Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Congress now speaks at almost a full grade level lower than it did just seven years ago, with the most conservative members of Congress speaking on average at the lowest grade level, according to a new Sunlight Foundation analysis of the Congressional Record using Capitol Words.
Of the bottom 20 speakers in the House and Senate, 18 are Republicans. This is the advent of the Tea Party and the emotional ideologues who are getting elected by their extremist conservative base, and this lack of intelligence is manifesting itself as indefinite gridlock and bringing government to a screeching halt.
From the graph, Rs spoke at a higher level than Ds when controlling Congress and took it below the Ds when they were a minority (or right before).
2008, when Obama won and the Ds took a lot of seats, the gap increased dramatically. (With the Ds higher)
2010, when the Rs won a lot of seats, the gap narrowed. With the Rs increasing their levels a little faster than the Ds lately. (Ds are up .1 this year and speak at a 10.8 level while R's are up.2 this year and speak at a 10.4 level)
Republicans also outnumber Democrats among the members who speak at the highest grade levels. Among the top 20, 12 are Republicans, 7 are Democrats, and one (Joe Lieberman) is an Independent. And eight of the top ten are Republicans. There are also 14 House members and six Senators. And perhaps most notably, there are only two freshmen and three sophomores. More than half of the members have been in their seat for at least 15 years, which is well above the median of nine years across all members of the 112th Congress.
The Tea Party is driving out the smarter Republicans who have a nuanced grasp on policy like Richard Lugar and Olympia Snowe and replaced them with brain dead fire breathers who either pander to the lowest common denominator fundies or are one themselves. Sad state of affairs that the party of Eisenhower and Lincoln is degenerating into the worst kind of base stupidity
Damn democrats are so determined to try and prove themselves smart that they only pick small pieces of an article to prove their point when the whole article disputes that. LMAO
Damn democrats are so determined to try and prove themselves smart that they only pick small pieces of an article to prove their point when the whole article disputes that. LMAO
I don't think democrats have to prove anything...I don't even live on your country, and it's obvious that many republicans are dumber than a bucket of rocks.
The Tea Party is driving out the smarter Republicans who have a nuanced grasp on policy like Richard Lugar and Olympia Snowe and replaced them with brain dead fire breathers who either pander to the lowest common denominator fundies or are one themselves. Sad state of affairs that the party of Eisenhower and Lincoln is degenerating into the worst kind of base stupidity
Yep, currently speaking a whole 3.7% dumber than Dems. Though they are increasing their levels faster than Dems.
The Tea Party is driving out the smarter Republicans who have a nuanced grasp on policy like Richard Lugar and Olympia Snowe and replaced them with brain dead fire breathers who either pander to the lowest common denominator fundies or are one themselves. Sad state of affairs that the party of Eisenhower and Lincoln is degenerating into the worst kind of base stupidity
I don't think democrats have to prove anything...I don't even live on your country, and it's obvious that many republicans are dumber than a bucket of rocks.
Very intelligent reply. LMAO. And I suppose you can't find any democrats that are "dumber than a bucket of rocks" huh? Glad you don't live on my country.
Worth repeating for those of you who wish to ignore facts.
Republicans also outnumber Democrats among the members who speak at the highest grade levels. Among the top 20, 12 are Republicans, 7 are Democrats, and one (Joe Lieberman) is an Independent. And eight of the top ten are Republicans. There are also 14 House members and six Senators. And perhaps most notably, there are only two freshmen and three sophomores. More than half of the members have been in their seat for at least 15 years, which is well above the median of nine years across all members of the 112th Congress.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
