Outside the Beltway

Why I wasn’t fooled by Barack Obama’s campaign promises to curb presidential power.

Can a public university expel a student for a religiously-motivated aversion to homosexuality?

Yes, a lot of people are dying on the Arizona border, but the cause is not the drug war. Rather, it is simple fact that crossing the desert on foot is a dangerous proposition. (And this is not a new phenomenon).

The Obama administration wants the FBI to be able to look at your Internet records without the inconvenience of respecting your 4th Amendment rights.

Now that the flood of oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico from BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig has been staunched, some are arguing that the prophesied environmental catastrophe was greatly overblown.

The concentration of policy wonks in the Washington-New York-Boston corridor produces skewed analysis.

Topics include the WikiLeaks episode and its fallout, the DISCLOSE Act, filibuster reform, and the possibility that the economy has already recovered as much as it’s going to.

Less than 24 hours before it was set to take effect, a Federal Judge has put a hold on most of the key provisions of Arizona’s immigration law.

Should we just accept that people are going to be on their iPhones and BlackBerries and redefine rudeness?

If you’re buying your gold from Glenn Beck, you’re a fool.

Massachusetts becomes the latest state to join in the National Popular Vote initiative.

Much to the disappointment of Ezra Klein and others, it’s unlikely that Democrats will have the votes necessary to change the filibuster when the 112th Congress convenes.

Marco Rubio doesn’t want to see the proliferation of SB1070s to other states.

While President Obama is pushing the Afghanistan surge, large numbers of elected Democrats are demanding we get out.

Thanks to a united Republican Caucus, the Senate failed to take up a deeply flawed campaign finance “reform” bill.

Massachusetts will become the latest state to join the National Popular Vote movement, a compact wherein states throw their Electoral College votes to the nationwide winner once enough states agree to ensure that outcome.

Republicans are much closer to America’s political center than Democrats.

The Washington Post Company, which famously accepted Dave Weigel’s resignation from its namesake newspaper last month, has hired him back in essentially the same job for its online magazine Slate.

800,000 gallons of oil have leaked from a pipeline into a creek that flows into the Kalamazoo River. BP is not involved.

Conservatives aren’t as united over the “outrage” of the New Black Panther Case as you might think.

Remember when Democrats thought changing the rules to abolish filibustering was an outrage against the Constitution? They’re older and wiser now.

The Pentagon can not account for 95 percent of the Iraq oil revenue from 2004 to 2007.

51% of New Hampshire voters overall say they’re less likely to vote for a candidate endorsed by Palin to just 26% who say a Palin endorsement would make them more inclined to be supportive.

The Lt. Governor of Tennessee suggested recently that religious freedom possibly shouldn’t apply to Muslims, but he’s only part of the problem.

Barbara Boxer has offended some veterans again. This time, she’s right and they’re wrong.

Are you really a nonprofit if your CEO is making a million dollars a year?

Humor me for a moment: if your life was in danger, would you trust Julian Assange to keep your identity a secret? – Joshua Foust

“I don’t condone leaking secrets. But nor do I condone a policy that can only work in secret.” – Bernard Finel

The Internet has given us many good things, but it’s also led to a decline in political discourse that we’d do well to reverse before it’s too late.

Some lawyers make a fabulous salary right out of law school. Most don’t.