---
title: "Data Feed: GOP picked to take Senate, mortgage tax breaks favor the rich, no pay for NCAA athletes"
description: "A daily roundup of fresh data from scholars, governments, think tanks, pollsters and other social science researchers."
date: "2014-03-24"
authors:
  - name: "George Gao"
    job_title: "Former "
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/george-gao/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/03/24/data-feed-gop-picked-to-take-senate-mortgage-tax-breaks-favor-the-rich-no-pay-for-ncaa-athletes/"
---

# Data Feed: GOP picked to take Senate, mortgage tax breaks favor the rich, no pay for NCAA athletes

*A daily roundup of fresh data from scholars, governments, think tanks, pollsters and other social science researchers.*

**Politics **[U.S. whites more solidly Republican in recent years](http://www.gallup.com/poll/168059/whites-solidly-republican-recent-years.aspx), Gallup [In N.Y., Gov. Cuomo still leads challenger Astorino, but ratings slip](http://www.siena.edu/uploadedfiles/home/sri/SNY%20March%202014%20Poll%20Release%20--%20FINAL.pdf), [topline](http://www.siena.edu/uploadedfiles/home/sri/SNY0314%20Crosstabs.pdf), Siena [Americans are still unhappy with Congress](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/03/23/congress-divided-poll/6792585/), USA TODAY/Bipartisan Policy Center [GOP's very slow shift on gay marriage](http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/03/21/politics-counts-gops-very-slow-shift-on-gay-marriage/?mod=WSJBlog), The Wall Street Journal [GOP picked as slight favorite to win control of Senate](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/fivethirtyeight-senate-forecast/), FiveThirtyEight

**Economy **[San Jose, D.C. tied for highest in economic confidence](http://www.gallup.com/poll/168053/san-jose-tie-highest-economic-confidence.aspx), Gallup [Study: Mortgage-interest deduction mainly benefits the rich](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303949704579457342129970328?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsTop&mg=reno64-wsj), The Wall Street Journal [CEO pay for Fortune 100 executives](http://data.huffingtonpost.com/paypals), Huffington Post [How unconventional monetary policy effected financial institutions](http://www.brookings.edu/about/projects/bpea/papers/2014/unconventional-monetary-policy-financial-institutions), Harvard via [Brookings](http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Projects/BPEA/Spring%202014/2014a_ChodorowReich.pdf) [New model of how education affects health, and wages](http://www.nber.org/papers/w19971), NBER

**Health & Society** [Large majority opposes paying NCAA athletes](http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/large-majority-opposes-paying-ncaa-athletes-washington-post-abc-news-poll-finds/2014/03/22/c411a32e-b130-11e3-95e8-39bef8e9a48b_story.html?wpisrc=nl_hdln), Washington Post/ABC News [The geography of Boomer fame. as measured by Wikipedia](http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/03/23/opinion/sunday/the-geography-of-fame.html?referrer), New York Times [29% of LGBT adults experienced food insecurity](http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Food-Insecurity-in-LGBT-Communities.pdf), UCLA via [The Atlantic](http://m.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/03/the-myth-of-gay-affluence/284570/) [A 'crisis' in online ads: One-third of online traffic is bogus](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304026304579453253860786362?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird&mg=reno64-wsj), The Wall Street Journal [Racial disparities in preschool suspensions](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/civil-rights-education-race-equity-104879.html?hp=r13), Politico [Worries over fines aid health-insurance sign-ups](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303949704579457693560928928?mg=reno64-wsj), The Wall Street Journal [Only 11% of new Twitter users in 2012 are still tweeting](http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/03/21/new-report-spotlights-twitters-retention-problem/?mod=ST1), The Wall Street Journal [Which states' residents are most likely to have a passport?](http://www.businessinsider.com/passports-by-state-2014-3) Business Insider [College students can learn almost as well with fewer lectures](http://www.nber.org/papers/w20006), NBER

**International **[China is now world's largest importer of petroleum and other liquid fuels](http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=15531), EIA [59% of Europeans seldom or never exercise or play sports](http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_412_en.pdf), Eurobarometer [Large increase in asylum applicants registered in EU in 2013](http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/3-24032014-AP/EN/3-24032014-AP-EN.PDF), Eurostat

*Got new data to share? Send it to us via email *[*facttank@pewresearch.org*](mailto:facttank@pewresearch.org)* or Tweet us *[*@FactTank*](http://www.twitter.com/facttank)*.*