Outside the Beltway

Recent anti-corruption measures have contributed to making American government worse.

They’re back…….

63% are angry at Republicans, 57% are angry at Democrats, and 53% are angry at President Obama.

One cannot support the shutdown tactic and then be outraged that part of the government is shutdown.

To borrow a phrase from Stephen Colbert, if you want to understand how Congress works, you better know a District.

Ted Cruz wants his fellow Republicans to follow him down the rabbit hole again.

The Republican candidate for Governor of Virginia wants a quick end to the Government Shutdown.

Not raising the debt ceiling will create a true constitutional/legal crisis.

Democrats in the House will attempt to use an obscure House procedure to force an end to the government shutdown. It’s success is by no means guaranteed.

The first poll taken after the shutdown began has little good news for the Republican Party.

The situation we currently find oursevles in is very much driven by structural issues.

President Obama had some potentially market-moving news for Wall Street.

Republicans don’t seem willing to let go of the Obamacare issue just yet. But, how long will that actually last?

With key conservatives pushing for sanity, the grown-ups have a chance to take back the GOP.

Ted Cruz is going after the Speaker of the House.

Nazi comparisons are only helpful when discussing actual Nazis.

If recent history is any guide, there won’t really be a government shutdown next week. But, the zealotry of the “defund Obamacare” caucus could change everything.

Ted Cruz becomes a little more honest about his plan to “defund” Obamacare.

The House is going to make it more likely that we see a government shutdown at the end of the month.

The GOP’s plan to defund reality becomes even more disconnected from reality.

The House GOP Leadership didn’t endear itself to the Tea Party today.

Opposing interventionism and unnecessary and unwise military engagements is not isolationism.

The political polarization we saw during the Bush Presidency has continued throughout the Obama Presidency.

Given that the vote count seems to be heading that way, this is a question worth examination.

Not surprisingly, Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle are lining up behind the President in the debate over Syria.

There seems to be a divide developing between Republican leadership and the Tea Party over the idea of shutting the government down over Obamacare.

Congress isn’t spending much time in Washington these days but that’s only one of the reasons it isn’t accomplishing very much.

Ted Cruz is either being incredibly cynical as he deludes his fellow Republicans, or he’s living in a fantasy world.

Conservatives are doing what they criticized JournoList for doing—even though JournoList didn’t.

Lindsey Graham is playing cynical political games with a dangerous part of the world.

Republicans aren’t happy with their leadership. The reason why is also the reason why Republicans are in trouble politically.

A new poll shows public approval for the Supreme Court nearing a all-time low.

Some interesting taking of sides is already taking place in the GOP Senate race in Wyoming.

Forget about the budget deficit and spending. The Tea Party apparently now considers stopping immigration reform to be its most important task.

An empty threat.

Lois Lerner is likely headed back to Congress over the largely phony charge that she waived her Fifth Amendment rights.

Looking for a quick overview of recent developments in the IRS Tea Party Scandal? Here are two links to help.

A new round of documents from the IRS, that aren’t really new, doesn’t really change the basic narrative on the IRS “targeting” story.

Marco Rubio has suffered a reversal of fortune among Republicans thanks to his role in the immigration reform debate.

A new theory circulating on the right asserts that IRS targeting of Tea Party groups had an impact on the 2012 elections by diminish the Tea Party’s effectiveness. It’s mostly nonsense.