Outside the Beltway

Reports indicate that President Trump will seek to increase military spending. We don’t need to, and we can’t really afford it.

Budget hawks in the GOP face a showdown with Donald Trump’s spending ambitions this year that will likely decide whether we’ll ever get spending under control.

There are growing signs that the Deep State is seeking to thwart legal orders from President Trump. This is dangerous.

Yet another example of why Trump and his views on Trade and the economy are contradictory and even incoherent. Not only should Trump be building his Great Trump Wall™ in Mexico he should be furiously working against any and all foreign investment in the U.S.

A speech traditionally used to unite was instead a continuation of a divisive campaign.

On the eve of the 115th Congress, House Republicans voted to gut a key office charged with investigating Congressional ethics.

The economy grew strongly in the third quarter of the year, but it doesn’t seem likely to last.

Republicans are afraid to oppose Donald Trump for fear that his supporters will come after them.

The Federal Reserve Board raised interest rates for only the second time in a decade, but it still seems like it’s chasing an inflation monster that doesn’t exist.

On Tuesday night the Establishment won and won yuge. (From new OTB contributor, Michael Bailey)

Future Supreme Court Justice?

Trump had a much lower bar than Clinton going in. Neither cleared it.

North Korea continues to advance its nuclear program but it’s unclear what anyone can do about it.

One week after the Brexit vote, both the Conservative and Labour parties find themselves in chaos.

Donald Trump has almost no cash on hand. That doesn’t bode well for his campaign going forward.

Republican leaders and politicians continue to distance themselves from their party’s presumptive nominee.

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

The Clinton campaign probably thought the email story was behind them. The new report from the State Department’s Inspector General shows just how wrong they were about that.

There are many aspects of the way delegates to the party convention are chosen that is “undemocratic,” but it’s unclear why this is a problem.

The Supreme Court appeared deadlocked during oral argument in the latest case dealing with the PPACA’s contraceptive coverage mandates.

This year’s Nevada Caucuses are a good argument for why there should not be any more caucuses.

Donald Trump is back on top, but the field below him remains as confused as ever.

Bernie Sanders scored a big win in New Hampshire, as most people expected, but the look ahead still tells us that Hillary Clinton will eventually be the Democratic nominee for President.

Ben Carson cut his campaign staff drastically just a month after raising more than $22 million. Another sign of a dead campaign.

China’s economy is still growing, but it’s most recently reported growth rate is slower than the nation has seen in quite some time.

The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola Outbreak that began in 2014 to be officially over.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both released strong fourth quarter fundraising reports, as did Republicans Ted Cruz and Ben Carson.

NATO is extending full membership to the tiny nation of Montenegro, and there doesn’t seem to be a good reason why they’re doing it.

To no real surprise, the Obama Administration has rejected the application to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline. It is likely to remain an issue in the upcoming Presidential campaign, though.

As expected, the Senate easily passed the two-year budget deal early this morning.

President Obama is reportedly considering a plan that would put American forces much closer to the ground war in the war against ISIS.

A political earthquake north of the border.

According to reports, Vice-President Biden may or may not be close to a decision about running for President, and he may or may not be running.

Bernie Sanders has jumped ahead of Hillary Clinton in the Hawkeye State.

Senate Democrats are now just one vote away from being able to block a veto override, meaning that the effort to block the Iran Nuclear Deal will most certainly fail.

The reports about Vice-President Biden possibly entering the Presidential race continue to persist.

In 1992, an eccentric billionaire ran an independent campaign against a Bush and a Clinton. It could happen again.

Low costs and regulatory barriers are attracting people to red states–thus turning them purple and blue.

The gas tax was last raised in 1993.

In the end, the odds that Congress can actually stop the new deal regarding Iran’s nuclear program are pretty low.

Hillary Clinton opened a new phase in her campaign for President yesterday with a speech in New York City.

The New York Times really, really wants a horse race for the Democratic nomination.

Bernie Sanders is running for President. He’s not going to win, but he’s not running because he thinks he can win.

After months of resistance, the White House will allow Congressional review of any deal with Iran, but it may not hamper negotiations much in the end.

A tale of Kafkaesque torture by Comcast Customer Service reveals that the person who really made the mistakes here was the homeowner.

He’s back.

As expected, President Obama has vetoed the bill that would have authorized the Keystone XL Pipeline.