This astonishing chart shows how moderate Republicans are an endangered species
The Washington Post – Christopher Ingraham.

One doesn’t have to be a politico to see that ouur country’s politics have become more partisan. But, this phenomenon is largely a one-sided affair. As Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution has described it,

Republicans have become a radical insurgency—ideologically extreme, contemptuous of the inherited policy regime, scornful of compromise, unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence, and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of their political opposition.

And, unfortunately for Republicans who want to blame increased partisanship on the left, the data supports Mann’s claim as well. Indeed, Kenneth Poole and Howard Rosenthal have developed a score of ideology based on voting, which shows that Congressional Republicans (especially those in the House of Representatives) have completely jolted from the political middle. I guess that’s what happens when you get to choose who votes for you. *cough* redistricting *cough*

Look at this graph below from Poole and Rosenthal’s latest work. It’s chilling to say the least.

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$15 wage would make a big difference to renters across US
The Seattle Times – Gene Balk.

In a fantastic article, which appeared on the front page of the Seattle Times today, Balk examines how a $15 minimum wage changes one’s rent as a percentage of their income. This aspect of the minimum wage is very important, he argues, because “[t]he cost of rent is at the crux of the fight for a much higher minimum wage.”

Balk compiled data from a variety of US cities to see where Seattle stacks up in regards to rent affordability for low wage works. See his graph below:

Unfortunately, you see here that a minimum wage worker could afford

“an inexpensive apartment…in all but five of the cities in this group. Seattle is one of those five — rent would eat up 33 percent of income at a $15 wage.

While not perfect, Balk emphasizes that an increase to a $15 wage still represents “a much more reasonable level of rent burden than the 45 percent under the current minimum.“

The continuing frugality of American consumers: Six years after the recession, high earning Americans ($100,000 to 249,999) are still making calculated decisions on their discretionary spending. As the author notes, “these consumers…are “feeling squeezed” primarily because their spending power is curbed by sluggish income gains.”

The 2008 recession certainly wasn’t the starting point of such sluggish income gains. Rather, the lackluster wage growth is merely a continuation of a three decade long wage stagnation that has hit the vast majority of working Americans.

The tentative economy: Very similar to the piece above, Robert Samuelson at the Washington Post worries about the US economy and its stumbling recovery. His main explanation for this economic reality? Our collective hangover from the “Great Recession”. Here lies the crux of his argument:

The financial crisis and Great Recession have left a thick residue of anxiety. Companies and consumers responded by restraining spending, which (of course) weakened the recovery. The efforts of firms to protect themselves from this weakness in turn shifted risk onto consumers, making them more cautious. They aren’t terrified, but they aren’t exuberant either.

Vermont says no the anti-vaxxers: Vermont Governor, Peter Shumlin, made his state the first to remove philosophical exemptions from its vaccination law. The Green Mountain State used to be one of about twenty states that allowed for philosophical exemptions in regards to vaccination. Not any more. Chalk this up as a victory for science.