Outside the Beltway

Earlier this week, the Illinois legislature ratified the Equal Rights Amendment. What’s unclear is if this act has any meaning at all.

Donald Trump continues to claim that Mexico will pay for his still non-existent border wall. Mexico says otherwise.

The leading candidate for the GOP nomination for Tennessee’s next Governor has a unique explanation for gun violence.

Joe Manchin looks to be facing a strong challenge from Patrick Morrisey.

Republicans are worried about 2018, and they’re even more worried that they have a President who is refusing to acknowledge political reality.

The United States is apparently looking to Libya as a guide for upcoming talks with North Korea. The DPRK most likely sees the fate of that nation and its leader as a warning.

The White House is pushing back on the allegations of misconduct that were made against Ronny Jackson this week, and trying to use them in a high-profile Senate race in Montana.

The GOP’s most vulnerable incumbent is still looking very vulnerable.

Travis Reinking shot four people dead in Nashville over the weekend with a gun that he wasn’t supposed to have access to. Thanks to what seem to be loopholes in existing gun laws, he had one anyway.

For better or worse, Mike Pompeo will be confirmed as the 70th Secretary of State by the end of this week.

The transformation is complete. The GOP is now the party of Donald Trump. If you’re sticking around and not speaking out against what the President represents, you’re part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Hoping that Donald Trump might not run for reelection? Don’t get your hopes up.

Despite facing headwinds in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mike Pompeo will probably be confirmed as the next Secretary of State. That’s unfortunate.

Kyrsten Sinema, the likely Democratic nominee for the Senate in Arizona, is leading all three of her potential Republican challengers. This could spell trouble for the GOP.

Mark Zuckerberg’s second day before Congress was somewhat more contentious than the first, but at the end of the day it’s still unclear that more regulation is the answer to the issues raised by recent Facebook “scandals.”

Former Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen appears to be poised to give Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn a run for her money in the Volunteer State.

More whimsical than most of my selections but we could use that right about now.

Profiles in courage? With Republicans in the Trump Era, it’s more like profiles in cowardice.

The eighty year old mystery regarding the fate of famed aviator Amelia Earhart may have taken a step toward being solved if the results of a new forensic study are correct.

What the heck is going on in Kentucky and Tennessee?

Despite the activism we’ve seen in the wake of the school shooting in Florida, it’s unlikely that we’ll see significant Congressional action on guns.

Democrats appear to have regained momentum in the Generic Congressional Ballot.

Recent polls have caused Republicans to become more optimistic about their chances in this year’s midterms. That optimism is both premature and misplaced.

The deal that led to the end of the Federal Government shutdown isn’t sitting well with the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.

Two Republicans spoke out today against the President’s war on the news media, but don’t expect their colleagues to follow suit.

The GOP’s potential troubles in 2018 don’t just exist at the Congressional level.

That “Romney for Senate” campaign seems pretty much inevitable.

2017 was quite a year. 2018 promises to be just as interesting.

The final version of the tax bill appears to be on track for passage, but the devil is in the details.

With the results from Alabama. the GOP faces a hard road ahead defending its majority in the Senate.

House and Senate Republicans say they have reached agreement on a final tax bill, and Democrats are engaging in an effort to delay a vote in the Senate until Doug Jones can be seated.

The Senate passed a tax cut bill last night, but it leaves a lot to be desired.

Jim Nabors, who became famous as Gomer Pyle on The Andy Griffith Show and Gomer Pyle USMC, has died at the age of  87.

For a guy who considers the Russia investigation “Fake News,” President Trump sure is doing a lot to try to stop it.

With time running out in the year, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that the Senate GOP will be able to meet its deadlines on passing a tax reform bill.

For some reason, Senate Republicans want to attach a bad health care reform idea onto an already controversial tax reform bill.

Will Joe Biden be ‘tan, rested, and ready’ enough to take on 2020?

Notwithstanding overwhelming public support, Congress is not moving forward on a proposal to ban bump stocks.

Federal Courts continue to rule against the Administration, and the President continues to lash out at Judges and demonstrate his contempt for the Rule Of Law.

America has become involved in conflicts around the world, largely without the knowledge of the American people or the consent of their representatives, and it doesn’t appear that’s going to end anytime soon.

John McCain has been standing out from his fellow Republicans largely by unleashing on President Trump, and it is unlikely to end anytime soon.

Republican Lamar Alexander and Democratic Senator Patty Murray say they’ve reached a bipartisan deal to fix an important part of the Affordable Care Act.

Despite the fact that everyone seems to agree that Iran is complying with the nuclear weapons deal, President Trump took steps that will undermine that agreement and do serious damage to American credibility around the world.

Former Trump aide Steve Bannon is declaring war on Republicans in the Senate.

A complicated concurrence to Steven Taylor’s recent postings.

Roy Moore’s victory in Alabama is raising fears of a wider battle in the Republican Party heading into 2018.

Bob Corker, who has served in the Senate since winning election in 2006, announced yesterday that he would not stand for re-election.

Senate Republicans have ten days to act on their last-ditch attempt to ‘repeal and replace’ Obamacare, and it’s not at all clear if they have the votes to do so.