The Data

The Beer:  Beer fridge is up and running with two kegs of Red Wheat IPA inside.

The Bicycle:  Still hanging in the garage.  I should be able to ride after Friday.

The VRWC:  Here is the raw data.  It may be a little tedious, but I am going to cover much of this and give you a little optimism to go with it.

So the Washington Post publishes these maps and charts and tells us what they mean...superficially.  But there is more to most of these than meets the eye.

1. I notice Wisconsin is in the 2nd Quintile for states where people are most "well off", based on Gallup's "Well Being Index".  The well-being index looks at what they consider the 5 essential elements of well-being which you can read about here.  The states in the top quintile are not all that surprising, considering the economic condition and sociological makeup of those states.  The inclusion of Texas in the third quintile, considering the boom going on here now is a little surprise, but there may be other social factors in play.
2. "Income Inequality" is a major political football right now.  Personally, as long as the money is made legally and ethically I really don't care how much money someone makes.  Not my problem.  But it is interesting that the largest inequality in income is in cities run by Democrats and that have been run by Democrats for decades.  San Francisco is the biggest surprise at #2 because it has such an egalitarian reputation and is populated by gays, yuppies, Whites and Asians.  The silver buckle of the Left Coast Belt.  The disparity baffles me.  Certainly high taxes, expensive housing and other costs play into that.
3. With the nearby influence of Washington D.C.s political class, does it surprise anyone that Maryland is one of the three states with the highest number of millionaires per capita?
4. People moving to and from is not terribly surprising, either.  People leave places with no jobs, high taxes for places with many jobs and low taxes.  The boom in fracking has helped several states gain high paying jobs and new citizens (TX, MT, ND, CO).
5. Conservatives outnumber Liberals, but not the combination of Liberals and Moderates.  This is why it is incumbent on Conservatives to embrace the moderates.
6. The article points out (correctly) that while "unemployment" is down, long term unemployment remains historically high nearly everywhere.  It is notable that the states with the highest long-term unemployment tend to be more Liberal/Democrat-controlled.  California, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey.  I would like to see trend on this and maybe I can find it else where.
7. It is interesting to note that in Map 12, the Midwest and parts of the West were least affected by the recession.  Texas to North Dakota shows little impact remaining from the recession as does Washington State.  The Liberal East Coast and California still suffer.
8. In Map 17 lives the hope of those of us who are Conservative.  The 2008 advantage of 30 states leaning or strongly Democrat is down to 3.  It is all about the swing states now.
9. Map 23 might be the most interesting map of all.  It shows 116 counties where over half of the uninsured live.  80% of that is made up of three counties with very large Hispanic (and illegal) populations.  What this tells me is that Obamacare was devised for the same reason Amnesty is proposed.  Because who doesn't want 30 million new voters?
10. There appears to be a correllation between pizza joint proximity and brewery density.  Just sayin'.