Outside the Beltway

Freshman Members of Congress are threatening to block a vote to raise the debt ceiling that Congress will have to take by this Spring. They’d be irresponsible if they did so.

President Obama and Chief Justice Roberts are calling for bipartisanship in the New Year.

John Boehner’s whining about being called a “hostage taker” by President Obama is reminiscent of Newt Gingrich’s whining about being “snubbed” on Air Force One.

Internal memos reveal that Fox News spins the news in ways that favor conservative Republicans. Is that really news?

Democrats are losing the debate over the extension of the Bush tax cuts, but when you look at the playing field it seems pretty clear that that they never had a chance.

Incoming House Speaker John Boehner plans a radical overhaul of how Congress spends our money.

Top administration and congressional officials can skip the indignities of airport screening, even when they fly commercial.

Within the first few months of 2011, Congress will be required to take another unpalatable vote to raise the debt ceiling. Already, some incoming Republicans are talking about waging an effort to block the vote. That would be politically, and financially, stupid.

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.

The GOP is being urged to avoid social issues and concentrate on reducing spending, shrinking government, and economic freedom. It’s a good idea.

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.

Taxpayer “watchdog” groups are urging House Republicans to cut Congressional pay as an act of symbolism. It’s symbolism all right, pointless symbolism.

The race between Jeb Hensarling and Michelle Bachmann for Chair of the House GOP Conference is a microcosm for a battle that is likely to take place within the GOP for the next two years.

Nancy Pelosi is strongly considering staying in Congress as Minority Leader. It’s her job if she wants it.

Ezra Klein argues that Sarah Palin’s Twitter account isn’t very popular. But that misses the point.

The firing of Juan Williams from NPR has led many conservatives to call for an end to government subsidies. As is often the case, they’re right but for the wrong reasons.

Some Democratic candidates for Congress are working hard to distance themselves from Nancy Pelosi.

More bad news for Democrats as a new poll shows that voters are more likely to consider them extreme than Republicans.

Will a Republican-controlled Congress bring about the third Presidential Impeachment in American history? Jonathan Chait thinks it’s virtually certain that it will, I’m not so sure.

If the Republicans win back Congress in November, it will be largely unearned. But that doesn’t mean that there’s no incentive for change in American politics.

The Republican “Pledge to America” is chock full of photographs of Real Americans. And they’re disproportionately old white people.

In comments this morning, Justice Stephen Breyer seemed to suggest that Koran burning might not necessarily be Constitutionally protected.

House Minority John Boehner is getting a lot of attention for calling for mass firings at the White House. The real news, though, is that his speech is shifting the focus of the political conversation back to the economy. Which is just what the GOP needs.

President Obama’s decision to speak out on the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” has turned what was a hot-button cable news item into a political issue that even his fellow Democrats don’t want to deal with.

House Republican leaders want to repeal ObamaCare. But, even if the GOP takes over Congress, Obama will still have the veto.

Some Republicans seem to think they don’t need to put forward any actual ideas in order to win November.

The House GOP Leader is proposing that we get serious about Social Security reform.