The first numbers from the 2010 Census are the state population totals, the basis of the proportional division of seats in the House of Representatives since the nation's early days. The number of House seats has been fixed at 435 since 1913, but there have been numerous tweaks in the methodology used to divide them up -- and debate continues today.
With the public giving subpar approval ratings to President Obama and continuing to express negative views of Congress and the political parties, it goes its own way on many of the remaining issues before the lame-duck Congress.
One month before the midterm elections, Americans offer harsh judgments on Republicans and Democrats in Washington with roughly three-quarters saying partisans have been bickering more than usual and approval ratings for leaders of both parties in Congress matching long-time lows.
With just over a month to go before the midterm elections, the latest Congressional Connection poll finds that the public by a wide margin says Barack Obama has done a better job than Republican congressional leaders in explaining his plans and vision for the country.
Fully 80% say it is very important for Congress to pass legislation to address the job situation; nearly half of public disapproves of challenge to Arizona's immigration law and health care legislation.
Compared with July 2007, fewer people view the court as conservative and more see it as liberal. Americans are less negative toward Congress, and there has been an improvement in opinions of the Democratic Party.
Congress's ratings are abysmal; Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan draws mixed ratings but half have no opinion.
By almost every conceivable measure Americans are less positive and more critical of government these days.
Dysfunctional. Corrupt. Selfish. It's not hard to guess what these words are describing. Examine a word cloud to see what the public thinks of Congress.
Americans don't favor the current health care reform legislation, but most opponents prefer a new bill to no bill and more see their health care costs rising without reform than with it. Nearly everyone gives the national economy a negative rating; 70% of Americans say they have faced one or more job or financial-related problems in the past year
