Outside the Beltway

There are still three days left, but it’s looking less and less likely that a budget deal will be reached in time to avoid a government shutdown.

The Obama Administration has given up on the idea of trying the September 11th suspects in a civilian court. Considering how much that trial would have perverted the justice system, that’s a good thing.

Rather than fighting over the remnants of the FY 2011 budget, the GOP should make a deal and get ready for the bigger, and more important, battle ahead.

House Republicans engaged in a publicity stunt on Friday that displayed a profound misunderstanding of how government actually works in the United States.

The next week promises to be a battle between John Boehner and the Tea Party over whether or not compromise is a good idea.

Nor, it would seem, are really tired clichés.

Donald Trump, who may or may not be running for President, is continuing his strange obsession with the birther myth, and reminding Republicans that two years of silence in the face of lunacy may come back to bite them.

U.S. officials are making clear that the current mission in Libya may not lead to the end of Muammar Gaddafi’s rule. If that’s the case, then why are we there in the first place?

Regardless of one’s preferences in terms of endgame in Wisconsin, democracy will win out.

There’s still time for Sarah Palin to burnish her political reputation. But she probably won’t.

Public support for the war in Afghanistan continues to plummet, but will that hurt the President when 2012 rolls around?

If the Republicans need their own Bill Clinton, how about Mark Sanford?

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is beginning to more like a real candidate for President. She won’t win, but she will be entertaining.

Was the GOP’s maneuver legit? And what’s next?

Wisconsin Republicans stripped state employees of collective bargaining rights without the Democratic senators who fled the state to prevent a quorum.

The funny thing is that the quorum-busting in WI is more like a filibuster ought to be: a true delaying tactic that eventually has to give way to a democratic outcome.

As gas and oil prices rise, the pressure is increasing to tap into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It’s a dumb idea.

The Democrats appear ready to come home (or, as per the update, maybe not).

Republicans are about to take a walk along the third-rail of American politics.

Two new polls reflect the extent to which public attitudes on same-sex marriage have changed dramatically over the past twenty years, and it’s only a matter of time before that’s reflected in the law.

As the standoff in Wisconsin drags on, there is no sign that the public accepts the argument being made about public sector unions by Governor Scott Walker and other Republicans.