Outside the Beltway

While the political media is spending a lot of time talking about it, the actual impact of this latest government shutdown is likely to be limited and possibly even unnoticeable to most Americans.

In what has to qualify as one of the most horrifying displays of moral depravity on the international stage, the Trump Administration is saying it doesn’t really care if the Saudi Crown Prince is a murderer or not.

Much of what Donald Trump has claimed about how he built his fortune is a lie, and at least part of it originated in his father’s shady efforts to evade taxes.

In a ruling that largely relies on the authority granted by Congress to the President to regulate immigration on national security grounds, the Supreme Court has upheld the final version of the Administration’s travel ban.

As he headed to the G-7 Summit, President Trump threw our ostensible allies another curve.

Just as they did three years ago when they legalized same-sex marriage, Irish voters turned out in record numbers to repeal the nation’s ban on abortion.

Tomorrow, Irish voters will head to the polls to decide whether or not to scrap a Constitutional Amendment that bans abortion in essentially all circumstances.

The ‘permanent record’ of yesteryear is now real. Should there be limitations?

Following yesterday’s move by Dick’s Sporting Goods, Walmart has raised the age for all gun sales to 21.

“All In The Family” predicted a policy proposal that President Trump and many other conservatives have made in the wake of the Florida school shooting.

Dick’s Sporting Goods will no longer sell “assault weapons” at any of its stores, and will limit the sale of any gun to people aged 21 and above.

I don’t see how the state legislature making tax decisions on the basis of the public position an company takes is legal under the 14th Amendment. 

New polls show increased support for various gun control measures, including limitations on so-called “assault weapons,” but that doesn’t mean we’re likely to see Congressional action on the subject.

More than a dozen companies have ended relationships with the gun rights organization and protesters are demanding more follow suit.

Kurds in Iraq voted overwhelmingly for independence in a non-binding referendum, and the result is threatening to create a new conflict in the Middle East.

At some point, it will be time to move on.

Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin’s trip to Kentucky that ‘just happened’ to coincide with last month’s eclipse is being investigated by the Treasury Department’s Inspector General.

President Trump is reportedly considering at least partly reversing one of the great foreign policy successes of the Obama Presidency.

The background of the United incident, from an aviation law and policy perspective.

More trouble for Lt. General Michael Flynn.

He is supposed to help make the government run more like a business.

Travel industry experts are reporting a noticeable drop in international travel and tourism since Donald Trump was elected President.

An initial setback for the Federal Government in its appeal of the ruling putting President Trump’s Muslim travel ban on hold.

A legal victory, at least for now, for opponents of Donald Trump’s ban on immigration from seven majority Muslim nations.

The mystery of what happened aboard Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 may remain at the bottom of the Indian Ocean forever.

An airline traveler wanted his fellow passengers to know that he was a supporter of the president-elect.

A new report concludes that Malaysia Air Flight 17 was brought down by a missile brought into Ukraine from Russia.

It seems increasingly apparent that the only way to stop Donald Trump now is by trying to force a contested convention. It also seems clear that such a plan probably wouldn’t succeed.

Mitt Romney came out with a blistering speech denouncing Donald Trump, but it’s unlikely to have much of an impact on the race.

The reclusive author of one of the greatest American novels ever written has died at the age of 89.

Another step forward with regard to the American-Cuban relationship.

Donald Trump loves the fact that he’s being praised by an autocratic dictator.

A Dallas man was kicked off a flight home from New York City because he had unknowingly cut off a flight crew member while going through a revolving door. This seems like a case of discretion gone way too far.

An apparent ongoing terrorist attack in Central Africa.

A Dutch inquiry has largely confirmed what was widely believed about the fate of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17.

Taxes on wine, beer, and spirits vary wildly from state-to-state and even within each state.

We have unreasonable expectations for airlines.

The final episode airs tonight. How will Matt Weiner will wrap it up?

TSA abuse stories had kind of disappeared from the news, but they’re back now in a big way.

In a twist fitting for an M Night Shyamalan movie, there is growing evidence that there was malfeasance by the co-pilot that resulted in a deliberate crash of Germanwings flight 9525.

Ubiquitous tracking isn’t all bad.

The news cycle in 2014 seemed to be dominated by a series of real and phony “crises” that grabbed our attention for short periods of time.

JetBlu is joining the competition in charging bag fees and cramming in more seats.

Vladimir Putin’s reception at the G-20 Summit in Australia has been less than warm thanks to recent events in Ukraine.

Quietly, oil prices have been falling for months now. That’s potentially a very big deal.