Outside the Beltway

They aren’t going to stop, but the cliches that pass for debate sure are tiresome (plus some musings about the tax cut extension debate).

Republican pollster Glen Bolger makes a bold promise: The GOP will retain House control in 2012 – Guaranteed.

Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley wants to fix the filibuster by making Senators actually filibuster. It’s a good idea.

The Republican Party is united on the issues in a way it hasn’t been in a long time, but personalities threaten to tear the fragile coalition apart.

Is President Obama’s Federal pay freeze a sign that he’s moving to the right, or just pointless symbolism?

Nearly four weeks after Election Day, Alaska’s Joe Miller still won’t concede the inevitable.

The Republican talking point that lowering taxes lowers spending and raising taxes increases spending is denied by reality.

President Obama is likely join the ranks of the unemployed come noon on January 20, 2013 if a Fed forecast is right.

According to a new poll, the Tea Party movement, which is largely now the base of the GOP, is not completely in step with the views of American voters as a whole.

The latest forecast from the Federal Reserve foresees stagnant growth and high unemployment for the next two years.

Some on the right are beginning to realize that Sarah Palin’s popularity may cause a serious problem for the GOP in 2012.

Unless there’s an emergency, is it proper for representatives who have been defeated in a mid-term election to be voting on controversial legislation?

The cholera outbreak in Haiti continues unabated; riots against UN peacekeepers have broken out.

At least one group of Tea Party activists seems to realize that their biggest mistake of the 2010 election cycle was backing candidates like Christine O’Donnell who turned out to be their own worst enemies.

The incoming freshman of the 112th Congress say that they won’t repeat the mistakes that Republicans made when they gained power sixteen years ago, but some of the advice they’re getting virtually guarantees it will happen if they aren’t careful.

Former Washington Redskins Quarterback, and current Congressman, Heath Shuler has launched a quixotic campaign against Nancy Pelosi for House Minority Leader.

While not inherently unconstitutional, lame duck Congresses have the potential for violating the spirit of the Constitution and create the potential for mischief on the part of Representatives who have been thrown out of office.

The white, Southern Democrat is a dying breed.

As the counting of write-in ballots in Alaska continues to go in Lisa Murkowski’s favor, the Miller campaign is getting more desperate in its ballot challenges.

There are grumblings from within the Democratic caucus in the House that Nancy Pelosi may not be the best choice for Minority Leader. Unfortunately for Democrats, though, they don’t seem to have a viable alternative at the moment.

According to reports, the Obama Administration is set to abandon the July 2011 withdrawal deadline that was set earlier this year.

There’s a move afoot to postpone the election of the House Democratic leadership. Why should people who were defeated in the recent elections have a say? And, surely, those just elected should have a vote.

Joe Miller is suing to ensure that only write-in votes that correctly spell “Lisa Murkowski” count rather than allowing voting officials to guess at voter intent.

The New York Times has joined the mostly muted chorus calling on Democrats to select someone other than Nancy Pelosi as their new Minority Leader. In all likelihood, their call will go unheeded.

Republicans are making some big promises to try to lure West Virginia Senator-elect Joe Manchin to cross the aisle.

Virginia Senator Jim Webb is the last of a dying breed of Democrats, but his party may need him if it wants to remain competitive anywhere outside of a Blue State.

NYT columnist Nick Kristoff says America’s income inequality makes us a banana republic.

When conservatives start attacking one of their own for pointing out the obvious, you really have to wonder if they want to win.

They’ve won the elections, but Republicans still aren’t getting specific about exactly where they’d cut Federal spending.

As impressive as Republican gains in this week’s elections were at the national level, they were even more so in state legislative races. Which means Republicans are in position to consolidate and expand upon their recent gains.

During the just concluded election season, eleven self-funded candidates spent a total of $ 286 million trying to win elections. Only two of them actually won.