Outside the Beltway

The Catch-22 of passing a massive spending bill in an undemocratic system.

Thoughts on how we think.

They shall not submit to blackmail!

The Democratic legislature is likely to set aside the map proposed by the independent commission.

This time in the CA recall.

It is closer than Newsom might want, but the numbers are favorable to him.

The Lone Star State has enacted some peculiar new laws.

The system is not defensible.

For anyone who might be interested.

A novel but flawed legal argument.

The long demographic trend continues.

The right questions are: 1) why do some some on the right like him, and 2) should this concern us all?

Some recent news items that add to concern about American democracy.

The President is in open defiance of the Supreme Court.

Legislatures and school boards politicize what our kids are taught.

An interesting podcast conversation.

A new poll show a very close race.

J.D. Vance’s cynical suggestion.

Part of a disturbing trend.

Tab clearing time.

Put the frustration where it belongs.

An arrest underscores what the problem isn’t.

It’s not perfect but it beats our usual approach to picking winners and losers.

Eric Adams appears to have won a confusing race that isn’t quite over.

Another 6-3 decision along ideological lines.

A completely unsurprising 6-3 decision.

The combination of incompetence and a new system have the mayoral race in turmoil.

It turns out a 51-50 Senate majority isn’t enough.

It’s no better than Joe Manchin’s.

Kinda, sorta, maybe, but probably not really.

Israel’s long national nightmare is over. Or is it?

One party is divided on how to govern and the other is united in not governing.

Should he be worried about the appearance of partisan gaming?

The Commonwealth is much more diverse than national election returns might indicate.

Or, at least, he’s willing to kill democracy in order to save it.

The post really isn’t about Sinema as much as it about a theory of poltiics.

Cries that American democracy is in jeopardy are not hyperbole.

The answer seems simple but it isn’t.

A special session looms. (And how this is not like the filibuster in the US Senate).

The country is in peril.

The saga continues.

And general considerations on mid-term elections.

The GOP is actually pretty healthy at the moment, despite some public rhetoric to the contrary.

A quick lesson about American parties.

The latest front on the war on truth.

A typical case of American blind justice.

Republicans who admit Joe Biden won the election fair and square are being driven from the party.

Assessing Republican strategic positioning (and the incentives in our system).

On fiscal policy and historical comparisons.

The President has overturned decades of US foreign policy and alienated a NATO ally for, well, reasons.