Outside the Beltway

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, who may end up running for President in 2012, has reopened wounds that finally seemed like they were closed.

150 years ago today a group of men gathered in Charleston, South Carolina and made one of the gravest mistakes in American history. They should not be honored for it.

Geno Auriemma and his UConn Huskies should rightly be enormously proud of their accomplishments. But comparing them to John Wooden’s is embarrassing.

Do graduates of elite colleges earn more because of where they went to school? Or because of the traits that got them selected?

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?

Washington D.C.’s 34 year-old Metro system is about to become the latest stage for Security Theater.

Despite yesterday’s victory for opponents of the Affordable Care Act, the prospects in the Supreme Court are not good.

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

The weekend arrest of a Columbia University Professor for an apparently consensual act raises some interesting questions about why precisely a specific act should be subject to criminal prosecution.

Some DC based hipsters want to know why America doesn’t have good pubs like in London. It turns out, they’re everywhere.

Michael Wilbon departs the Washington Post after more than 30 years to work full time at ESPN. Here are his last — and first — columns.

Many Congressional Democrats both campaign for a higher minimum wage and employ interns at less than the existing minimum wage, many for no pay at all.

The hunters in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and West Virginia alone would comprise the largest army in the world.

Incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is speaking positively about an Amendment that would drastically alter the relationship between the Federal Government and the states, and a method of ratifying it that could do serious damage to the Constitution as a whole.

Another Federal Judge dismisses a Constitutional challenge to the health care reform law, and demonstrates just how unlikely it is that any of the lawsuits against the law will be successful.

Another FBI sting operation results in the arrest of a “terrorist,” or did it create a crime where none existed before?

Virginian Republicans have heard of George Allen and not Eric Cantor, Ken Cuccinelli, Bill Bolling, Tom Davis, or Bob Marshall.

As the counting of write-in ballots in Alaska continues to go in Lisa Murkowski’s favor, the Miller campaign is getting more desperate in its ballot challenges.

Republicans are making some big promises to try to lure West Virginia Senator-elect Joe Manchin to cross the aisle.

Virginia Senator Jim Webb is the last of a dying breed of Democrats, but his party may need him if it wants to remain competitive anywhere outside of a Blue State.

Those images on your Facebook page may come back to haunt you if you decide to run for office someday.

As impressive as Republican gains in this week’s elections were at the national level, they were even more so in state legislative races. Which means Republicans are in position to consolidate and expand upon their recent gains.

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.

During the just concluded election season, eleven self-funded candidates spent a total of $ 286 million trying to win elections. Only two of them actually won.

Three of the Justices who ruled in favor of same-sex marriage in Iowa have been removed by the voters. That strikes me as the beginning of a dangerous trend.

Last night’s election results stand as a mixed verdict on the Tea party and its impact on the Republican Party.

In my home state of Virginia, which has two Democratic Senators and went for Barack Obama in 2008, Republicans are poised to take four House districts held by Democrats in the last Congress.

The enthusiasm for Tea Party candidates likely helped the House Republican wave. But it also likely cost the GOP four Senate seats that it would otherwise have won — and thus the majority.

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.

Too many copyright owners are stupidly invoking their rights to keep short clips off of YouTube and other services, losing potential customers in the process.