Author: Bob Weeks
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Quantifying the uniqueness and divisiveness of presidential discourse
This research paper tackles a compelling question: Do American presidents actually speak differently from each other, and if so, how can we measure those differences scientifically? The researchers from the University of Chicago developed sophisticated new tools to analyze presidential speech and discovered some striking patterns, particularly regarding Donald Trump’s communication style.
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Motivated Numeracy and Enlightened Self-Government
This 2017 paper by Dan Kahan and colleagues from Yale, Ohio State, Cornell, and University of Oregon presents groundbreaking research on why political polarization over scientific evidence persists despite widespread access to compelling data
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Wichita City Council, August 7, 2025
Summary of Wichita City Council Meeting – August 7, 2025
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ACA Premium Tax Credits in States
This scatter plot reveals a fascinating and counterintuitive relationship between political preferences and healthcare policy usage across American states.
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Cost of Voting in States
There’s a clear relationship between how a state voted in 2024 and how difficult that state makes it for people to vote.
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White House: BLS Has Lengthy History of Inaccuracies, Incompetence
This White House article presents a highly critical assessment of the Bureau of Labor Statistics under the previous administration. It accurately identifies notable BLS revisions, a significant benchmark adjustment, and procedural lapses in August 2024. However, its framing of these events as evidence of systemic incompetence does not fully account for the agency’s established revision…
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Gross Domestic Product per Person in States
This scatter plot reveals a fascinating relationship between political preferences and economic prosperity across US states.
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Gross Domestic Product in Counties
This scatter plot reveals a fascinating relationship between economic output and voting patterns at the county level in the United States.
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Trump’s Fed Rate Push Faces Economic Reality
President Trump’s aggressive campaign for Federal Reserve interest rate cuts in 2025 represents an unprecedented assault on central bank independence.
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The Employment and Wage Effects of Trump’s Steel Tariffs
Research on the Trump administration’s 2018-2020 steel tariffs reveals significant negative net employment effects despite modest gains in steel production jobs. While steel workers experienced some wage increases, the broader economic impact included substantial job losses in steel-using industries and higher costs for consumers.
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Trump’s Executive Power Deconstruction
The assertion that decades of bipartisan executive orders created an authoritarian control mechanism fundamentally misrepresents how U.S. emergency powers actually work. While these authorities are substantial and raise legitimate constitutional concerns, they operate within legal boundaries established by Congress and subject to judicial review – not as tools for overriding other branches of government.