AL.com: The State of Alabama Had a 1-Year Population Growth Rate of 0.33% for the Year Ending in Mid-2013

Alabama

The AL.com article is linked below.

AL.com: Alabama's Low but Steady Annual Population Growth Rate

"Alabama's population grew to 4,833,722 in 2013, putting it just ahead of South Carolina and just behind Colorado. 

The state's population grew by about 16,200 persons from 2012 to 2013, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated this week, or 0.336 percent. In 2012, it grew by 0.331 percent, and in 2011 by 0.335 percent -- that's as steady as it gets when you're talking population growth.

Put it all together, and Alabama's population is up by an even 1 percent since 2010, when the last major census was conducted.

That growth puts Alabama in the bottom half among states on a percentage basis, or 36th since 2010. Slightly more than half the states have grown by at least 2 percent since then, with Massachusetts just missing that mark (1.97 percent)."

---Alex Walsh, AL.com 

Time: America's Population Growth Most Robust in the South and West

Noah Rayman's article at Time is linked below.

Time: Slow Population Growth for the United States

"The U.S. population grew at the lowest rate in more than 70 years, according to Census Bureau data released Monday, with most of the growth fueled by states in the south and west."

---Noah Rayman, Time 

Washington Post: The Recession Continues in American Demographic Trends

Carol Morello's article at the Washington Post is linked below.

Washington Post: 2013 U.S. Population Growth Rate on Par with Depression-Era Numbers

"The last time the nation grew at a slower pace was in the heart of the Great Depression, from 1932 to 1937, according to an analysis by demographer William Frey of the Brookings Institution.

The recession led more women to postpone childbirth and fewer immigrants to come seeking jobs. As a result, the nation’s growth rate, which was just shy of 1 percent as recently as 2006, began sliding after the recession began the following year. With the economic downturn officially over for four years now, some demographers expressed surprise that the population growth rate registered a decline."

---Carol Morello, Washington Post 

The New York Times: In the Year Ending in Mid-2013, the U.S. Population Grew a Meager 0.72%, the Smallest Increase Since the Great Depression

Tamar Lewin's article in The New York Times is linked below.

The New York Times: The U.S. Population Increased 0.72% in the Year ending in Mid-2013

"The largest population increases over the year were in Texas (387,397 people), California (332,643) and Florida (232,111). New York, which added 75,002 people, ranked ninth. California this year became the first state to top 38 million residents, with a population of 38,332,521."

---Tamar Lewin, The New York Times

ArgusLeader.com: South Dakota Ranked #6 in the Nation in Terms of State Population Growth Rates for the Past Three Years

South Dakota

The ArgusLeader.com article is linked below.

South Dakota Population Growth Rate Ranked #6 in the Nation Over the Past 3 Years

"South Dakota’s population grew by 3.5 percent in the last three years, making it the sixth fastest growing state, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau today."

---Jonathan Ellis, ArgusLeader.com

The U.S. Census Bureau Estimates That the Population of the United States of America Will be 317,297,938 on January 1, 2014

The U.S. Census Bureau population projection for January 1, 2014 is linked below.

U.S. Census Bureau: A U.S. Population Estimate of 317.3 million for New Year's Day 2014

Commerce Department: U.S. Population Projection for January 1, 2014

USA Today: Slowing Growth Rate for the Population of the United States in 2013

The article in USA Today is linked below.

USA Today: The Population of the USA is Growing at a Slow Rate

"An aging Baby Boomer population and slower immigration combined for nearly stagnant U.S. population growth in 2013 as the total number of residents inched up even more slowly than the previous year.

New figures released Monday by the U.S. Census Bureau show that growth for the 12 months ending July 1 was 0.71%, or just under 2.3 million people."

---Greg Toppo and Paul Overberg, USA Today 

Florida Had a Mid-2013 Population of 19.55 million, Slightly Behind New York's Estimated Population of 19.65 million

Florida

The U.S. Census Bureau state population estimates are linked below.

Florida and New York Nearly Equal in Population in mid-2013

Georgia Nearing a Population of 10 Million, Per the U.S. Census Bureau

Georgia

U.S. Census Bureau state population estimates are linked below.

U.S. Census Bureau: State population estimates for mid-2013

U.S. Census Bureau: National and State Population Estimates for the United States on July 1, 2013

A link to the U.S. Census Bureau estimates for the United States at mid-2013 is below.

U.S. Census Bureau: National and State Population Estimates for the U.S. on July 1, 2013

Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic: Obamacare is Operating

President Barack Obama

Jonathan Cohn's article at The New Republic is linked below.

The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn: Obamacare is Operating

"Obamacare got off to a lousy start. But things are looking a lot better now.

Nearly a million people signed up for private health plans via healthcare.gov in December, according to statistics the Obama Administration released on Sunday morning. That pushed the total number of sign-ups for the year to 1.1 million. Combined with the totals that states are likely to report by year’s end, it probably means more than 2 million people have signed up for private health insurance though the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces. That doesn’t count several million who enrolled in Medicaid, the newly expanded federal-state program that provides insurance to low-income people."

---Jonathan Cohn, The New Republic

Obamacare Enrollments Via the Federal Exchange Pass the 1 million Threshold, Over 975,000 Sign-Ups Happened in December Alone

President Barack Obama

CNN coverage is linked below.

CNN: Obamacare Sign-Ups Via the Federal Exchange Exceeds Tops 1.1 Million

The article at The Hill is linked below.

The Hill: Obamacare Enrollments in the Federal Exchange Surged in December

"Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner said in a statement that more than 975,000 people enrolled in a qualified health plan through the federal marketplace in December, following a rocky rollout in October.

Tavenner called the late surge 'welcome.'

'Our HealthCare.gov enrollment nearly doubled in the days before the January 1 coverage deadline compared to the first few weeks of the month,' she said. 'December enrollment so far is over 7 times that of October and November. In part, this was because we met our marks on improving HealthCare.gov: the site supported 83,000 concurrent users on December 23rd alone.'"

---Kyle Balluck, The Hill 

The Magic of Festivus Brings Together Republican Senator Rand Paul and Democratic Senator Cory Booker on the Issue of Prison Sentencing Reform, and Perhaps Drug Legalization Issues

The NJ.com article is linked below.

NJ.com: How Festivus Joking Brought Together Rand Paul and Cory Booker on the Issue of Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

"U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Rand Paul had a Festivus exchange yesterday that could one day lead to drug policy and sentencing reforms.

It began with Paul's 'airing of the grievances,' a tradition that is part of Festivus, the fictional Dec. 23 holiday created by Frank Costanza, George Costanza's father on the wildly popular 1990s sitcom 'Seinfeld.'"

---Darryl Isherwood, NJ.com 

NBC News: Centre for Economics and Business Research Projects that China Will Pass the United States as the World's Number One Economy in 2028, a Much Later Date Than Previous Estimates

The People's Republic of China

The NBC News article is linked below.

NBC News: China's Economy Won't Pass the USA's until 2028, According to a New Estimate

"A new study says China won't eclipse the U.S. economy until 2028, much later than some analysts have suggested.

According to the London-based economic consultancy, the Centre for Economics and Business Research, China's rise to the world's number one economy will be much slower than previously thought, due to both strength in the U.S. economy and the relative slowdown in China's domestic economy."

---Katie Holliday, NBC News, CNBC

Pew Research Center: Thirteen Landmark Measurements of What Americans Were Thinking and Doing in the Year 2013

The Pew Research Center has released a summary of 13 pivotal measurements of American thinking and/or behavior.  In the bullet points below are some of the highlights:

• Same-sex marriage support has crossed majority threshold (51%)
• Marijuana legalization support has crossed majority threshold (52%)
• A majority sees the federal government as a threat to individual liberties
• A high rate of young adults are living with parents
• The United States immigrant population is approximately 40.4 million
• Self-identified "Strong Catholics" are at a low in a roughly 40-year period
• About 40% of households with children have mothers who are either the solitary or predominant "bread winner"
• A majority of Americans own some sort of "smartphone"

The Pew Research Center article is linked below.

Pew Research Center: 13 Things Worth Knowing Regarding What Americans Were Thinking and Doing in 2013

"In the course of conducting public opinion surveys and demographic analyses, the Pew Research Center found a wide range of data milestones, breakthroughs, peaks and valleys in 2013, including record support for same-sex marriage and the legalization of marijuana; record levels of distrust of the federal government; record numbers of mothers who were the primary breadwinners for their families; and record numbers of Millennials living with their parents."

---Andrea Caumont, Pew Research Center 

The New York Times: Florida Poised to Pass New York and Become the Third Most Populous State in the U.S.

Florida

The article in The New York Times is linked below.

The New York Times: In 2014, Florida Likely Will Pass New York in Population

"When the Census Bureau releases its latest population estimates on Monday, demographers expect that Florida and New York will be narrowly separated — perhaps by as little as a few thousand people — and that if Florida does not pass New York this time, it almost certainly will do so in 2014."

---Jesse McKinley, The New York Times 

Rebecca Leber of Think Progress: Around Two Million Visited Obamacare's Healthcare.gov on Monday, December 23, 2013

President Barack Obama

Rebecca Leber's article at Think Progress is linked below.

Rebecca Leber of Think Progress: Healthcare.gov is Working

"Tuesday was the extended deadline to sign up through the Obamacare exchanges in order to be enrolled for health coverage starting January 1. The day before, Healthcare.gov saw record traffic of 2 million people visiting the site and more than 250,000 phone calls over the course of the day."

---Rebecca Leber, Think Progress 

Chicago Tribune: Jesse Jackson Claims Phil Robertson's Comments Stem From a Sense of "White Privilege"

Wes Venteicher's article in the Chicago Tribune is linked below.

Chicago Tribune: Jesse Jackson Sees a Sense of "White Privilege" Behind Phil Robertson's Controversial Comments

"Jesse Jackson Sr. has jumped into the controversy surrounding comments by Phil Robertson, star of A&E’s backwoods reality TV show, 'Duck Dynasty.'

In an announcement sent out Tuesday, Jackson Sr. compared Robertson’s recent comments about African-Americans, gay people and women to comments made by the driver of Rosa Parks’ bus."

---Wes Venteicher, Chicago Tribune 

Another Festivus Miracle! Obamacare's Healthcare.gov Receives Around Two Million Visitors on December 23, 2013

President Barack Obama

On Monday, December 23, 2013, around 2 million people visited Healthcare.gov, a dramatic increase in attempts to sign up for health insurance coverage in order to be covered on January 1, 2014.

A Time article regarding this uptick in interest is linked below.

Time: More Traffic for Healthcare.gov on December 23rd

"As a Dec. 24 midnight enrollment deadline approached, the federal government announced Tuesday that HealthCare.gov logged some 2 million visits on Dec. 23. Consumers were scrambling to select plans before Christmas in order to get coverage that begins Jan. 1."

---Kate Pickert, Time 

Politico's Katie Glueck: Pope Francis vs. the GOP

Pope Francis

Katie Glueck's article at Politico is linked below.

Katie Glueck: Pope Francis Runs Afoul of the GOP

"He draws crowds like a rock star, was named “Person of the Year” by Time as well as a gay rights magazine, and drew the ire of Rush Limbaugh for his criticism of “trickle-down” economics. Pope Francis has dramatically shifted the message and tone of the Vatican in the last nine months, and he’s forcing Republicans in Washington to reassess their relationship with the Catholic church."

---Katie Glueck, Politico