Outside the Beltway

It was clear from the start that “Cash For Clunkers” was a bad idea.

The PPACA now has a 3-1 record in US appeals courts.

Barry Ritholtz lists a dozen causes of the financial crisis.

Less than a year ago, Herman Cain was denouncing a tax plan that is remarkably similar to the one he now advocates.

Mitt Romney played it safe on a controversial issue again.

Many of the Republican candidates for President advocate ideas that would restrict the power of the Federal Judiciary.

Some Northeastern Senators want to make selling fake maple syrup a federal offense.

In Louisiana, that cash in your pocket is now worthless if you want to buy used goods.

There’s no consensus for European-style social democracy or a Randian libertarian paradise.

Pondering Tea Party comparisons as well as the “does it matter?” question.

California’s Governor has vetoed a bill that would have reversed a very misguided decision by that state’s Supreme Court.

Rick Perry has serious problems with what people think about his immigration position.

With the advantage of hindsight, it’s clear that more creative strategies were needed. But they probably couldn’t have been passed.

Harry Reid’s “nuclear option” has changed the rules of the game, for now.

Harry Reid is playing hardball, invoking a tactic that he himself decried being threatened when Republicans were in charge.

A meme is emerging that the Occupy Wall Street protests are America’s version of the Arab Awakening. That meme must die.

Can someone who doesn’t look like a GQ model make it in politics anymore?

The health care battle is formally joined in the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court is on track to issue its most anticipated ruling in years right in the middle a Presidential campaign.

FEMA is about to run out of money, but don’t worry your Congressman is getting his vacation time in.

Texas is ending the time-honored tradition of allowing condemned men to pick their last meal before being put to death.

Last night’s Republican debate is likely to raise more questions about Rick Perry in the minds of voters.

The second half of the President’s political strategy is in place. Don’t mistake it for a serious legislative effort.

We won’t solve our fiscal problems by soaking “the rich.”

Republicans have a plan to wrest half of the Keystone State’s electors from Obama.

Oz provides an excuse for some comparative politics.

With the economy at the forefront of the public’s mind, the GOP needs to be careful in its response to President Obama’s new jobs bill.

Mitt Romney’s jobs plan is detailed, but it doesn’t seem to be impressing anyone.

Democrats are fearing the President’s jobs plan will be underwhelming. Based on initial reports, it looks like their fears are well-placed.

Assuming that the President is easy to beat could cause Republicans to move too far to the right.

No matter how weak he becomes, no President will ever be completely irrelevant to the political process.

The bloom is off the rose for some of the President’s most ardent 2008 supporters.

Rick Perry’s position on immigration-related issues could be a problem for the same conservatives who have been getting behind him.

The latest push for laws against bullying is another example of the Nanny State rum amok.

Supreme Court nominees were confirmed quite easily within recent memory. What’s changed?

The Romney campaign may be finally starting to pay attention to Rick Perry.

Rick Perry placed his cowboy boots firmly on the third rail of American politics.

Ensuring the integrity of the voting process is a worthy goal, not evidence of discrimination.

Florida’s new law requiring welfare recipients to pass drug tests seems to clearly violate the Fourth Amendment.

Is America’s political system to blame for our current problems?

That a popular two-term governor of Utah is being rejected by likely Republican primary voters as insufficiently conservative shows just how extreme American politics has gotten.

Either a bunch of bloggers or one of the world’s smartest economists doesn’t understand economics.