Outside the Beltway

While most of the Republican field was at the Iowa State Fair, Rick Perry was in South Carolina shaking up the field.

Time for the spinning of the straw poll results to begin.

Iraq has become so dependent on Iran for its survival that it is endorsing the brutal tactics of Bashar Assad.

The IBM PC was introduced 30 years ago. Has its time passed?

Denying the Tea Party’s role in the downgrade of U.S. debt is to deny reality.

The First Lady takes a lot of days off from her unpaid “job.”

Although he didn’t get the words quite right yesterday, Mitt Romney was exactly right about corporations.

The Eleventh Circuit has struck down the individual mandate as exceeding Congress’ enumerated powers under the Commerce Clause.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Last night’s debate was definitely more combative than previous renditions.

The Telegraph’s chief political commentator sees moral decay at the top as well as the bottom.

What’s a little thing like freedom of speech when there are shops being looted and burned?

The Twitterverse and the Democratic National Committee are having a field day with Mitt Romney’s declaration that “Corporations are people, my friend.”

Is S&P’s downgrade of the US bond rating “free speech” and thereby protected by the Constitution?

State-level job approval numbers seem to suggest that the President could have Electoral College worries in 2012.

Examining the impact of current events requires stepping back from them just a little bit.

So, you want a career in foreign policy field and are weighing your options….

Today is Cost of Government Day, at least for those who can’t do math.

Presidents are not a powerful as they seem (and a return to the “are things broken?” theme).

Dan Drezner believes those worrying that we’re seeing the global meltdown of 2008 repeat itself are kidding themselves.

The more education you have, the more you’re likely to spend on booze.

Rick Perry’s entry into the race could quickly turn the 2012 GOP fight into a two man race.

Rebecca J. Rosen explains why “Ridiculously Long CVS Receipts Will Remain Ridiculously Long.” And Mitch Hedberg ponders why they give you a receipt for a donut.

Non-rich people are in favor of taxing the rich and using the proceeds to fund programs for non-rich people

What you think you know about the U.S.-China trade relationship may not be entirely true.

Some thoughts on the riots (especially some US partisan responses to it).

The second round of the rolling Wisconsin recall elections was held yesterday. The Republicans are still in charge.

Through 20 years of effort, we’ve successfully trained everyone to use passwords that are hard for humans to remember but easy for computers to guess.

Should President Obama call Congress back into session? Not if there’s nothing to do he shouldn’t.