Figure 4

BiFold of voting records: US Senate, 112th Congress, Session 1. (a) BiFold layout of Senate voting data. Senators are numerically labeled (based on alphabetical order), with Republicans in red, Democrats in blue, and Independents in black. Votes that passed are colored green, while those that did not pass are gray. Observe that the two “Independents,” Senators Lieberman (58) and Sanders (82) align with the broad democratic party cluster, but both near its fringe. Republican Senators Snowe (85), Brown (14), and Collins (25) appear (by the BiFold plot) to have the most liberal voting record of their party. (b-d) Further aspects of the BiFold Senate layout. (b) “Nearby” senators Collins (R-25) and Nelson (D-72), with lines connecting each senator position to their respective “yes” votes. Both show strong bipartisanship in their voting records. (c) Senators Inhofee (R-44) and Inouye (D-45) have very few votes that “reach across the aisle.” (d) Bills positioned near the center of the plot have broad, bipartisan support. Vote 45 unanimously confirmed Amy Jackson as a US District judge. The lines connect this vote to those senators who voted in support. (e) Vote 59, supported only by the Republican caucus, failed to pass. It is situated “far” from the cloud of democrats, but near the Republicans. This resolution would restrict use of Department of Defense Funds to carry out provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.