Outside the Beltway

The House GOP has moved to rebuke Iowa Congressman for his racist remarks. What took them so long?

Donald Trump continues to appear to advocate ideas that harm American national interests and benefit Vladimir Putin. Draw your own conclusions as to why.

After twenty-five days, there’s no end in sight to the Federal Government shutdown. You can thank the President for that.

Former HUD Secretary Julian Castro is the latest addition to the growing Democratic Presidential field.

Using new radio telescopes, scientists have discovered mysterious new radio bursts that originated from deep in the universe long before life began on Earth.

The firing of Comey raised serious concerns in the Bureau.

Two years of Republican control of the Legislative and Executive Branches has put us back on a path toward $1 trillion budget deficits.

Carlos Sanchez, who portrayed Juan Valdez the unofficial ambassador of Colombian coffee for some 30 years, has died at the age of 83.

Iowa’s Steve King has long expressed anti-immigrant and racist views, now he’s asking why that’s a bad thing.

President Trump is claiming that he could use authority to declare a “national emergency” to build his wall even if Congress doesn’t authorize it.

Bernie Sanders is facing questions about sexual harassment from women who worked on his 2016 campaign as he prepares a likely run for President in 2020.

I am a sucker for a good People’s Front of Judea riff.

Herb Kelleher, who helped found an airline that revolutionized the industry thanks to his unconventional choices, has died at the age of 87.

As the shutdown drags on, the President is digging in his heels even further.

Former Senator and Denocratic Presidential candidate Jim Webb is reportedly being considered for Defense Secretary.

December’s Jobs Report blew past expectations to show more than 300,000 jobs created.

Not surprisingly, President Trump significantly accelerated the pace of his lies in 2018.

In his annual message, Kim Jong Un sent a message to President Trump on denuclearization and the future of the Korean Peninsula.

The TPP is about to go into effect without the US.

Congress will not be returning to Washington until some time next week. Thus guaranteeing that this shutdown will last at least through January 3rd.

Is it possible that the solution to the government shutdown is letting the President pretend he got funding for his border wall even though he didn’t?

The numbers should guide policy, not silly symbols.

President Trump tried to get into the Christmas spirit last night. He failed.

Fifty years ago tonight, one of the most iconic photos in history was taken.

There was no progress on resolving the government shutdown today, and little hope that anything will happen before late next week.

The mystery surrounding a secret proceeding in Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation has at least partly been solved.

An argument against “bothersiderism” in this case and, yet again, noting the problem with single seat districts.

On the way out the door, Scott Walker signed a bill to take powers away from his successor (and demonstrated a lack of understanding of Venn diagrams).

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor contends that a recent change in tax law unravels the basis for the Supreme Court’s upholding of Obamacare.

The Trump Administration appears to think that the Budget Deficit and National Debt aren’t a big deal because we can just grow our way out of the problem. This is highly unlikely to happen.

A particularly appalling case of press censorship from Australia.

Jacob T. Levy has a column worth a read.

While most Hollywood blockbusters have male leads, films starring women actually do better on the aggregate.

The Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving state laws banning Medicaid reimbursement for non-abortion services provided by Planned Parenthood.

The verdict of last month’s elections was clear, but Republicans still don’t seem to get it.

Protests that have killed four and injured hundreds have been rewarded and show no sign of ending.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller and the U.S, Attorney for the Southern District of New York have filed sentencing memos that directly implicate the President in a series of felonies.

William Barr, who served as Attorney General under President George H.W. Bush, has been selected to replace Jeff Sessions as Attorney General.

Jobs Growth in November was healthy but fell short of expectations.

Trump has reportedly told aides that he doesn’t really care about reports of an approaching crisis of the budget deficit and national debt because he’ll be out of office before it becomes a problem.

Nine years after retiring as Head Coach at Florida, Urban Meyer announced earlier this week that he would retire from his current position at Ohio State after the Rose Bowl.

Republican lawmakers in Michigan and Wisconsin are responding to their party’s losses at the Gubernatorial level by attempting to restrict the powers of the incoming Democratic Governor.

The continued problem cause by a lack of shared reality.

An effort by the Federal Government to prosecute Wikileaks founder Julian Assange raises serious First Amendment issues.

Trump continues to struggle at major international meetings.

Nancy Pelosi won a key vote yesterday on the road to returning as Speaker of the House again in January.

Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith has made several mistakes since Election Day, but she’s likely to win tomorrow’s runoff election.

A confrontation at sea between Russia and Ukraine is increasing tensions in a long-simmering conflict.

A bad look for all concerned.