Outside the Beltway

Turning a campaign slogan into policy.

Not a lot of true competition on my ballot in Alabama.

Elon is on record warning Trump supporters to be prepared for “temporary hardship”

Plus some thoughts on mass deportation.

A modest disturbance in the force.

The 45th President and the press, part a million.

Or, more accurately, Trump-o-Nonsense

Is it the press’s responsibility to turn nonsense into sense?

Whatever that means anymore.

The slide continues.

Gaming the appointment process.

Sally Buzzee is out and the staff is “pissed.” Readers will likely notice no difference.

Voters in Mexico, India, and South Africa are making their voices heard.

Most of the biggest countries in the world have birth rates below replacement level.

Are we betraying the Founders?

Five months too late, we’re back to the Biden-McCarthy deal.

Here we go again.

Will wonders never cease?

And the intuition that things aren’t really working.

A David Brooks column inspires some thoughts.

Looking ahead to November 5, 2024

Bidenomics is dragging Biden’s approval.

West Virginia University may be the canary in the coal mine.

The President is trying to change perceptions ahead of the election.

All states but one receive more in federal money than they pay out in taxes.

My two cents.

Should we reform the way we train a high-tech workforce?

Sanctions and a costly war are taking their toll.

The Greatest of All Time is hanging up his cleats a year too late.

The infuriating fight to authorize spending already-allocated money is back.

A moderate Republican almost diagnoses the problem.

The elite consensus that free trade would bring them around is gone.

Her emphasis on turnout has helped other Democrats but she’s a two-time loser.

There are at most eight toss-up states for the 2024 Presidential election.

When you tax sin, you need more of it.

A bill that was never about the thing it’s called doesn’t do that thing.

Joe Manchin has come around on a pared back BBB, surprising just about everyone.

Are plurality winners less legitimate than popular vote losers?

The West Virginia Senator has pulled away the football yet again.

The US armed forces are looking for a few more good men and women.

The pressure and expectations of a king, but with considerably less power.

This will just reinforce minority rule in the US.

Growth continues.

The role of American political institutions.

A follow on from yesterday.

Crises tend to be distracting.

The President is taking a page out of Elizabeth Warren’s playbook.

Most people liked it more than I did.

65 million Americans are fully vaccinated but just 35 percent are boosted.

The West Virginia Senator has taken the football from Charlie Brown and gone home.