Outside the Beltway

Tonight’s topics: the Republican effort to run out the clock on the 111th Congress, various reform proposals that are floating around, and goodness knows what else.

The internal debate in the Republican Party over the tax cut extension deal with President Obama is serving as a preview of some of the battles that may erupt during the race for the party’s nomination in 2012.

WikiLeaker Bradley Manning has been held “under conditions that constitute cruel and inhumane treatment and, by the standards of many nations, even torture” for seven months and counting.

Dear New York Times: Your tireless efforts to make me stop reading you are having the desired effect.

Santa Claus and Osama bin Laden both rely on the power of belief.

Did you know that the iPhone is made in China for a mere $6.50? It’s false but true!

There’s plenty of good news for Barack Obama in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

A woman in California has filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s because she is apparently unable to resist her child’s incessant demands for a Happy Meal.

The most walkable cities in America are also the most successful.

One has to love the Telegraph headline “Drone kills white al-Qaeda pair in Pakistan mountains.”

Since when is working the week before Christmas sacrilege?

Judicial activism doesn’t mean “reaching a decision I don’t like.”

The battle over the individual mandate is really just nothing more than the latest round in a batter that has been ongoing for 221 years.

Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News is a must-read for NFL fans, always offering sharp insights into the game garnered over decades of experience. But, like anyone else, he can develop silly theories from anecdotal evidence.

Are Marco Rubio, Haley Barbour, and Mike Huckabee the favorites to win the White House?

The incoming House Republicans aren’t making a good first impression.

While the amount of wealth controlled by the top 1% is at record highs, real inequality is smaller than ever.

Americans’ assessment of Congress has hit a new low, with 13% saying they approve of the way Congress is handling its job.

Marine Commandant James Amos is going all-out to keep gay Marines in the closet, saying allowing them to serve openly could get men killed.

A new poll shows that the American public is discontented, nervous about the economy, not entirely sure they can trust the new GOP majority in Congress, and has no idea what it wants from Washington. Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

More on the No Labels label problem.

A Federal Appeals Court in Ohio has handed down what could become a landmark ruling in the application of the 4th Amendment to the Internet.

Silver tequila is being marketed as an upscale super premium when, in fact, it’s the lowest form of tequila.

Has anyone told Mike Bloomberg that “No Labels” is, well, a label?

Hinckley, California — the town that Erin Brockovich made famous — has slightly less cancer than we’d expect.