“Number rules the universe,” Pythagoras of Samos famously said. “Number is the ruler of forms and ideas, and the cause of gods and demons.”
With a hat tip to the great Ionian philosopher, mystic, and mathematician, here’s a numerical breakdown of what our own rulers are up to lately:
Rainy-Day Governor
2 • Number of proposals for a new state “rainy-day fund,” earmarked for emergencies and paying off long-term debt, to be debated in this week’s legislative special session.
1,600,000,000 • Number of dollars set aside in Governor Brown’s latest budget plan for a reserve fund to pay for emergencies and reduce debt.
355,000,000,000 • The number of dollars of long-term debt the state has incurred, most of it for state employees’ pension and retirement health benefits.
The University of the World
22,878 • The number of additional tuition dollars paid by non-resident UC students, above the $13,200 charged in-state residents.
24.7 • The one-year percentage increase in the number of students who live outside the U.S. admitted to UC Santa Barbara for fall 2014.
-3.1 • The one-year percentage decrease in the number of students who live in California admitted to UCSB for fall 2014.
The Future Lies Ahead
1 • Percent chance of Democrats winning back control of the House of Representatives in November.
6 • Number of seats, among the 36 at stake in this year’s election, which Republicans need to win to take control of the U.S. Senate.
11 • Number of current Democratic-held Senate seats, which Republicans are given at least a plausible chance of winning.
Oligarchs Arise
11,700,000 • Average salary in dollars of CEOs of America’s top 350 corporations.
35,239 • Average salary in dollars of the average American worker.
11 • Average tax rate paid as a percentage of income paid by the poorest fifth of Americans.
5.6 • Average tax rate paid as a percentage of income paid by the wealthiest fifth of Americans.
To Make All Laws
8 • Percentage of congressional offices that made its member or a senior staffer available to meet about legislation “with constituents” as part of a political-science study.
32 • Percentage of congressional offices that made its member or a senior staffer available to meet about legislation with “active political donors” in the same study.
Bipartisan Partisans
5.7 • Percentage of the electorate who were “ticket splitters,” voting for one party for president and another for congress in 2012.
1904 • The last year the percentage of ticket splitters was as low.
Drought Update
38,000,000 • Number of gallons of drinking water dumped by Oregon officials after a 19-year-old man was seen on a security camera peeing into a reservoir.
24 • Age at which human brainpower begins to decline.