Outside the Beltway

California is set up throw a huge curve ball into the 2020 Presidential nomination fight.

The fact that this President is a congenital liar is well-known. The actual number of lies less than two years into his Presidency, though, is astounding.

While it has an admitted populist appeal. the idea of Congressional pay being withheld during a shutdown is a non-starter due to the Constitution.

President Trump is now apparently on the warpath against the Federal Reserve Board Chairman he appointed only a year ago.

The government entered its third shutdown of the year with little sign of an immediate resolution.

Tennessee will have an open Senate seat in 2020 thanks to Lamar Alexander’s decision to retire at the end of his current term.

Republicans scored a win in Court last week, but it seems likely to lead to a political loss in the long-term.

After a barrage of criticism, New Jersey Democrats are abandoning a controversial redistricting proposal.

Former Vice-President Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders are, not surprisingly, leading the early polls for the 2020 Democratic nomination.

An argument against “bothersiderism” in this case and, yet again, noting the problem with single seat districts.

The scandal-plagued Secretary of the Interior is leaving office at the end of the year.

Eight years after it was signed into law, a Federal Judge has ruled the Affordable Care Act to be unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor contends that a recent change in tax law unravels the basis for the Supreme Court’s upholding of Obamacare.

Gerrymandering. It’s not just for Republicans.

Theresa May is facing an unexpected challenge to her leadership even as she deals with trying to save a Brexit deal that nobody seems to like.

The verdict of last month’s elections was clear, but Republicans still don’t seem to get it.

Europe’s highest Court appeared to hand the United Kingdom a way of escaping Brexit altogether if it chose to go that route. This will greatly complicate the domestic political situation for Theresa May.

While often portrayed as left-leaning, the public broadcaster is ruthlessly capitalistic in its labor practices.

French authorities are investigating reports that Russian interference may be helping to exploit and expand the five-week-old “yellow vest” protests.

Cory Booker’s interest in running for President has been an open secret for some time, now he’s being far less coy about it.

This time, the rumors about John Kelly leaving appear to be true.

Current attempts to take power away from the state executive branch illustrates a lot of what I have been writing about for years.

Moscow continues using information warfare to sow division in Western society.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the U.S, Attorney for the Southern District of New York have filed sentencing memos that directly implicate the President in a series of felonies.

There’s yet another rumor that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly could be on the way out.

The economy is in good shape for the moment but there are storm clouds on the horizon.

Trump has reportedly told aides that he doesn’t really care about reports of an approaching crisis of the budget deficit and national debt because he’ll be out of office before it becomes a problem.

Republican lawmakers in Michigan and Wisconsin are responding to their party’s losses at the Gubernatorial level by attempting to restrict the powers of the incoming Democratic Governor.

Notwithstanding the temptation to do something, both the United States and NATO need to resist the temptation to get involved in the latest conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

The 2020 campaign is already heating up, and California Senator Kamala Harris could be one of the first serious candidates for President to throw her hat in the ring.

After initially saying no, Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke is now reopening the door to the idea of running for President.

Mia Love, recently narrowly defeated in her bid for re-election, has some parting words for her party. They probably won’t listen, but they should.

President Trump has canceled a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the recent confrontation between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea.

In the end, the race between Cindy Hyde-Smith and Mike Espy was not even close.

Preliminary figures indicate that voter turnout in the 2018 midterms was higher than it has been for any midterm election in fifty-two years.

Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith has made several mistakes since Election Day, but she’s likely to win tomorrow’s runoff election.

A confrontation at sea between Russia and Ukraine is increasing tensions in a long-simmering conflict.

A bad look for all concerned.

Some examples from 2018 of the problems with single seat districts.

The European Union has approved the final Brexit deal negotiated with Theresa May’s government, but the final chapter has yet to be written.

The current economic recovery is nearly ten years old. It isn’t going to last forever, though, and that could pose a problem for the GOP in 2020.

The evidence that the GOP lost the midterms because of public repudiation of President Trump is overwhelming. The GOP will either accept this and learn from it, or they will not.

Sherrod Brown pulled off the only statewide Democratic victory in Ohio on November 6th. Because of that, he’s being looked at as a potential 2020 candidate for President.

Once again, Republicans in California find themselves looking up and seeing a lot of desolation. They need to find a way to bounce back.

Yes, there can be real problems with election activities, but that does not excuse POTUS’ lies about fraud.

The Governor’s race in Florida is over, and the Senate race isn’t far behind.

Now that the election is over, President Trump and his sycophants in the right-wing media seem to have completely forgotten about the “invading” “caravan” of Central American asylum seekers.

Election Day 2018 saw Republican representation in the New Jersey Congressional Delegation nearly entirely decimated.

While the outcome in the Florida Governor’s Race is clear, the Senate race remains up in the air and headed for a hand recount that, in the end, is unlikely to change the outcome of the race.

Senator Jeff Flake is threatening to vote against President Trump’s judicial nominees unless he gets a floor vote on a bill to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller.