Outside the Beltway

Plus some thoughts on prohibitionist policies (because sometimes a Quick Pick grows in the making).

Some surprisingly bad economic news

Virginia has decisively killed a bill that would have awarded the Commonwealth’s electoral votes to the winner of gerrymandered congressional districts rather than the statewide winner.

Chris Christie looks unstoppable in his bid for re-election

Obama’s fundraising team helped raise half a million dollars for Hillary Clinton.

The Boy Scouts is strongly reconsidering its ban on gays.

A good start toward solving a long standing problem.

Greg Jaffe has an outstanding feature titled “In one Army family, women in combat evokes two different perspectives.”

A potentially significant ruling on Separation Of Powers.

Two-term Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss will not seek re-election in 2014.

Some proposed reforms just need to be ignored.

Once again, the filibuster survives. Nobody should be surprised.

Despite some tough questions, Congressional Republicans didn’t land a glove on Secretary of State Clinton.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta ordered a lifting of the ban on women in ground combat.

40 years after Roe v. Wade, support for the decision is still strong, but the effort to restrict it continues apace.

Once again, Harry Reid is pursuing a far less ambitious filibuster reform package than originally threatened.

We really don’t need to be treating Inauguration Day like it’s the coronation of a new King.

Presidential honeymoons aren’t what they used to be, and President Obama’s second term honeymoon isn’t likely to last very long.

Bill Clinton has a warning for his fellow Democrats.

Looking at the data? Not very.

Congress is historically polarized.

Josh Marshall explains what it’s like to be a non-gun person in a very pro-gun culture.

My latest for The National Interest, “Obama Doctrine, Reagan Doctrine,” is out.