Current Events Guide

Various and sundry links to useful sources on politics and policy:

Substack political blogs

Tangle: I just signed up for a free newsletter. I'm pretty impressed by the way they provide a thorough survey of opinion on recent events in the right and left media 

Wikipedia: The most comprehensive and reliable reference source ever anywhere.  The conservative Manhattan Institute conducted a study to determine if it has a political bias.  

Index of Federal government agencies and departments. All of 'em.

Voteview: allows users to view every congressional roll call vote in American history on a map of the United States and on a liberal-conservative ideological map including information about the ideological positions of voting Senators and Representatives.

*Source Watch: Considered to have a liberal slant by conservatives, Source Watch offers generally accurate ideological profiles of think tanks and also has sections on corporate PR and the conservative American Legislative Council. Recommended for understanding the ideological slant of think tanks.

*RealClearPolitics: Links to political commentary, polling data, etc.

*Pew Research Center for People and the Press: Surveys of public opinion on contemporary issues.

*Governing:  The nation's leading media platform covering politics, policy and management for state and local government leaders. 

*The Atlantic. In depth articles on politics and public policy.

The Righting: Right Wing Media Guide. A compilation of links to right wing media for liberals who want to pay attention to what the other side is thinking.

On the Issues. Political leaders' positions on the issues.

Project Vote Smart. More information on political leaders.

Ballotpedia.  Encyclopedia of American politics

Scholar.Google.com. Find scholarly articles on the web.

*Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.  Provides information of tax policies in the states and shows total tax burden for the nation.  See state-by-state info here.

Propublica: An independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.

Solutions Journalism: There is a negativity bias in the news.  This site focuses on the positive.

Center for Digital Democracy: Watchdog group looks at how digital technology is advancing or undermining democracy.

publicagenda.org: Nonpartisan organization providing summaries of opposing positions on important current events issues.

OpenSecrets.org, Center for Responsive Politics: tracks influence of money in politics.

BBC Country profiles: Gives history, statistics on all nations of the world. Also provides links to media Internet sites, indicating English editions.

*Freedom House: Reports on state of democracy and civil liberties in countries around the world.

*Thomas Edsall: This New York Times columnist's political analysis are particularly insightful.  He often tries to explain the significance off the data in the latest polls.

Talk Poverty: Statistics on poverty in the United States from the Center for American Progress.

Chamomile Tea Party Posters: Free downloadable posters designed to resembled World War II US propaganda posters, but dealing with contemporary political issues.