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Congress Catch-All

  • Thread starter Thread starter nycfan
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There is a demonstrable correlation between frontal lobe damage (like, say, a stroke) and increased conservatism.
Yep. Studies have quite literally shown that people with damage in areas that control complex thought and self regulation are more conservative. These areas also appear to play a role in language processing and cognitive adaptability.

“Specifically, we compared the political orientations of patients with frontal lobe lesions, patients with amygdala lesions and healthy control subjects. Lesion type classification analyses revealed that people with frontal lesions held more conservative (or less liberal) beliefs than those with anterior temporal lobe lesions or no lesions. Additional analyses predicting ideology by extent of damage provided convergent evidence that greater damage in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex—but not the amygdala—was associated with greater conservatism. These findings were robust to model specifications that adjusted for demographic, mood, and affect-related variables. Although measures of executive function failed to mediate the relationship between frontal lesions and ideology, our findings suggest that the prefrontal cortex may play a role in promoting the development of liberal ideology.“
 
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Yep. Studies have quite literally shown that people with damage in areas that control complex thought and self regulation are more conservative.

“Specifically, we compared the political orientations of patients with frontal lobe lesions, patients with amygdala lesions and healthy control subjects. Lesion type classification analyses revealed that people with frontal lesions held more conservative (or less liberal) beliefs than those with anterior temporal lobe lesions or no lesions. Additional analyses predicting ideology by extent of damage provided convergent evidence that greater damage in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex—but not the amygdala—was associated with greater conservatism. These findings were robust to model specifications that adjusted for demographic, mood, and affect-related variables. Although measures of executive function failed to mediate the relationship between frontal lesions and ideology, our findings suggest that the prefrontal cortex may play a role in promoting the development of liberal ideology.“
“Based on research linking (a) political liberalism to cognitive flexibility and control and (b) executive functioning to frontal lobe activity, we explored the possibility that patients with frontal lobe lesions were more conservative owing in part to diminished executive functioning. However, this possibility was not borne out in this study.”
 


Weird

He was reportedly completing his term as WVa governor but rumors of some illness (heart trouble).
 


Weird

He was reportedly completing his term as WVa governor but rumors of some illness (heart trouble).

From October:


“… The current governor is rarely seen at the state capitol in Charleston, according to interviews with almost a dozen people involved in West Virginia politics on both sides of the political aisle. Some said it was difficult to get in touch with him when they sought guidance on his policy positions. That differed starkly from previous governors or other officials in state government.


There have been public concerns about the 73-year-old Justice’s health — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) last year questioned whether the governor was in good enough health to serve. Three people interviewed for this article repeated those health concerns. One of them said Justice, who is nicknamed “Big Jim,” has difficulty walking or standing for long periods of time.

Others said Justice has always been reticent to give up certain preferences and comforts, pointing to his initial refusal to move to West Virginia’s state capital — despite the fact that living elsewhere is a violation of state law.

… The governor is known for his affable personality and his English bulldog, “Babydog,” who regularly joins him at public events.

… “It’s an extension of him. Babydog is not like a prop. It’s like he has made the dog an associative tool to his humanity,” said one Republican involved in state politics. “It’s weird.”


“He’s not always around,” Republican state Del. Geno Chiarelli said. “He wasn’t always the most transparent. It wasn’t always easy to get a hold of him. But when it comes down to it, when the chips were down, we knew what he wanted.” He added that Justice’s staff “can get us the information that we need.”

State Senate President Craig Blair, another Republican, acknowledged that Justice is “a delegator,” but said he’s confident the governor will “assess the situation and determine what he needs to do to be able to appropriately serve West Virginia in the U.S. Senate.” …”
 

  • Five House Republicans plan to vote together in a bloc that could derail President-elect Donald Trump’s signature tax bill unless they get concessions on the current cap on state and local tax deductions.
  • GOP Rep. Nick LaLota, of New York, told CNBC that doubling the SALT cap to $20,000 would be a “laughable” proposal.
  • The SALT cap debate divides Republicans because lifting the limit is expensive and because it would largely benefit high-income households.
"...As negotiations over a major tax cuts bill get underway, they are also drawing a firm line: Simply doubling the maximum allowed deduction from the current $10,000 cap to $20,000, they say, is not enough.

“The $20,000 is a nonstarter,” Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., told CNBC. “It’s almost laughable. It’s way too low to earn our vote.”

LaLota is one of 16 members of a congressional state and local tax, or SALT, caucus who attended a recent meeting with Trump at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago. There, Trump promised the lawmakers that he would back their efforts to raise the SALT cap and told them to get back to him with a number that would ensure their support for his broader tax package, according to LaLota and his fellow New York GOP Rep. Andrew Garbarino.

The group plans to use House Republicans’ narrow, four-seat majority to increase its own leverage.

Specifically, LaLota is part of a bloc of five Republican House members who plan to stick together and oppose any broader Trump tax cut package unless it contains significant changes to the current SALT cap provisions.

Rounding out this group are Reps. Mike Lawler, of New York, Rep. Tom Kean Jr., of New Jersey, and Rep. Young Kim, of California, according to LaLota and Garbarino. ..."

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