Internal Polls Can Play With Numbers

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on Tuesday night noted that Representative Michael Burgess (R-TX) was a leading member of a House subcommittee focused on public health and biomedical issues. Burgess said Monday he supported the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act because male fetuses pleasure themselves as early as 15-weeks after conception. The bill, which would impose a ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy, was approved by House Republicans on Tuesday. “It is one thing to be a random Texas congressman, Michael Burgess, saying that we should set laws for everybody in the whole country based on when he thinks fetuses masturbate,” Maddow remarked.

Here are a few excerpts from the latest edition of Harper's Index: • Number of U. S. retail jobs Doritos Locos tacos created in the past year, according to Taco Bell: 15,000 • Number of retail jobs created worldwide by Apple in that same period: 400 • Percentage of college professors teaching online courses who do not believe students should receive credit for them: 72 • Number of bills strengthening gun control that have been signed into law since the Sandy Hook shooting: 14 • Number weakening gun control: 37 • Percentage of criminal suspects asked to waive their Miranda rights and speak to police who do so: 84 • Number of early deaths in China in 2010 that have been attributed to air pollution: 1,200,000 Blast from the Past.

Measure would help trim deficit by $197B, CBO says.