Twitter roundup

From my Twitter feed (3/4-3/14) Brendan Nyhan Mar 14, 2011 at 1:50 PM
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	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Elite backlash grows MT @jmartpolitico Intellectual right: Palin's identity politics antithetical to conservatism http://politi.co/hug7XP
	'She's becoming Al Sharpton, Alaska edition' - Jonathan Martin and John F. Harris Palin’s politics of grievance and group identity has its costs.
	Mar 14, 2011 at 1:44 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan RT @on_the_media The insidious birth of false common wisdom-CNBC’s false welfare-state story spreads far and wide: http://bit.ly/gv9r8v
	A Zombie Lie Is Born : CJR CNBC’s false welfare-state story spreads far and wide CNBC, CNN, Numeracy, Rush Limbaugh, Zombie Lies Digg Facebook Reddit StumbleUpon Delicious Two days ago I fisked a false report from CNBC th...
	Mar 14, 2011 at 1:31 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan FYI reporters: Treasury "distressed by... inability to get Federal Reserve... officials confirmed" http://j.mp/h7LeXV See http://j.mp/gPo6A9
	Yglesias » What I Learned At The Treasury Department I was at the Treasury Department yesterday afternoon for one of these double super-secret background briefings with the Secretary and other senior officials. What I learned: — 1. Treasury sees t...
	The downside of Obama's focus on legislation - Brendan Nyhan Blogger and political scientist Jonathan Bernstein has an excellent op-ed in the New York Times today about how President Obama has failed to push for his judicial nominees to be confirmed: [T]h...
	Mar 14, 2011 at 1:26 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Obama takes a subtle jab at the birthers at the Gridiron dinner http://j.mp/ibhoUk
	Obama, Daniels score laughs at Gridiron Dinner - NATASHA LENNARD | POLITICO CLICK The president reminded everyone at the Gridiron Dinner where he was born — with a little help from Bruce Springsteen ...
	Mar 14, 2011 at 1:18 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Don't forget income growth! http://j.mp/i9umav RT @jonhenke The most important 2012 matchup will be Obama vs the Unemployment Rate.
	http://douglas-hibbs.com/Election2008/2008Election-MainPage.htm The Bread and Peace Model Applied to the 2008 US Presidential Election The 2008 Presidential Election Popular Vote Result:The official final vote count released on January 22 2009 by the Federal...
	Mar 14, 2011 at 12:43 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan RT @rmichaelalvarez Some helpful research for those interested in potential recall elections in Wisconsin: http://j.mp/i75pWA
	http://j.mp/i75pWA
	Mar 14, 2011 at 1:23 AM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Mondale? Dan Balz? http://j.mp/aFipuR RT @jbouie Arguing in line with someone who insists that Dems lost because Obama couldn't "connect."
	The zombie myth of presidents "not connecting" - Brendan Nyhan Former Vice President Walter Mondale is the latest public figure to fall victim to the impossible-to-kill myth that the predictable decline in President Obama's political standing is the result ...
	Mar 12, 2011 at 6:23 PM
	JonHenke Jon Henke Uncanny Budget Valley: Spending #s we understand are too small to matter; spending #s that matter are too big to comprehend.
	Mar 11, 2011 at 11:20 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan RT @smotus What happened in WI wasn't a coup. It was unified government. http://j.mp/ec7wCa
	A plain blog about politics: Catch of the Day I interrupt Question Day to note an important catch from Jonathan Chait, who blasts Robert Reich for calling the legislative process in Wisconsin a "coup d'etat." For those of you who quite sens...
	Mar 11, 2011 at 7:39 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan How education and ideology interact to produce factual polarization in the US http://j.mp/fXxjSI [corrected link]
	You Want More Epistemic Closure? Global Warming (again) and Evolution Somecommenters
	Mar 11, 2011 at 5:14 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan New research from OSU's Kelly Garrett on the role of email and the Web in encouraging belief in political rumors http://j.mp/fb2ru6
	Web use doesn't encourage belief in political rumors, but e-mail does Despite the fears of some, a new study suggests that use of the internet in general does not make people more likely to believe political rumors. However, one form of internet communication -- e...
	Mar 11, 2011 at 5:06 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan UGA's Keith Poole: "freshmen House Republicans...are ideologically dispersed," while new Dems are "clustered on the left" http://j.mp/gjaUPv
	Ideology of the Freshmen House Members of the 112th Congress | voteview Below we isolate the freshmen representatives of the 112th Congress from our plot in a previous post in which we scaled the members of the 111th and 112th Houses in one dimension and compared th...
	Mar 11, 2011 at 1:52 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan I'm tempted to send Alan Simpson some CDs of "Snoopy Snoopy Poop Dogg," but who is "enema man"? http://j.mp/i7Vf0x
	Obama Made a Substantial Unforced Error in Choosing Deficit Arsonist Alan Simpson to Co-Chair His Deficit Commission - Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality with All Ten Tentacles MJ Lee: >Obama's debt expert yells at kids: The co-chairman of President Obama’s deficit commission tried to scold the elderly on Monday for complaining about their Social Security funds being t...
	Mar 11, 2011 at 1:50 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan RT @jbouie I'm pretty sure "The Enema Man" is supposed to be Eminem.
	Mar 11, 2011 at 2:08 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Another null finding on rich being better represented: "do not consistently fare better than the middle class or poor" http://j.mp/eV6Kdt
	http://j.mp/eV6Kdt
	Mar 9, 2011 at 9:49 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Non-"objective" interviews often far more interesting MT @ezraklein Vilsack makes case for subsidizing rural America: http://wapo.st/hX4hEt
	Ezra Klein - Vilsack: ‘I took it as a slam on rural America’ ...
	Mar 9, 2011 at 8:59 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan More on portrayals of authenticity from @jbplainblog & Paul Waldman: http://j.mp/erd7qN http://j.mp/fEZvTH My orig. post: http://j.mp/fKqu4i
	Authentically Inauthentic Brendan Nyhan suggests that Mitt Romney is becoming the Al Gore of 2012 -- in other words, reporters have constructed a narrative about Romney that says that he's a big phony, and they will inte...
	A plain blog about politics: One's a Born Liar and the Other's Contorted? Brendan Nyhan had a good post yesterday about Mitt Romney and the press, but I especially recommend Paul Waldman's follow-up, for two reasons. First, Waldman is very good on the whole question o...
	Is Mitt Romney the Al Gore of 2012? - Brendan Nyhan The media's coverage of Mitt Romney is showing signs of the pathologies that afflicted its coverage of Al Gore in the early stages of the 2000 presidential campaign. In 1999 and 2000, the press ...
	Mar 9, 2011 at 2:50 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan More on Mitt Romney and authenticity from @SteveKornacki: http://j.mp/hh2xVy
	Mitt Romney: Why authenticity matters Every politician is guilty of flip-flopping and pandering. So what's so special about Mitt Romney?
	Mar 11, 2011 at 9:09 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan RT @smotus I'm wearing a coat & dress shoes today; wore sneakers and sweatshirt yesterday. I'm reinventing myself. http://bit.ly/h3vd62
	Is Mitt Romney the Al Gore of 2012? - Brendan Nyhan The media's coverage of Mitt Romney is showing signs of the pathologies that afflicted its coverage of Al Gore in the early stages of the 2000 presidential campaign. In 1999 and 2000, the press ...
	Mar 9, 2011 at 11:42 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan NYT's Blow says midterms increased trust in govt. http://j.mp/gXYCHS Omits improving economy - see http://j.mp/fyEt5y and http://j.mp/h518Nj
	Tea Party Tailspin - NYTimes.com For the Tea Party, anger is too exhausting an emotion to sustain.
	What Will Make People Trust Goverment Again? Barack Obama thinks it's restrictions on lobbyists and more openness: We face a deficit of trust -- deep and corrosive doubts about how Washington works that have been growing for years. To clos...
	The Economy Structures Everything In response to my earlier post on congressional approval, commenter David Adam cites Jim Stimson's book. Stimson's findings are even more profoundly related to my subsequent post on political tr...
	Mar 8, 2011 at 2:20 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan May? RT @fivethirtyeight Ensign's Retirement May Actually Help the G.O.P. http://bit.ly/hny1J4
	Ensign's Retirement May Help G.O.P. - NYTimes.com A Republican incumbent pulls out of a Senate battle, and the party may benefit.
	Mar 8, 2011 at 1:37 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Fact-challenged Rachel Maddow spins criticism from Politifact http://j.mp/e4y0tn http://j.mp/fE4Sse http://j.mp/gKULgp http://j.mp/fE4Sse
	PolitiFact | Responding to Rachel Maddow On her Feb. 24, 2011 show, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow criticized PolitiFact Wisconsin and how we handled a request for a correction about a Truth-O-Meter item from a statement on her Feb. 17, 2011...
	Daily Howler: When Hannity churns reports of this type, we liberals call him dishonest There's nothing wrong with making mistakes; people make mistakes all the time. But Rachel Maddow admitted no errors in her distraction-laden performance last week--a performance delivered beneat...
	Daily Howler: You really have to watch the tape to appreciate the depth of last Thursday's clowning Rachel Maddow made some flat-out mistakes in her first report on Wisconsin--as people often do.
	Mar 7, 2011 at 9:28 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Good analysis by Boehlert of how Mike Huckabee's comments about Obama play to birtherism while giving him deniability http://j.mp/dVgPUM
	Mike Huckabee And Birther Lite | Media Matters for America March 04, 2011 10:17 am ET by Eric Boehlert It's telling that the right-wing birther phenomena has swelled to such proportions that we're now seeing offshoots and subsections to the debunked ODS...
	Mar 7, 2011 at 9:24 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan .@delong promotes GOP economic sabotage meme: "Paul Krugman Watches the Republicans Try to Kill the Economic Recovery" http://j.mp/gP7m6u
	Paul Krugman Watches the Republicans Try to Kill the Economic Recovery - Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality with All Ten Tentacles PK: >How to Kill a Recovery : We’re still near the bottom of a very deep hole, but at least we’re climbing. It’s too bad that so many people, mainly on the political right, want to send us slidi...
	Mar 7, 2011 at 4:52 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan .@HiddenBrain on psych research into "unconscious bias that discourages girls from math&science" http://j.mp/dJgg6E Fascinating experiments
	Does hidden sexism discourage girls from math and science? Barack and Michelle Obama recently invited Amy Chyao, a 16-year-old high-school junior from Texas who is working on a new cancer treatment, and Mikayla Nelson, a high-school freshman from Montan...
	Mar 7, 2011 at 4:51 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan New Roland Fryer NBER paper on failure of school-level teacher incentive experiment in NYC http://j.mp/eacWwV
	Teacher Incentives and Student Achievement: Evidence from New York City Public Schools Financial incentives for teachers to increase student performance is an increasingly popular education policy around the world. This paper describes a school-based randomized trial in over two-h...
	Mar 7, 2011 at 2:21 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan Will be fascinating to see how 2012 GOP candidates handle UT vs AZ immigration laws http://j.mp/fEYaE2 Difficult primary v general tradeoffs
	Utah Republicans Adopt Alternative Approach on Immigration - NYTimes.com With its new package of immigration bills, Utah made a sharp break with the hard-line trend in state immigration legislation that has been led by Arizona.
	Mar 7, 2011 at 12:20 PM
	BrendanNyhan Brendan Nyhan RT @smotus Comparing politicians and their districts: Are elected officials good representatives of their districts? http://bit.ly/hqLmq1
	Enik Rising: Comparing politicians and their districts Are elected officials good representatives of their districts? That's actually a difficult question for political scientists to answer, in part because our measures are poor. We have plenty of g...
	Mar 4, 2011 at 5:16 PM

Comments

[David in Cal]

The Columbia Journalism Review claims to have debunked the assertion that "Government social welfare programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and unemployment insurance made up 35% of all public and private wages and salaries last year." In fact, they actually proved that the statement is correct.

CJR correctly points out that, "So-called personal current transfer receipts like Social Security payments, Medicare, and unemployment benefits are not included in the Bureau of Economic Analysis’s wages and salaries numbers, which totaled $6.4 trillion last year." And, of course, that treatment is correct. These are transfer payments, not wages.

CJR also points out that these transfer payments total $2.2 trillion. And, 2.2/6.4 is about 35%, as asserted.

So, why does CJR claim that the assertion is a lie? Their "proof" consists of the bald claim that "you can't do that". That is, CJR says you can't show the ratio of federal transfer payments to total wages. I don't see why you can't show that ratio, particularly when that's precisely the ratio you claim to be showing.

I will acknowledge that someone might mistake the meaning of the ratio, as CJR did. However, the assertion is correct if it's read correctly. Chalk this up as another incorrect, biased "fact check".

[David in Cal]

Liberals complain that Obama hasn't provided leadership on Federal Reserve nominees and judicial nominees. Conservatives complain that he hasn't provided leadership on Libya, and that he let Congress pretty much control the spending under the "stimulus". Conservatives and even some liberals complain that he hasn't provided leadership on fixing entitlement spending.

I'm not puzzled by Obama's lack of executive leadership. Obama had virtually no experience in an executive position before becoming President. We had to hope he would rapidly develop the leadership skills appropriate to the job of President. But, IMHO this was always a long shot.

We have elected a President who needs an huge amount of on-the-job training. The Democratic Party, the country and the world are paying the penalty for his lack of experience.

[MartyB]

RE: "Elite backlash grows"

Not quite sure why you would highlight this trite article as it has been apparent "elite" Republican's have never cared much for Palin from the moment she was nominated as VP.

I guess the idea that she is somehow equivilent to Sharpton (as preposterous as that suggestion is) was just too good to pass up, eh?

[David in Cal]

Why was Brendan fooled by CJR's bogus correction of the story about transfer payments to wages? One clue ought to have been that the Wall St. Journal and Investers Business Daily have more finance expertise than some journalist who writes for CJR. Brendan might have been alerted by the many other organs that reported the story. Even one who distrusts conservative sources might have noted that this story was reported by non-conservatives like Atlantic and CNN. Also, following the links to Ryan Chittum's blog, the 2nd comment points out Chittum's error. And, a little thought would have shown that the "correction" was baseless.

Perhaps Brendan's credulousness was influenced by the fact that Chittum's list of those reporting the story included the WSJ, IBD, Rush Limbaugh, "and, of course, Fox News." Maybe the ability to criticize these bugbears made the story too good to check. CJR and Brendan ought to apologize to these organizations and the others that they wrongly criticized, but I don't expect them to.