Outside the Beltway

The first batch of email from Hillary Clinton regarding the 2012 attack in Benghazi have been released, and they don’t reveal anything we didn’t already know.

The Senate went home last night without passing a bill to renew the PATRIOT Act, which expires at the end of the month.

Los Angeles became the latest major city to increase its minimum wage. It’s a risky bet that is likely to do more harm than good.

The Clinton Foundation has disclosed that there were $26 million in donations that it had failed to disclose while Hillary was Secretary of State.

The six Baltimore cops charged in the April death of Freddie Gray have been indicted by a Grand Jury.

A new Gallup poll puts support for same-sex marriage above 60% for the first time ever.

What if they held a straw poll and nobody came?

Hillary Clinton is a deeply flawed candidate who might not even make a very good President. But that doesn’t matter in the race for the Democratic Nomination, and she’s probably going to be the next President anyway.

Thwarted by the legislature, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal used his executive power to take action that seems directed more toward evangelicals in Iowa than anything happening in his home state.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer suggests that his fellow Congressmen and Senators are underpaid at $174,000 per year.

Rand Paul held the Senate floor for nearly twelve hours yesterday to talk about the PATRIOT Act, but it’s unclear if he accomplished anything.

With 14 candidates vying for the Republican nomination, TV execs are scrambling to make the debates watchable.

Hillary Clinton has admitted she made a mistake in supporting the Iraq War in 2002, but there are plenty of other questions she needs to answer when it comes to foreign interventions.

Maryland’s former Governor will announce his candidacy for President next week. Don’t expect him to go very far.

A New Jersey legislator is proposing finally getting rid of an antiquated law that makes it illegal to pump your own gas in the Garden State.

Republicans could learn a few things from the Tory victory in the recent British elections, but they are in danger of drawing the wrong conclusions.

A Second Amendment victory in the District of Columbia,

Drip, Drip, Drip.

The largely conservative state of Nebraska seems to be on the verge of repealing its law authorizing capital punishment.

Marco Rubio is the latest Republican Presidential candidate to have a problem giving a coherent answer to a few simple questions about the Iraq War.

President Obama is taking steps to reduce police militarization, but there’s much more that needs to be done.

South Carolina’s Senior Senator is set to be the latest entry into the race for the Republican nomination.

Some analysts are wondering if Jeb Bush might just forgo investing serious resources in the Iowa Caucuses.

Pollsters on both sides of the Atlantic have been trying to figure out why the polls released right up until the eve of the British General Election were so wrong. Here’s one theory, and it’s very compelling.

Bill and Hillary Clinton have done quite well for themselves of the speaking circuit.

The Republican debate stage in 2016 is going to be even more crowded than it was in 2012.

A five-time heavyweight champion has beaten a rich politician in a bizarre charity event.

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry is going to be looking for that elusive second act in American politics.

Hillary Clinton told supporters she’d require Supreme Court nominees to pledge to overturn Citizens United, a decision she completely misrepresented.

George Stephanopoulos’ s ties to the Clinton’s have always raised questions about his objectivity. Now, there’s further reason to doubt that he can play fair when the Clinton’s are part of the story he’s covering.

The House has passed a bill that would place real restrictions on the National Security Agency’s data mining program. Now, it moves to the Senate.

As expected, the Republican-controlled House passed a bill that would ban most abortions after twenty weeks. It also happens to be completely unconstitutional and has no chance of actually becoming law.

Iraq seems to becoming a political headache for yet another member of the Bush family.

A new survey shows that Americans are becoming less Christian, and less religious overall.

Jeb Bush will not participate in this year’s version of the Iowa Straw Poll.

If a new campaign succeeds, Harriet Tubman could replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.

Ray Mabus is trying to make serving in the Navy and Marine Corps more attractive to women.

Seymour Hersh is out with a conspiracy theory about the death of Osama bin Laden that just doesn’t make sense.

Not surprisingly, the House Committee re-investigating the Benghazi attack seems more concerned with scoring political points than fact-finding.

Hillary Clinton hasn’t taken questions from reporters in three weeks. Because she doesn’t need the media as much as most other candidates.

Like most Republicans, Jeb Bush either fails or refuses to recognize what an utter, unjustifiable disaster his brother’s decision to invade Iraq actually was.

Congressman Darrell Issa says that America’s poor are generally better off than the poor in the rest of the world. While he’s correct, he’s also incredibly tone deaf.

House Republicans are set to vote on a bill banning abortion in almost all cases after twenty weeks. What they can’t do is explain where the Constitution gives Congress the power to do this.

Director of National Intelligence now tells Congress that he testified falsely about NSA spying because he forgot the program existed.