New Gallup Poll Just Out Shows a Preference for Blue Over Red When It Comes to Political Party Choices

An interesting surprise from tonight’s Rachel Maddow Show is a new poll out from Gallup, which is based on people from each state and their political party identification. I’m not going to paraphrase or quote, because if you’re really interested in the relatively short article explaining the poll and its results, just click over to it here at the Gallup site.

There are some results which do surprise me though:

• The results from this poll are very similar to those of last year.
• Texas, where I’ve lived for so long, and Kansas, my home state, both of which are traditionally conservative and vote Republican, now show a competitive balance in party association.
• Oklahoma, which had no (yes, that’s zero) county give a majority of its votes to President Obama in the 2008 election is shown as leaning Democrat.
• Only five states are shown as strong Republican or leaning Republican.

One thing to note is that according to the article, the survey was taken of adults 18 or older, not necessarily voters.

If you like politics and demographics, take a look and check out where your state and the country stands politically, at least, based on this survey.

Want To Track Your IRS Refund? Would You Like To Know the Likelihood of Your House Flooding? Check Out These Great Informational Sites Brought to You by Uncle Sam

No matter which side of the political fence you sit on, or even if you just sit on the fence, everyone has something to say about the government.

Politics aside, the government does do some “good stuff” with all those tax dollars that get squeezed out of people, and some of that good can be found right here, by clicking on that keyboard a little more.

One really good site that has a lot of information is at irs.gov. That’s right–the Internal Revenue Service. One thing in particular that might interest you is your tax refund. You can actually track your IRS refund by accessing a link on the main page on the left side. You’ll need to give your Social Security number, your filing status, and an exact refund amount. And it’s free!

There’s also lots of other “good stuff” too, like information about tax breaks on new cars, downloadable forms, and even how to apply for IRS jobs.

Another federal government site, that might interest some of you is that of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency. If you are a homeowner or a prospective one, at fema.gov, you can use your address to find flood plain maps and check where your property sits in relation to the different types of floods (i.e. 500-year, 100-year). Click on “Flood Insurance, Maps and Information” on the right side of the main page. This site also has lots of other information, including how to apply for disaster assistance.