Outside the Beltway

Would conservatives learn a lesson if they got everything they wanted in 2016?

Unfortunately, our immigration debate is just plain dumb.

The Air Force is telling airmen to take common sense steps to “avoid becoming a victim” of sexual assault.

A negligible price hike of hamburgers might enable fast food outlets to pay their workers much better.

Ted Cruz is either being incredibly cynical as he deludes his fellow Republicans, or he’s living in a fantasy world.

Sequestration is even dumber than we thought.

We’ve still got a long way to go.

The high cost of raising children is making it difficult for many Americans to have multiple children.

President Obama has once again weighed in on the Trayvon Martin case in a personal manner.

Going back to the very beginning can be useful.

Evidence that George Zimmerman acted out of racial bias is completely lacking, which means the Federal Government should stay out of this case entirely.

Thoughts on the Zimmerman verdict (or, more accurately, to reactions to the verdict).

Shocking news out of California.

Despite yesterday’s tragic events in San Francisco, flying by plane remains the safest way to travel.

Edward Snowden has likely violated many laws, but, absent additional facts, treason is not one of them.

Yes, it ended slavery. But at a huge cost.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court narrowly decided a case on the right against self-incrimination that is likely to do great harm to individual rights.

A song written when Grover Cleveland was President is still protected by Copyright Law. That makes no sense at all.

If one is going to be in government, one ought to take governing seriously.

Meet Edward Snowden, the 29 year old CIA/NSA contractor who has confessed to leaking the details of the NSA’s data mining projects.

Not only do we not know the whole story of the NSA data mining operation, key details of what thought we knew are wrong.

At what point do science and magic converge? And what are the potential costs?

The government has your cell phone and credit card records. What can they do with that information?

Apparently, it’s not just reporters whose phone logs the Obama administration is tracking.

I have for months taken it as a given that she went on five Sunday morning talk shows and lied about what happened there. Did she?

Republicans have problems with the younger generation that they will need to fix if they’re going to succeed in the future.

The United States is as politically polarized as it was in 1865.

It’s time to take a look at the pre-trial issues in what is likely to be the trial of the Summer of 2013.

A case in Florida raises serious questions about the application of our sex offender laws.

The economics of higher education is increasing the gap between rich and poor.

Almost no one can confidently explain, let alone define, the specifics of the 501(c)4 designation.

A starting point for two important stories.

The noted wine critic Robert Parker recently forayed into reviewing bourbon and came under intense fire from enthusiasts of American whiskey.

Would more information about the Benghazi attacks have changed the outcome of the Presidential election?

Republicans looking to Benghazi for political ammunition are likely going to be disappointed.

Yesterday’s hearings shed more light while also raising yet more questions to which we’ll likely never get a satisfactory answer.

The reality of gun violence in the United States is far different from the story the media is telling us.

The rich are getting richer and more politically powerful.

There’s a very simple reason why gun control is stalling in Congress despite its popularity in the polls.

We treat violence by lone individuals differently than organized violence. Race, religion, and national origin have nothing to do with that.

Desktop PC sales fell by nearly 14% in the first quarter, continuing an ongoing trend. There are many reasons this is happening.

Keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people while protecting individual liberty isn’t easy.

A case from Missouri provides an excellent example of why it matters that states forbid people who love each other from being married.

The Iraq War did significant damage to the legacy of the Republican Party.

Matt Yglesias has a smart push-back against the lamentations of the decline of journalism.

Rand Paul’s filibuster is one that all American’s should thank him for that.

The Obama White House is not ruling out targeted strikes against Americans inside American territory.

About 8.1 percent of U.S. workers have commutes of 60 minutes or longer and nearly 600,000 have “megacommutes” of at least 90 minutes and 50 miles.

Separate, it turns out, is not equal.

The Hagel confirmation, like Obama’s election, was big news to some avid news consumers.