Outside the Beltway

Our present-day politics reminds us that the “unfinished work” of democracy is never fully complete.  

Some notes on House process and how it relates to recent and ongoing political news.

Newly-Sworn-in-Rep. Grijalva provides the final signature.

Some questions to consider as you evaluate congressional leadership.

What the shutdown should have been about.

There are real life consequences.

A lot of pain for . . . not much.

Where’s the positive example?

The octogenarian Speaker Emerita will not seek re-election.

The former Defense Secretary and Vice President is gone at 84.

We need to be focused on the system, not fantasies about messages and organization.

The SOUTHCOM commander has resigned and the Senate is debating, but it won’t matter.

Some limits on Democratic pushback

Here we go again.

Reality is easier to ignore if you just pretend it isn’t there.

Naturalized citizens advance and vivify the American experiment. 

Can Democrats do anything?

A potentially costly rebrand and strange bedfellows.

Local control over a global enterprise makes no sense.

Are Red and Blue states even part of the same country anymore?

A major unforced error has apparently been reversed.

Thinking about ideology in the Trump era.

An unserious idea from an unserious man.

They may whine and bluster, but Trump always gets their votes.

They’re talking a big game now, but they’ll likely bend a knee. Again.

Have I ever noted the Congress is less responsive to the public than it should be?

Senate Republicans are balking at several measures, but fixing those would make passage in the House impossible.

Democrats are mostly condemning it and Republicans are divided.

Maybe they weren’t serious about fiscal discipline after all?

Or does it?

There may be no exit.

A chilling admission from a leader in the President’s OWN party

He filibustered nothing for a very long time.

He was looking for an election to buy.

They don’t want to give Trump what he wants, so they’re giving him what he wants.

Democrats are damned if they do and damned if they don’t.

A year-long Continuing Resolution or bust?

Beware the Ides of March.

It certainly isn’t how the US Constitution functions.

A tragic but perhaps inevitable event.

The courts will decide whether we have a President or a King.

Is it even a traditional “Buy Out” and is it already in conflict with OPM statutes?

More immigration politics.

Agencies are quickly seeking to comply with the President’s order.

The Curtis Yarvin interview.

An observation or two.