A year from the Iowa caucuses, the ground is thick with prospective Republican presidential hopefuls, though no mainstream candidate has announced yet. FiveThirtyEight.com’s Nate Silver applies his statistical and analytical skills to this graphic representation of the field: Read his column for an explanation.

If you’ve been fretting about the three-decade-long effort to redefine the mass of the kilogram, there’s good news: A compromise solution may be in the works. You didn’t know the kilogram was in doubt? As The Economist explains, some 130 years ago the kilogram was defined as the mass of a cylindrical lump of platinum-iridium […]

If you’re sick of reading about the 2012 presidential race with 2011 barely under way, Politico has the answer: It’s skipping ahead to 2016. At least that’s what Politico’s Michael Kinsley claims in a tongue-in-cheek (one hopes) column. “While other websites and bloggers may have full-time reporters covering each of the 14 leading candidates for […]

As governors all over the country prepare to deal with huge budget deficits, public employee union contracts and benefits are coming under increasing scrutiny, Melissa Maynard reports at Stateline.org. Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy won election last year with strong union support, but he also has promised to seek $2 billion in cuts to the […]

Ronald Reagan was born 100 years ago next Sunday, and the upcoming centennial–as well as tributes from President Obama and other unlikely sources–is generating much commentary. A sample: Reagan had less to do with the fall of Communism than his devotees believe today, Walter Shapiro says at Politics Daily, and conservatives have conveniently airbrushed his […]

Junior Senate Democrats waged a behind-the-scenes campaign to shake up the committee assignment process and snag some plum seats on panels ordinarily dominated by veterans, Ryan Grim reports at Huffington Post. Their goal was to free up spots on what are termed the “Super-A” committees: Appropriations, Finance, Foreign Relations, Armed Services and Commerce. These committees […]

Confirming what most people–at least those outside Washington and Wall Street–already believe, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission said Thursday that the failure of federal authorities to curb reckless behavior on Wall Street was largly responsible for the turmoil that sparked the recession. The commission “challenges the notion, expressed by many on Wall Street and in […]

More than half the nation’s governors have delivered their state-of-the-state speeches this year, and the recurring theme is jobs, Pamela M. Prah says at Stateline.org. Other common topics: calls for deep cuts in spending, shared sacrifice and overhauls of state government as the state confront budget deficits and much-diminished federal aid. Not convinced? Stateline also […]

President Obama’s State of the Union address got predictably mixed reviews from pundits, but struck a chord with viewers, according to polls. A CBS online poll conducted immediately after the president’s address found 91 percent of those who watched the speech approved of the proposals Obama put forth. Only 9 percent disapproved. His plans for […]

Watching on television, manners mavins gave Congress high marks for decorum at Tuesday night’s State of the Union speech, AP’s Ben Nuckols says. “Date night worked,” said Judith Martin, author of the syndicated Miss Manners column. “I take it as an expression of good will. There is a lot of sincerity in this,” agreed Johns […]

The idea of bipartisan seating at tonight’s State of the Union address picked up steam over the weekend, AP’s Laurie Kellman reports, and now dozens of House and Senate members have paired up for the evening. The Courant’s Daniela Altimari says Connecticut’s two senators and Rep. Joe Courtney are among them; other members of the […]

With the failure of Congress to pass legislation to combat climate change, states are taking the lead, Wendy Koch reports in USA Today. States nearly doubled their spending on energy efficiency between 2007 and 2009, taking steps ranging from adoption of energy-efficient building codes to creation of regional initiatives to reduce greenhouse gasses. The report […]

While Congressional Republicans argue that their 2010 sweep of Congress is a mandate to repeal the 2010health care reform bill, many poll results disagree. A recent Pew Research Center Survey, for example, says 55 percent of Americans favor either leaving the law as is (20%) or expanding it (35%). Meanwhile, at FiveThirtyEight.com, Nate Silver notes […]

Following his announcement that he would not run for re-election to the U.S. Senate, Joseph Lieberman talked about his decision and his career with NPR’s Liz Halloran. Some highlights: On losing the Democratic primary in 2006, then winning re-election an independent: “Losing the primary in 2006 was painful. Winning the general election in 2006 was […]

Few politicians have had a career as tumultuous and unpredictable as Joe Lieberman’s, particularly in later years as he went from Democratic vice presidential nominee to an outcast from the Connecticut Democratic Party to a campaigner for a Republican presidential candidate. So it’s not surprising that reaction to the announcement of his retirement from the […]