Outside the Beltway

Hillary Clinton has a slight lead in national polling over Donald Trump as the battle for the White House really begins.

Senator Elizabeth Warren is the latest Democrat to unite behind the party’s presumptive nominee. A marked contrast to the chaos that reigns on the Republican side of the aisle.

With the race for the Democratic nomination over, President Obama is ready to hit the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton.

Hillary Clinton won the final Super Tuesday of the 2016 primary season, thus officially sending us into what promises to be among the most contentious General Election battles in recent memory.

Closer to making history.

Bernie Sanders is continuing to let his supporters believe he has a chance to win the Democratic nomination. He is either delusional, or he is lying to his supporters.

A Federal Court has ruled that the Administration violated the law when it spent funds allocated under the PPACA for purposes other than those authorized by Congress.

A first look at the Electoral College paints a very grim picture for Donald Trump and the GOP.

Justice Sotomayor argued last week that we ought to look somewhere other than just the Courts of Appeal, the Ivy League, and the Northeast for Supreme Court Justices. She’s right.

It increasingly appears that the GOP is on the losing side of the argument over whether to hold hearings and a vote on the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court.

President Obama has selected his nominee to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court, now the question is whether the Senate will act.

A big night in the Republican race for President leaves Donald Trump as the only candidate realistically situated to be anywhere near a majority of delegates by the time the primaries end in June.

Conservatives are sending a message to Senate Republicans about the vacancy on the Supreme Court, and it may require them to initiate a suicidal game plan.

Associate Justice Antonin Scalia has died at the age of 79.

The Supreme Court has declined to accept an appeal challenging a law barring certain types of so-called ‘assault weapons’ in a Chicago suburb.

No, there really haven’t been 355 ‘mass shootings’ since January 1st. Not unless you’re relying on completely unreliable data.

Two months after seemingly promising to remain loyal to the Republican Party, Donald Trump is again refusing to rule out an independent run for the White House next year.

A Federal Judge has ruled that the N.S.A. metadata collection program is unconstitutional, but it’s unclear if the ruling will have much of an impact.

A decision from Mexico’s Supreme Court has opened the door to legalization of marijuana south of the border, but it’s likely to proceed much slower than in the United States or Canada.

The Supreme Court is diving back into the debate over the PPACA’s birth control coverage mandate.

Senator Bernie Sanders wants to let states decide how to regulate marijuana, or to not regulate it at all if they choose. Intellectually honest conservatives should support his effort.

A controversial marijuana legalization initiative that even many pro-legalization advocates opposed, lost in Ohio last night. But the nationwide momentum in favor of legalization will likely not be abated.

Public support for marijuana legalization continues to rise. As with the marriage equality movement, it’s obvious where this will end, The only question is how long it will take to get there.

Canada’s Liberal Party ran on a platform that includes nationwide marijuana legalization. With the election won, it seems only a matter of time before Canadians will be able to light up legally.

California Governor Jerry Brown has signed a bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide, making California the fifth state to legalize the practice and possibly giving real political momentum to the Right To Die movement.

The marriage equality issue is resolved, but that doesn’t mean the Supreme Court won’t have a lot of high profile cases on its docket over the next eight months.

The 2016 election will be fought on a very small battlefield, and right now the makeup of that battlefield heavily favors the Democrats.

A Federal Appeals Court has upheld a 1949 law that bars protesters from the property around the Supreme Court building. This seems inconsistent with the Court’s recent First Amendment jurisprudence.

A reporter and cameraman for a local television station were killed, and a third person wounded, live on the air this morning.

While “fundamentals” will have more impact on choosing our next president than what happens on the campaign trail, the race itself is important.

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

He definitely wouldn’t appreciate it, but in some sense you can thank Robert Bork for the Supreme Court’s opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges.

The US Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 that the U.S. Constitution contains a right to same-sex marriage.

The era of legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act is over.

A Federal Appeals Court In Washington has ruled that the military tribunal convictions of one group of Guantanamo Bay detainees was unconstitutional.

Before the end of the month, the Supreme Court could issue a ruling that ends subsidies for the vast majority of people who bought insurance under the PPACA, and the political battles are already starting.

In a setback for the gun rights movement, the Supreme Court has let stand a San Francisco law that places tough restrictions on handgun ownership.

The agency that runs Washington D.C.’s mass transit has banned all political ads after Pamela Gellar attempted to run an advertisement featuring a drawing of Mohammed.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer suggests that his fellow Congressmen and Senators are underpaid at $174,000 per year.

A Second Amendment victory in the District of Columbia,

A Federal Appeals Court has ruled that the N.S.A.’s data mining program is illegal, but its ruling may not have a very big impact.

As oral argument in the Supreme Court gets closer, a new poll finds public support for same-sex marriage at it’s highest level yet.

The Justice Department will not pursue contempt charges against Lois Lerner because it has determined that she did not waive her rights under the Fifth Amendment.

We’re down to debating whether bigots should have to sell cakes to gay people.

Once again, the Supreme Court appears to be sharply divided on the latest challenge to the Affordable Care Act.

A Federal Judge has issued a temporary halt to the Obama Administration’s deferred deportation program, but appeals can be expected.

By refusing to stay the legalization of same-sex marriage in Alabama, the Supreme Court has sent the strongest signal yet that it is ready to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide.

ISIS owns more territory than it did when the US bombing campaign began.

The two decade long argument over same-sex marriage appears headed for its final legal showdown.

In the end, the Tea Party challenge to John Boehner was a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.