Missouri has the fourth worst congressional district in the country, as far as quality of life is concerned. That’s one of the conclusions of a new book called “The Measure of America,” a publication that will come out annually. It analyzes official U.S. government data in order to track the educational level, access to health care and income of Americans.

I spoke to one of the authors, Sarah Burd-Sharps, last week and asked her what she’d have to say if she had the ear of the next president or the next governor of Missouri. Ms. Burd-Sharps started by noting the disparity between life in Congressional District 2 West St. Louis County and St. Charles County) and District 8 in Southeastern Missouri (Jo Ann Emerson’s bailiwick).

CD 2, Todd Akin’s district, the wealthiest district in Missouri, ranks twice as high as Emerson’s district. To give you some context, the wealthiest district in the country is New York’s Congressional District 14 on the upper east side of Manhattan. It’s Human Development Index (HD) is 8.17. The worst district in the country, Congressional District 20 in California, covers parts of Fresno and all of Kings County. It has an HD index of 2.64.

Akin’s district has an HD index of