Outside the Beltway

Benjamin Netanyahu is trailing in the final polls leading to Tuesday’s election, but he still may be able to form the coalition needed to stay in power.

A powerful Democratic Senator looks like he’s about to be in a whole lot of trouble.

As expected, Republicans have caved in the showdown over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

The Supreme Court seems likely to strike down state laws that take redistricting completely out of the hands of state legislatures.

Polling indicates that the American public opposes the GOP position on DHS funding, but that’s unlikely to change many minds on Capitol Hill.

A theme that just won’t go away.

Decision rules matter.

By a wide margin Americans think it was wrong of the GOP to invite Israel’s Prime Minister to speak to Congress.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is apparently realizing that speaking to Congress may not be a good idea after all.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhu’s speech to Congress is becoming even more partisan, much to the apparent chagrin of the Israelis.

Some Congressional Democrats are considering skipping a speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a Joint Session Of Congress.

Scott Walker surged to the top of a new poll of Iowa Republicans, but Iowa is not a very good predictor of success in the race for the GOP nomination.

By inviting Prime Minister Netanyahu to address Congress, Republicans are damaging the U.S. relationship with Israel.

A big change in an important nation in the most volatile part of the world.

The House was set to vote on a ban on abortion after 20 weeks that never would have become law today but they pulled the bill. Conservatives are annoyed, but it was smart politics in the long run.

The State Of The Union Address was more of the same, and the same will be true of Washington going forward.

While the issue of income inequality is quite real, Oxfam’s numbers are not.

The Tea Party may be the most vocal wing of the GOP but most Republicans seems to favor candidates that aren’t quite so right wing.

Just one day into the new Congress, the first confrontation is already set.

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

Several Tea Party backed Members of Congress claim to be challenging John Boehner in tomorrow’s vote for Speaker. They are, of course, delusional.

The news cycle in 2014 seemed to be dominated by a series of real and phony “crises” that grabbed our attention for short periods of time.

An American freed from captivity, and potentially huge changes in America’s diplomatic and trade relationship with Cuba.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is not running for President, and she is unlikely to change her mind on that. Nonetheless, the speculation that she is will continue for some time to come because it suits her interests and the interests of others.

A day of terror at a school in Pakistan.

Despite opposition from both Republicans and Democrats, the compromise budget resolution passed narrowly last night, but not without some last minute drama

Some on the left are suggesting Democrats should write off the South for the foreseeable future, but that would be as foolish as Republicans assuming that their dominance in the region will last as long as Democratic dominance did in the century after the Civil War.

A crushing but expected defeat for a veteran Democrat.

Strong jobs growth in November means that 2014 is already the best year for jobs growth since 1999.

The next President will have a profound ability to shape the future of the Supreme Court, but that is unlikely to be the most important issue on voters minds in 2016.

The Food & Drug Administration’s new regulations requiring calorie and other information on menus in restaurants and elsewhere won’t work, could limit consumer choice, and may not be Constitutional.

After a disastrous campaign in 2012, Texas Governor Rick Perry appears to be gearing up for a new run for the White House in 2016, but questions remain.

Well, so much for that “people’s revolt” that brought down a military dictator.

Top Republicans worry that their party’s response to the President’s executive action will alienate Latinos. However, there’s little they can do about that.

On a preliminary examination, the President’s executive action on immigration appears to be within the boundaries of applicable law. However, as with other exercises of Executive Branch authority, it raises some important concerns about the precedent that it sets.

Fresh off his third statewide win in four years, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker appears to be getting ready to run for President.

Based on the available evidence, there’s very little evidence that Voter ID laws had a significant impact on the midterm elections.

An adviser close to Hillary Clinton is talking about expanding the Electoral College map in 2016, but even without such an expansion the GOP faces an uphill battle.

Some of his party’s leaders want the president to save them.

If the President now believes he can act unilaterally on immigration reform, why did he spend the last five years saying that he couldn’t?

Another round of election losses is leading Democrats to contemplate the direction they should take going forward.