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Recess is Over: Congress (will be) back in Session.

September 4, 2014  ·  LegBranch Team
Congress returns from recess next week after an unexpectedly successful final week in July. Congress passed a significant Veterans health bill and temporarily extended the Highway Trust Fund. While there… Read More

Quantifying Bill’s Value to Hillary’s Campaign (Part 2)

August 28, 2014  ·  LegBranch Team
In a recent post, I explored whether it’s possible to quantify Bill’s value to Hillary Clinton’s campaign (see here).  In other words: Do voters reward (and punish) Hillary… Read More

Selection Bias and Voluntary Drug Testing Part II

August 12, 2014  ·  LegBranch Team
In August of 2011, a post of mine addressed the policy of drug testing welfare recipients. At that time, much was made of the fact that Florida’s mandatory drug testing policy produced… Read More

Quantifying Bill’s Value to Hillary’s Campaign (Part I)

August 7, 2014  ·  LegBranch Team
In presidential elections, relationships matter. For example, political scientists know that the relationship between economic conditions, the number of causalities in war, and the incumbent’s party affiliation explain the… Read More

No, the Senate did not block the House Border Bills – Yet

August 5, 2014  ·  LegBranch Team
The Washington Examiner reported today, “in a matter of minutes, Senate Democrats on Tuesday blocked a pair of House bills that would have provided nearly $700 million to deal with… Read More

Yes, Democrats can win the House (Though Probably not This Year)

July 30, 2014  ·  LegBranch Team
Chris Cillizza wrote a piece titled, “Why it’s going to be hard for Democrats to win back the House this decade.” He makes the argument that with a declining share… Read More

Seven Numbers to Remember About the VA Compromise

July 28, 2014  ·  LegBranch Team
According to multiple sources, Representative Jeff Miller (R-FL) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have reached a tentative agreement on a bill to overhaul the Veterans Affairs health care… Read More

An Ideological Mapping of South Carolina’s Senate Candidates

July 22, 2014  ·  LegBranch Team
When it comes to politics, South Carolina is full of intrigue. From Lee Atwater’s Southern Strategy and the 2000 Republican primary to Joe Wilson’s “You Lie!” and Stephen Colbert’s… Read More

Who’s the Worst President? Evaluating the Quinnipiac Poll

July 7, 2014  ·  LegBranch Team
Quinnipiac University’s “worst president” poll got a lot of press. Washington Post, the New York Times, CNN, Fox, and virtually every other news outlet have carried the headline, “Obama is the… Read More

Why the Logic of “Throwing the Bums Out” is Wrong

July 7, 2014  ·  LegBranch Team
As the election season ramps up, Americans offer dozens of claims about the “problems” facing our country and their purported “solutions.”  But while many of these claims are amenable to… Read More