What’s interesting in the news today?

1. First up today an interesting study on the effects of daughters on political persuasions. It’s finding differ from some previous studies.

From HotAir  “In newly published findings that challenge earlier research, Dalton Conley of New York University and Emily Rauscher of the University of Kansas found that having more daughters than sons and having a daughter first “significantly reduces the likelihood of Democratic identification and significantly increases the strength of Republican Party identification.”

Not only is the daughter effect statistically significant, it’s substantively large.  They found that overall, “compared to those with no daughters, parents with all daughters are 14% less likely to identify as a Democrat….[and] 11% more likely to identify as a Republican than parents with no daughters,” they write in the journal Sociological Forum.

As a woman with a daughter, I’m perhaps qualified to theorize about this. But as a woman who’s been sure about her ideological and policy leanings from about the age of 8, I’m perhaps not a good analog for the average parent of daughters. This study challenges the findings of other studies, which have found at different times that politicians with more daughters vote more liberally or that having more daughters increases identification with the Liberal and Labor Parties in Britain.”

More here from ThePewReaserchCenter

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2. This is what decades of one-party rule will get you. The Democratic Utopia of Detroit.

From USAToday  “The city of Detroit officially became the largest municipality in U.S. history Tuesday to enter Chapter 9 bankruptcy after a judge declared it met the specific legal criteria required to receive protection from its creditors.

The landmark ruling ends more than four months of uncertainty over the fate of the case and sets the stage for a fierce clash over how to slash an estimated $18 billion in debt and long-term liabilities that have hampered Detroit from attacking pervasive blight and violent crime.”

“In a surprise decision Tuesday  morning, Rhodes also said he will allow pension cuts in Detroit’s bankruptcy. He emphasized that he won’t necessarily agree to pension cuts in the city’s final reorganization plan unless the entire plan is fair and equitable.”

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3. Issa has accused the FBI of impeding the congressional IRS investigation. Which means the Holder DoJ and Obama White House are orchestrating it. Shocking right? 🙄

From TheWashingtonTimes  “The House’s chief investigator says the FBI is stonewalling his inquiry into whether the agency and the Internal  Revenue Service targeted conservative group True the Vote for special scrutiny, and Rep.  Darrell E. Issa is now threatening subpoenas to pry loose the information  from FBI Director James B. Comey Jr.

Mr. Issa, California Republican, and Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, are leading the  House  Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s IRS inquiry. They also said the FBI is refusing to turn over  any documents related to its own investigation into the IRS,  which began in the days after an auditor’s report revealed the tax agency had  improperly targeted tea party groups for special scrutiny.”

“Six months after it began, the FBI’s  investigation has resulted in no release of information. The congressmen said  the FBI even rescinded an  offer for an in-person briefing with the assistant director in charge of the  investigation. The reversal, after the FBI consulted with the Justice  Department, suggests political meddling, the two investigators said.”

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4. The White House is also refusing to brief Congress on the security flaws in the ObamaCare website, not even in closed session.

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5. The Obama admin is also trying to buy compliance from insurance companies as it relates to his “fix” for cancelled plans. Taxpayers will pay for it, of course. The first of many “bailouts” to come I’m sure.

From TheNYTimes  ” The White House is offering more money to insurance companies as an incentive for them to let people keep insurance policies that were to have been canceled next year.       

The administration floated several proposals on Monday to “help offset the loss in premium revenue and profit” that it said might occur if insurers went along with President Obama’s request to reinstate canceled policies.”

“To reduce this risk, the administration said it could provide financial assistance to certain insurers through a program under which the government will share in their losses and profits for the next three years.       

Any such assistance would come on top of federal subsidies that the government plans to pay insurers to make coverage more affordable for low- and middle-income people under the new law. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that those subsidy payments will exceed $1 trillion over the next 10 years.”

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6. Some Republican doctors are running for office, hoping their expertise will help solve this mess.

From TheHill  “Eleven Republican doctors are running for the Senate, hoping that voters will see their medical expertise as an asset amid the administration’s botched rollout of ObamaCare. 

“Doctors are in a very unique position to look at the financing of healthcare,” Rep. Paul Broun, a family physician running for the GOP nomination for Georgia’s open Senate seat, told The Hill.”

““We go into medicine for one reason, and one reason only: Because we care about people, we want the people who we serve to have a productive, happy, healthy life,” he added. “That’s the kind of policymaker we should have in place in dealing with healthcare policy.”

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