Breakdown of bailout votes by “swing district” congresspeople

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Ack, it’s been a while since I’ve last posted. Sorry, eager readers!

The failed house bailout bill has been absolutely fascinating to me. While I don’t doubt that something is needed to give the markets confidence, I’m conflicted as to whether the approach of the bill was the right one (and leaning towards, “no it was not”).

Anyway, this is the first time I can recall where a Bush-proposed bill had more support from Democrats than Republicans. I found some answers in this analysis on fivethirtyeight.com (thanks Erich for introducing me to this blog!)

It’s remarkable to see how strong a relationship there is between today’s failed vote on the bailout and the competitive nature of different House races.

Among 38 incumbent congressmen in races rated as “toss-up” or “lean” by Swing State Project, just 8 voted for the bailout as opposed to 30 against: a batting average of .211.

By comparison, the vote among congressmen who don’t have as much to worry about was essentially even: 197 for, 198 against.

FISA amendment

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Obama voted for the FISA amendment.
I really liked his campaign and policies until he did this. Now I feel like I have to take a shower.

The quote on his campaign website is the most infuriating part.

“Given the choice between voting for an improved yet imperfect bill, and losing important surveillance tools, I’ve chosen to support the current compromise,” Obama said on his campaign Web site.

His use of “important surveillance tools” reeks of the Bush administration’s incredulous belief that violating civil liberties will actually stop a determined terrorist attack.

Happiness and the Television

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I found this article entitled “Down the Tube: the Sad Stats On Happiness, Money, and TV” a good read. Read it soon for free, or WSJ will make you pay exorbitant rates to read it.

Best quote:

There’s been a significant increase in the hours devoted to what the authors call “neutral downtime,” which is mostly watching television. Women now spend 15% of their waking hours staring at the tube, while men devote 17%.

Explaining the credit crunch

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The New York Times has a fantastic piece explaining how the little subprime mess has ballooned into trouble at some of the nation’s premier banking institutions. Great for those who know a little about the current situation, but probably not detailed enough for those bankers who live in it every day.

Favorite quote:

“The mortgages were then sliced into pieces and bundled into investments, often known as collateralized debt obligations, or C.D.O.’s (a term that appeared in this newspaper only three times before 2005, but almost every week since last summer).”

Time of Day

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Normally I leave work between 6 and 7 every day. Yesterday I left at 5:30, so I could get a run in before the sun set and it became cold (I am running the Shamrock Shuffle on March 30).

I caught the bus at around 5:35, and noticed a peculiar thing: it was mostly women. And I do mean mostly – between 2x and 3x as many women as men.

Was it timing? Was it my route? I don’t know.