You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
1 misdemeanor
Greg Gianforte allegedly “body slammed” a reporter asking about the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of the Republican health bill. Gianforte, the Republican nominee for Montana’s at-large congressional district, was charged with misdemeanor assault. Montana votes today. [Gabriel Debenedetti, The Guardian]
7 weeks
Venezuela’s economic catastrophe is creating political chaos as well, with seven weeks of mass protests that have at times turned violent. Protesters are demanding early elections to replace President Nicolas Maduro, whose approval ratings are at 10 to 15 percent. The government instead announced a vote for a “constituent assembly,” with election rules that critics say are designed to ensure Maduro can hold onto power. [The Washington Post, Caracas Chronicles]
52
The Nashville Predators are in the Stanley Cup Final and are fighting to end one of the sneakiest losing streaks in sports: Tennessee’s three pro sports franchises — the Titans, Predators and Grizzlies — have competed in 52 professional sports seasons and have won a championship in zero of them. [FiveThirtyEight]
80 percent
Annual turnover rate among truck drivers in large for-hire fleets. No, that is not a typo, and yes, that is a ridiculous turnover rate for a business to have. The long-haul trucking business is grueling and existentially threatened by emerging technologies. [The New York Times]
23 million
The report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is in: The Republican bill to replace the Affordable Care Act would leave 23 million more people uninsured in 2026 compared to current law, cut Medicaid by $834 billion, and repeal taxes on high-income people to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. [CBO, FiveThirtyEight]
$2 trillion
The White House budget request released Monday double counts $2 trillion. It argues that the same $2,000,000,000,000 can pay for both a $2,000,000,000,000 tax cut and simultaneously a $2,000,000,000,000 budget balance. Using money twice is frowned upon in financial circles. [NBC News]
If you see a significant digit in the wild, send it to @WaltHickey.