A4| Friday, September 20, 2019 PWLC101112HTGKBFAM123456789OIXX ** THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.**
$90billionormore10orless20to30to40to50to60to70to80toReal GDP, by congressional district in 2018It Starts With the Economy
Jobs
Let’slookatGDP,orthevalueofgoodsandservicesproduced, Blue Industries
tounderstandhowthetwopartiesaredivided.Thesedays,
DemocraticHousedistrictsaredoingsubstantiallybetter:
Two-thirdsofthenation’sGDPcomesfromthoseareas,with
Republicandistrictsmakinguptherest.Thisisstriking,becausetheRepublicanshareofGDPis
shrinking.EventhoughthepartycontrolsmoreHousedistricts
thanadecadeago,thosedistrictsaccountforlesseconomic
activity,BrookingsInstitutiondatashow.Democratsrepresentdistrictswiththebiggestclustersof
professionaljobs.TheyincludetechhubsaroundSiliconValley
andBoston.Nearlythreequartersofjobsindigitalor
professionalindustriesareinDemocraticdistricts.Red Industries
Republicandistricts,bycontrast,holdgrowingsharesofthe
nation’sagriculture,miningandlow-skillmanufacturingjobs,
manyofwhichdonotrequireacollegedegree,havelowerpay
andaremoreexposedtooverseascompetition.Peoplewithcollegedegreesaremoreconcentratedin
DemocraticdistrictsthaninRepublicandistricts.Wehavetosortthrough17Democraticdistrictsbefore
gettingtothefirstGOPone,whichisoutsideofDallas.In
2008,only4Democraticdistrictsrankedhigherthanthetop
GOPdistrict.Once,thepartiesweregeographicallyintertwined.Butin2010,
the‘teaparty’electionwipedoutDemocratsinruraland
working-classdistrictsacrosstheMidwestandSoutheast.
The2018midtermsoustedRepublicansfrommanysuburbs.Democrats dominate the most productive
parts of the countryWhat’s Behind the Split?
1Share of real GDP of congressional districts in 2018Share of House districts Real GDP per district63.6% 36.4%
YoucanseethechangemostdramaticallybylookingatHouse
districtsrankedbytheircontributiontoGDP.Adecadeago,
DemocratsrepresentedHousedistrictswithboththemost
andleasteconomicoutput.Today,thepictureisverydifferent.Democratsareevenmore
dominantamonghigh-producingdistricts,whileRepublicans
nowrepresentmoreofthosewiththeleasteconomicactivity.The Paycheck Picture
Householdincometellsasimilarstory.Adecadeago,median
householdincomewasaboutthesameforeachparty.Since
then,ithasjumpednearly17%inDemocraticdistrictswhile
falling3%inRepublicanones.(^2) Location (^3) Education
Thetwopartiesrepresentdifferentpartsoftheeconomy,in
largepartbecausetheyrepresentdifferentkindsofplaces.
33.3 32.
$35.7 49.
billion
46.
41.
54.
58.9%
63.7% 36.
71.1 28.
Share of jobs in digital and professional industries
61.0% 39.
64.3 35.
Share of jobs in finance and insurance,
by each party’s districts
Share of jobs in agriculture and mining,
by each party’s districts
Share of jobs in basic manufacturing
46.1% 53.
39.5 60.
53.8% 46.
43.6 56.
Lookatthedataanotherway—thischartbelowshowswhere
industriescluster—andthepatternbecomesevenclearer.
Low-skillmanufacturinghasastrongpresenceinRepublican
districts,particularlyinmoreruralcommunitiesscattered
acrossthecountry,fromArizonatoWisconsin.
Share of jobs in digital and professional industries in 2018
0to0.
3to3.
6to6.
9to9.
12to12.
15%ormore
Median household income in 2008 2017
$50 55 60 65 70 75
thousand
10people
persquaremile
100 1,000 10,
Population density in 2008 2018
MedianamongDemocraticandRepublican
congressionaldistricts
MedianamongDemocraticandRepublican
congressionaldistricts
Share of adults with bachelor’s or higher degree
in 2008 2017
MedianamongDemocraticandRepublican
congressionaldistricts
0% 10 20 30 40 50
DemocraticHousedistricts RepublicanHousedistricts
Share of jobs in low-skill manufacturing in 2018
2008
distribution
2008
distribution
Notes: Median household income rounded to the nearest thousand. Educational attainment only includes adults ages 25 and older.
Source: Brookings analysis of Emsi data and IPUMS-USA 1-year ACS microdata LindsayHuth/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
ThewealthiestDemocratic
districtsarearoundthe
boomingtechandfinance
centersofNewYork,San
FranciscoandBoston.
Republicandistrictswith
thehighestGDPare
aroundDallas,FortWorth
andHoustonandrely
ontiestotheoilindustry.
Topdistrictscluster
aroundtechhubs
inSiliconValley,
Seattle,Boston
andNewYork.
Thetop15districtslie
mostlyinruralareas
intheSouthernand
MidwesternU.S.
Why Does This Matter?
‘When folks have less in common with one another, it’s hard to expect that they’re
going to see the problem the same way, let alone recognize that a problem exists.’
—ROGER JOHNSON, PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL FARMERS UNION
U.S. NEWS
gally preventing the com-
plaint from being shared with
lawmakers to protect the
Trump administration.
Michael Atkinson, the
Trump-appointed inspector
general, met Thursday morn-
ing with the committee in a
closed-session. Mr. Atkinson
declined to tell lawmakers the
substance of the complaint or
if it involves the president,
but did say it involves more
than one episode and is based
on a series of events, accord-
ing to multiple people who at-
tended or were briefed on the
meeting.
Mr. Trump disputed that he
had said anything inappropri-
ate in a call with a foreign
leader.
“Virtually anytime I speak
on the phone to a foreign
leader, I understand that there
may be many people listening
from various U.S. agencies, not
to mention those from the
other country itself. No prob-
lem!” he tweeted on Thursday.
“Knowing all of this, is any-
body dumb enough to believe
that I would say something in-
appropriate with a foreign
leader while on such a poten-
tially ‘heavily populated’ call.”
The White House declined
to comment on the complaint.
An official at the Office of
the Director of National Intelli-
gence said the acting director
hasn’t suggested the complaint
wasn’t serious or credible.
Rather, the complaint pre-
sented legal questions about
whether it fell within the of-
fice’s jurisdiction and how to
handle involvement of poten-
tially privileged information.
The substance of the com-
plaint was previously reported
by the Washington Post.
After the committee’s brief-
ing by Mr. Atkinson, which
lasted roughly four hours, furi-
ous Democrats said the Justice
Department and possibly At-
torney General William Barr
were keeping Congress from
learning the contents of the
whistleblower’s complaint.
“We do know that the De-
partment of Justice has been
involved in the decision to
withhold that information from
Congress,” Mr. Schiff said. “We
do not know—because we can-
not get an answer to the ques-
tion—about whether the White
House is also involved in pre-
venting this information from
coming to Congress.”
On advice from the Justice
Department’s Office of Legal
Counsel, the ODNI determined
that the allegation didn’t meet
the statutory definition of an
“urgent concern” requiring re-
porting to the intelligence
committees. A department
spokeswoman confirmed that
the guidance came from the of-
fice, but didn’t say whether Mr.
Barr was involved in the dis-
cussions.
Mr. Schiff issued a subpoena
last week to Mr. Maguire over
the complaint while suggesting
the issues divulged by the com-
plainant were being withheld
to protect Mr. Trump or other
administration officials.
Mr. Maguire initially ap-
peared to rebuff the subpoena,
but Mr. Schiff said late
Wednesday he had agreed to
testify at an open hearing next
week.
Little is known about the
person who made the com-
plaint. Andrew Bakaj, a former
intelligence and Pentagon offi-
cial who runs a legal practice
focused on whistleblower and
security clearance issues, con-
firmed in an email he repre-
sents the complainant but de-
clined to comment further.
A whistleblower complaint
that prompted a standoff be-
tween the U.S. intelligence
community and Democrats in
Congress involves President
Trump’s communications with
a foreign leader, a person fa-
miliar with the matter said.
As more of the escalating
dispute between Congress and
the executive branch spilled
into the open Thursday, it
couldn’t be determined which
foreign leader the complaint
involves.
The House Intelligence
Committee has been gripped
in an unusual legal battle with
the acting director of national
intelligence, Joseph Maguire,
over the complaint. The intel-
ligence community’s inspector
general deemed the complaint
an urgent matter, and the
Democratic chairman of the
committee, Adam Schiff, has
accused Mr. Maguire of ille-
BYDUSTINVOLZ
ANDSIOBHANHUGHES
Standoff Over Whistleblower Escalates
Rep. Adam Schiff and his panel are investigating a whistleblower
complaint that is said to involve Mr. Trump and a foreign leader.
SHAWN THEW/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK
Democrats and Republicans increasingly represent two different economies. And they barely overlap.
America’s Political Polarization Is Almost Complete
BYAARONZITNER ANDDANTECHIINI,GRAPHICS BYJESSICAWANG ANDDANNYDOUGHERTY