Outside the Beltway

Once again, the frontrunners for the 2012 GOP nomination aren’t looking very good at all.

After a fairly bad 2010, Barack Obama is starting off 2011 in a very good position.

One columnist argues that Sarah Palin’s response to the Arizona shootings mark the end of whatever political future she might have had. He’s probably correct.

Sarah Palin released a statement today about the Arizona shootings and the debate that has followed. It’s unlikely to help her.

We have laws preventing the sales of gun to crazy people. We’re not enforcing them very well.

We’re producing more PhDs and JDs than there are full time openings for professors and lawyers.

Andrew Sullivan makes a rather bizarre charge offhandedly: “Who among the neocons would have thought that one of George W. Bush’s final legacies would be bringing pogroms, bombings and genocide to Christians in his new zone of freedom?”

The lawyer who argued The Pentagon Papers case points out how Julian Assange is not Daniel Ellsberg, and how prosecuting him could have disastrous results for press freedom in the United States.

Iraq’s PM re-affirms Iraq’s commitment to the U. S. withdrawal date in the Status of Forces Agreement.

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

Republicans are renaming three House committees, including bring back Ethics and taking out Labor.

There’s plenty of good news for Barack Obama in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

The Senate has constructed the legislation to correspond to the Obama-McConnell deal, sweeteners and all.

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.

As bicycle advocates have been getting new lanes and other concessions in major cities across the country, a minor backlash has formed in reaction.

A new poll about the proposals coming out of the Deficit Commission makes it clear that the American public needs to grow up.

Rand Paul is taking some heat for remarks that may or may not indicate that he’s backtracking on his previous vow not to seek earmark spending for Kentucky. Yes folks, the phony war on earmarks is back.

The odds that Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell will be repealed anytime in the near future are fairly close to zero thanks to the results of last Tuesday’s elections.

Shockingly, Mitch McConnell and other Republicans are hoping to increase their numbers in Congress and take back the White House.

Rasmussen polls were biased toward Republicans by 3 to 4 points. Rigged results? Or screening error?

George W. Bush’s new memoir reveals that he briefly considered replaced Dick Cheney as Vice-President before the 2004 elections. His decision not to do so reveals much about the relationship between Presidents and Vice-Presidents in modern American politics.

The GOP is headed for big gains on Tuesday. The only question now is how big they’re going to be.

Has Uncle Sam got a deal for you: Lend the Treasury money for five years and it will only cost you negative 0.55 percent!

There’s a trend toward using metrics to identify ways to stem the skyrocketing cost of higher education. The likeliest result is to devalue the “education” component.

Newsweek’s latest poll shows a boom in support for President Obama and the Democrats. It’s the only poll showing that, however.

The biggest outside spender in 2010 isn’t the Chamber of Commerce but the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Voters head to the polls in thirteen days, and current indications are that they’ll be handing a big victory to the Republican Party.

A group of conservative activists is planning a last minute ad blitz that could help put several Republican challengers over the top.

Responding to the rant that got Rick Sanchez fired, Slate’s Brian Palmer investigates the question, “Do Jews Really Control the Media?” His short answer, “Maybe the movies, but not the news.”

Among the unintended but not unforeseen consequences of the new health care law is that companies who were previously offering some health coverage may stop altogether. In some cases, that’s just as well.

Support for the Tea Party is at record levels but that movement does not have a coherent policy platform. Can the energy be harnessed to good use?

Mary Anastasia O’Grady takes Jeffery Golodberg to task over his interview with Fidel Castro. Much hilarity (or, at least, poor analysis) ensues.

There isn’t much doubt that China is manipulating its currency for competitive advantage. What can be done about it?

As the mid-term elections enter their final eight weeks, there’s more bad news for Democrats.

The Army and its officer corps are becoming increasingly Southern and rural. Is this a bad thing? If so, what can we do about it?

Not surprisingly, Radical Islamists are taking notice of the tone of debate in the United States over the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque.”

Shockingly, the Tea Party as a generic movement is more popular than congressional leadership. Interestingly, the Democrats are still slightly more popular than the Tea Party and the Reps are in third.

According to a new MSNBC/Wall Street Journal poll, the public that will head to the polls in November is increasingly gloomy and pessimistic.

Are government imposed mandates making it impossible for businesses to justify hiring new workers?