Outside the Beltway

There are still three days left, but it’s looking less and less likely that a budget deal will be reached in time to avoid a government shutdown.

Paul Ryan unveiled an ambitious plan to cut the deficit today. The question is whether it will be the beginning of a debate, or an opportunity for Democratic demagoguery

Apparently in the Walker administration, one need not be qualified to get an $80k/year position.

The duty to defend “hateful, extremely disrespectful, and enormously intolerant” expression.

Can a candidate appealing enough to the base to win the Republican nomination beat Obama?

You remember how the House GOP was trying to pass laws without the Senate or the President agreeing? Yeah, about that….

The Obama Administration has given up on the idea of trying the September 11th suspects in a civilian court. Considering how much that trial would have perverted the justice system, that’s a good thing.

The story that GE paid zero taxes last year despite mega-billion dollar profits is completely untrue.

President Obama says he acted in Libya to avert an imminent genocide, but there’s no evidence that any such thing was about to occur.

Nate Silver argues today’s polls “have a reasonable amount of predictive power in informing us as to the identity of the eventual nominee.”

Philip Greenspun wonders, “How did the New York Times manage to spend $40 million on its pay wall?”

In one of the biggest political surprises of the year, President Obama has announced that he would like a second term.

Department of Defense (DOD) employees moving into a new building this fall may start their days walking past a sculpture of a toad with a ten-foot fairy on its back.

“She asked for it” is no longer an acceptable argument in rape cases. So, why is a preacher in Florida burning a book being condemned by American political and military leaders for a days-long murder spree in Afghanistan?

Rather than fighting over the remnants of the FY 2011 budget, the GOP should make a deal and get ready for the bigger, and more important, battle ahead.

The only people responsible for the murders in Afghanistan are the people who committed them, but the demagogues like Terry Jones deserve condemnation as well.

Modern life requires us to put a high degree of trust in those to whom we delegate responsibility

Whether due to innumeracy or intentional deceitfulness, ThinkProgress has the JobsOhio bill totally wrong.

A NATO airstrike killed 13 rebel fighters, who were mistaken for Gaddafi’s forces. Apparently, they were shooting at NATO planes.

House Republicans engaged in a publicity stunt on Friday that displayed a profound misunderstanding of how government actually works in the United States.

Michele Bachmann raised more money in the First Quarter of 2011 than any other Republican. Which means that she’ll have to be taken seriously if she decides to run for President.

A discussion on Terry Jones’ moral culpability for the crazed reaction in Afghanistan to his Koran burning stunt.

The ability of people to put aside rational judgment when it comes to political figures is, in a word, puzzling.

If we allow the possible reaction of the most dogmatic, evil people who might hear the message to govern our expression, we don’t have freedom at all.