Outside the Beltway

House Republicans want to do away with the increasing number of “czars” in the White House.

President Obama’s selection of Bill Daley as Chief of Staff is being seen as a sign that the White House is moving to the center and gearing up for 2012.

President Obama is likely to issue a signing statement in order to keep his Gitmo options open.

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.

The reaction to President Obama’s recent recess appointments provide us with yet another example of bipartisan hypocrisy.

Does NATO membership serve a strategic purpose?

With just over a week to go before the 112th Congress convenes, battle lines are already being drawn in battle over the defense budget.

A capsule look at the world situation as 2010 draws to a close.

The seemingly sensible end-of-life counseling that was originally part of the Health Care Reform Bill is making a comeback.

Frustrated that it couldn’t achieve desired environmental legislation despite huge majorities in both Houses of Congress, the Obama administration has decided to govern by executive fiat.

The new year will bring major changes to the White House Staff.

The Federal Communications Commission is using a statute from the 1930s to try to regulate the technology of the 21st Century. It’s a mistake.

The new health care law’s individual mandate was the subject of another bruising court battle yesterday, but the real question in the room was what, if any, are the limits on Congressional authority?

One of the most active American diplomats of the past twenty-five years has passed away.

A Federal Judge in Virginia has handed the first legal defeat to the President’s health care reform package.

Peter Orszag, President Obama’s first budget director, is headed to Citigroup and a multimillion dollar salary.

President Obama is already taking heat from the left for his compromise on tax cut extensions, but will it actually hurt him in the end?

The Obama administration is banning hundreds of thousands of federal employees from calling up the WikiLeaks site on government computers because the leaked material is still formally regarded as classified.

Sarah Palin has taken to her Facebook page to raise “Serious Questions about the Obama Administration’s Incompetence in the WikiLeaks Fiasco.” They’re more interesting than I’d expected.

The two English language newspapers who have been Julian Assange’s accomplices in disseminating stolen secrets defend themselves.

A new round of Wikileaks documents is out, and it opens the door on diplomatic correspondence previously hidden from the public.

Israelis and Palestinians don’t agree on much these days, but they do agree that Barack Obama hasn’t helped the peace process at all since coming to office.

North Korea has unveiled to the world a new nuclear processing facility that puts back on the table the question of just what we should, or can, do about the fact that a rogue state possesses nuclear weapons and wants to build more.

The finger-pointing about the global economy continues.

The first civilian trial of a Guantanamo detainee ends with the Defendant being acquitted on all but one charge, and shows us why the entire process is little more than a show trial.

Hamid Karazi says that the United States needs to reduce it’s military presence in his country. Perhaps we should listen to him.

Eliminating earmarks is good policy and good politics.

According to reports, the Obama Administration is set to abandon the July 2011 withdrawal deadline that was set earlier this year.

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.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner held a private, off-the-record meeting in comedian Jon Stewart’s office back in April. Speculation abounds.

If the polling is anywhere close to accurate, a Republican wave will come crashing down today, repudiating the first two years of the Obama administration. What does it mean?

The younger voters that flocked to Barack Obama two years ago feel let down. They need to grow up.

If you’re looking for a reason why the GOP is likely to do very well tomorrow, voter response to the “right track/wrong track” question is a very good guide.

Pundits and partisans constantly overreact to the momentary mood expressed in a single election. The Republicans have already rebounded from 2008. The Democrats will recover from 2010.

215,000 people attended the “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear” compared to 87,000 for “Restoring Honor.” Even if you believe the numbers, they don’t tell us much.

It only seems fair to take an entire tweet, lengthy though it may be, into account when reacting.