention Act -- in November, a few politicians have been thumbing their noses at voters and talking about overturning the will of the people. One bill has already been pre-filed to Repeal Prop B in its entirety, and others are expected to severely weaken or gut the core provisions of the measure. We'll be reminding lawmakers that Prop B passed with a clear majority statewide; in fact, a majority of voters ...

TNDP Chairman Says Dems Look Forward To New Year
A statement from Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester; Dec. 17, 2010: The Holiday Season is a time for us to reflect on the past year and look forward to the new year. This past year has been memorable to say the least. For example, Tennesseans witnessed torrential Flooding in the spring and a huge outpouring of compassion from one another as we recovered from the devastation. We Tennesseans are courageous, resilient and, above all, compassionate. We also saw a great deal of ...

Log Cabins Cooper Says Lawsuit Continues Until DADT is Over
Log Cabin Republican Executive Director R. Clarke Cooper got his Senate Gallery pass to watch Saturday’s historic vote repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell from Sen. Scott Brown, (R-MA), a “yes” vote and a fellow Army officer. Cooper is currently serving as a Captain in The Army Reserves. He sat in the gallery with current and former servicemembers. On the steps of the Senate after the vote, Cooper got a handshake from White House Senior Policy Advisor Valerie Jarrett an...

As era nears end, Patrick Kennedy embraces new opportunities
WASHINGTON — Representative Patrick Kennedy stepped carefully around a clutter of half-packed cardboard boxes, overstuffed luggage, and several open bags of Potato Chips at his Capitol Hill apartment. It seemed more like a scene of a College Student heading home than the end of a 64-year political legacy. But Kennedy’s upcoming Retirement will break a bond between the nation’s capital and Camelot. When the new House is seated in January, it will mark the first time since 1947 ...

Patrick Kennedy leaves public life, and an era ends
WASHINGTON — Representative Patrick Kennedy stepped carefully around a clutter of half-packed cardboard boxes, overstuffed luggage, and several open bags of Potato Chips at his Capitol Hill apartment. It seemed more like a scene of a College Student heading home than the end of a 64-year political legacy. But Kennedy’s upcoming Retirement will break a bond between the nation’s capital and Camelot. When the new House is seated in January, it will mark the first time since 1947 ...

What do civil unions, a plywood cow and daylight saving have in time? Read on
Rep. Jeanne Faatz back in 1988. A Colorado congressman in 1988 introduced a bill to give states the authority to stay on daylight saving time, but the bill didn’t go anywhere. “It never saw the time of day,” said the sponsor, Republican Hank Brown, then a congressman from the 4th Congressional District. “I thought it was a matter of state control, but that was not a widely shared view.” Brown, who went on to become a U.S

LAST TICKET: Wyden has prostate cancer; congressman tweets in Morse code (The Ticket)
Here are the stories we took note of today but didn't give the full blog treatment: • Senator Ron Wyden has early-stage Prostate Cancer. (The Oregonian) • Sarah Palin's poll numbers are worse than Nancy Pelosi's. (First Read) • Greg Walden announced his House telecom subcommittee chairmanship by posting a Twitter message in Morse code. (Daily Intel) • Could "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" save Joe Lieberman? (The Fix) • Rob Simmons thinks the National Republican Senatorial Committee

Schedule for Week of December 19th: Happy Holidays!
by CalculatedRisk on 12/18/2010 11:42:00 AM This is a holiday week (Merry Christmas!), but there will still be plenty of economic releases. There are two key housing reports: November existing Home Sales on Wednesday, and New Home Sales on Thursday. ----- Monday, Dec 20th ----- 8:30 AM ET: Chicago Fed National Activity Index (November). This is a composite index of other data. Morning: Moody's/REAL Commercial Property Price Index (CPPI) for October. ----- Tuesday, Dec 21st ----- 11:00 AM: Th...

Family Report Shows Brokenness in U.S. Homes
Only 45 percent of American teenagers have spent their childhood with both parents legally married to one another, according to a recent report. The Family Research Council's "U.S. Index of Belonging and Rejection" also found that 55 percent of U.S. teenagers live in families where their biological parents have rejected each other. Read the entire report here . "We have undertaken this study because, bad though it may be, the out-of-wedlock Birth Rate is not the key measure of family intactne...

Americas 10 Poorest Counties in Appalachia, Deep South or on Indian Reservations
Friday, December 17, 2010 By Dan Joseph (CNSNews.com) - America’s 10 poorest counties, both in terms of the percentage of those living below the Poverty level and median household income, lie either on Indian Reservations, are in the Deep South or are found in the Coal Mining areas of eastern Kentucky.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Small Area Poverty and Income Estimates for 2009, the 10 U.S. counties with the highest percentages of their population living in Poverty are: 1. Z

Washington area is wealthiest and most educated region in the nation, census data show
The Washington area's affluence and education levels make it the wealthiest and most educated region in the nation, according to Census data released Tuesday that reflect five years of relative prosperity compared with the rest of the country. This Story More D.C. area commuters leaving the driving to others, Census data show Commuters data Poll: Have you changed your commute? Washington area is wealthiest and most educated region in the nation, Census data show U.S. Census Bureau: American C...

Latest Indicators: Jobless Claims Dip; Trade Gap Grows; Housing Starts Up
What is this? The number of people filing first-time claims for jobless benefits decreased by 3,000 last week, to 420,000, the Employment and Training Administration says. Bloomberg News says that signals "a labor market that is on the mend" in part because the slight decline was unexpected and in part because claims have now dipped in three of the past four weeks. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Economic Analysis says the nation's Deficit "on trade in goods and services" widened to $127.2 billion in t...

Serf And Turf
Don't like the way wealth is distributed? Then you can join congressional Democrats and grump about it, or you can get some wealth for yourself. Ahh, if only that were true. The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that real median household income in the United States in 2009 was $49,777, not statistically different from the 2008 median. The nation's official Poverty rate in 2009 was 14.3 percent, up from 13.2 percent in 2008 — the second statistically significant annual increase in the po...

Black segregation falls, but Latino and Asian separation up
California's relatively small and slow-growing black population is experiencing far less residential segregation that it did in years past, but its rapidly growing Latino and Asian American populations are experiencing more, a new nationwide study of housing patterns indicates. The study, "Racial and Ethnic Separation in the Neighborhoods: Progress at a Standstill," was written by John R. Logan of Brown University and Brian J. Stults of Florida State University, was based on data from decennia...

Housing Starts and Vacant Units
by CalculatedRisk on 12/17/2010 01:36:00 PM Here is an update to a graph showing total Housing Starts and the percent vacant housing units (owner and rental) in the U.S. Over a year ago, I used this chart to argue that there would be no "V shaped" recovery, and that Housing Starts wouldn't rebound rapidly. See: Housing Starts and Vacant Units: No "V" Shaped Recovery. In that earlier post, I also argued that the Unemployment Rate would remain high throughout 2010. Hey, housing matters! Note: Ho...

Census Bureau Data: Richest Counties Get Richer, Poorest Get Poorer
Source: ABC News Kentucky Has County With Lowest Median Household Income; Richest 3 in Virginia The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, at least judging by the most extreme neighborhoods for median household income in the latest Census Bureau data. The Census' American Community Survey, released this week, provides detailed neighborhood data, including languages spoken in a home, commute time and income levels. The poorest county, Owsley County, Ky., had the lowest median household income o...

Census: Rich Areas Richer, Poor Get Poorer
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, at least judging by the most extreme neighborhoods for median household income in the latest Census Bureau data. More Video ...

More D.C. area commuters leaving the driving to others, census data show
Network News X Profile View More Activity READ MORE Traffic & Roads See the latest alerts, a construction calendar, traffic cams and more to help you get around Washington. >> Dr. Gridlock is here to help >> Get transit tips | Traffic By the numbers DataPost Looking for research help, deeper understanding of the day's news, or do you just like numbers? Here's are some of the most interesting, searchable databases developed by The Washington Post and other local and national organizations ...