In 2007, an all-time low point for the incidence of meningococcal disease, the CDC estimated that there were 1, 000 cases and 130 deaths nationally, compared with 2, 800 cases and 300 fatalities a decade earlier.

FORBES: Immunizing Bureaucrats Against Complacency

At the same time, some megacities in the low and middle-income world already seem to have reached a point of saturation.

FORBES: The World's Fastest-Growing Megacities

Representative MARILYN MUSGRAVE (Republican, Colorado): So it was a very low point for Republicans, the worst time since Watergate, and you really do a lot of soul-searching when you take a beating like that.

NPR: Conservatively Speaking, Things Look Bad