Outside the Beltway

The guy who found Al Capone’s vault wishes we had a guy like Sean Hannity back in the Watergate era.

What seems like a nothingburger story from CNN.

When it comes to foreign policy, Donald Trump has no over-arching philosophy and little knowledge, so don’t expect anything approaching a coherent doctrine from his Administration.

Donald Trump lies about even the most trivial matters, How are we supposed to believe anything else he says?

The lead story on Yahoo News at the moment, courtesy People magazine (“Robert Wagner Now Considered a ‘Person of Interest’ in Wife Natalie Wood’s Mysterious Death”):

Imagine a world where Hillary Clinton was President and stood accused of the same things Donald Trump and his campaign are currently under investigation for.

Robert Mueller’s investigators are looking at the President’s role in drafting a false statement regarding the June 2016 meeting between his son and a lawyer linked to the Russian government.

Chelsea Manning is running for Senate, but she may be violating military regulations by doing so.

In addition to deadlines on the Federal Budget and DACA, Congress also has to deal with the debt ceiling at some point in the next month.

Yesterday marked fifteen years since I launched Outside the Beltway on the old Blogspot service. 

John Kelly continues to throw away the good name he earned in decades of service as a Marine to serve the agenda of President Trump.

Yet another demand for a loyalty pledge from a law enforcement official by a President under investigation.

Embattled New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez has dodged a bullet, but still faces uncertain prospects for reelection.

Two weeks later, it’s still unclear what caused a false missile alert to be sent out in Hawaii.

A train carrying Republican Congressmen and Senators, and their families, was involved in a crash in western Virginia.

The President talked about national unity last night, but given his own rhetoric as a candidate and as a President, it’s a call that seems to be hypocritical.

A longstanding claim—that I myself believed to be true—is that spending money on preventative care like regular checkups would save money in the long run by catching health issues before they become acute. The evidence does not support this.

The White House’s immigration plan is facing opposition in both chambers of Congress from moderate and conservative Republicans alike.

In May, Irish voters will vote on a referendum to remove the near-universal ban on abortion in the nation’s Constitution. And it looks as though it will pass.

Once again, President Trump is going soft on Russia. Why? I’ll leave that up to the reader to decide.

Do yourself a favor and skip the State Of The Union Address tonight. You won’t be missing anything important.

Andrew McCabe has stepped down as the FBI’s number two after months of attacks from President Trump.

Three women who attended Annapolis together are running for seats in Congress.

Todd Rogers has been stripped of his world record for the Atari 2600 racing game Dragster.

International travel to the United States has declined since Donald Trump took office, and it’s having a measurable impact on the economy.

The prospects for a deal in Congress on DACA are starting to look grim.

The Trump Administration has acted in a manner to create the impression that there is “no daylight” between the United States and Israel. This is a myth, and pursuing such a goal poses real dangers for America’s national interests.

The recent cooling of relations between North and South Korea has led to some talk of eventual reunification, but for many South Koreans that idea is a non-starter.

A quarter century ago, soldiers were first using GPS to help them navigate the battlefield. Now, GPS is giving away their location.

A government panel has mandated a 50% increase in the revenue share streaming services pay songwriters and music publishers.

Democratic norms are eroding.

The Polish Government appears ready to approve a law that seeks to whitewash the truth about the role that many Poles played in the Holocaust.

And a little Electoral College for good measure.

Donald Trump is wildly unpopular in the United Kingdom, and that’s apparently causing him to eschew visiting the United States’s most important ally.

Despite mounting evidence and outrageous behavior, Republicans nationwide and on Capitol Hill continue to do the Administration’s dirty work. They’ll most likely live to regret it.

President Trump and his supporters like to claim that the economy has been booming since he became President. A look at the numbers reveals that this is not the case.

America’s closest European allies are rebuffing the Trump Administration’s efforts to renegotiate the nuclear deal with Iran. They’re right to do so.

The economy grew in the final quarter of 2017, but at a slower pace than earlier in the year and far slower than what the President has promised.

And the evidence for obstruction of justice continues to mount.

Less than a day after the President appeared to make a major concession regarding DACA, the White House has thrown a monkey wrench into the whole process.

Democrats in the Senate appear ready to de-link DACA from the budget. That would remove the threat of a government shutdown, but it could anger their base.

President Trump has alienated America’s allies and friends, and they are acting accordingly.

This is not unreasonable.

With the Administration set to commit the United States to a forever war in Syria, it’s time for Congress to act.

Americans were once largely united in their opinions about Israel and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. That’s not the case anymore.

Getting to a DACA deal isn’t going to be easy.

Just over one year after President Trump’s foolish and ill-informed decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Canada has stepped in to rescue the deal.