Outside the Beltway

The United States has promised $150 million in aid to flood-ravaged Pakistan. Should we have?

Take a good look at that dollar coin, because you’re unlikely to see it circulation any time soon.

Either Obama’s Defense Secretary and commanding general are conspiring to undermine his July 11 deadline for withdrawal from Afghanistan or that they’re carrying out his intent.

Harry Reid has spent the summer trying to portray is opponent as a kook. So far, it’s working.

There isn’t as much GOP unity over the idea of changing America’s citizenship rules as you might think.

Pat Leahy suggests allowing retired SCOTUS Justices fill in when a sitting member recuses himself. A great idea on paper, it won’t work in practice.

For-profit universities are defrauding their students. Indeed, it’s their business model.

Colombia has sworn in a new president. And so begins the Santos era as the Uribe era heads for the history books.

Congress has been wrestling with the net neutrality issue for years. Two major players may force a decision soon.

A fatal car crash on a country road in Northern Virginia has become part of the national debate on over illegal immigration.

The Obama administration is refusing to enforce border security, right?

A new poll claims that the health care reform law is now supported by a majority of Americans. Don’t believe it.

Congress has (after many years of debate) narrowed the gap between sentencing for crack cocaine and powder cocaine.

The Washington Post Company, which famously accepted Dave Weigel’s resignation from its namesake newspaper last month, has hired him back in essentially the same job for its online magazine Slate.

WaPo’s Breaking News Blog highlights a story that is, well, hardly breaking news: inconsiderate people on the DC subway.

Reports of Barack Obama’s political death are greatly exaggerated and wildly premature.

American businesses are sitting on a big pile of cash, and giving no indication that they have any intention of spending it any time soon.

The Senate’s stonewalling of unemployment benefits extension makes no sense.

The President likely has some very bad poll numbers on his mind this morning.

Journalists have been following Maxwell Scott’s advice since long before “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” was made.

Let’s revisit the question of crime levels in Arizona.

Two widely-hyped reports have Wall Street firms donating less money to Democrats as payback for financial reform efforts. But a closer look reveals no such thing.

No, the founding fathers of the United States were not “very afraid of a central government.” Indeed, such an assertion makes no sense.

Michael Gerson argues that the source of our polarization isn’t the Democrats and the Republicans but the Ugly Party and the Grown-Up Party.

The testiest exchange during today’s hearings in the Senate came when Jeff Sessions tried to confront Elena Kagan over military recruiting at Harvard Law School, and failed miserably.

The late Senator Robert Byrd’s legacy as the master of pork barrel spending is secure.

Dave Weigel lands on his feet as a contributor for MSNBC.

Magazines routinely run great pieces by highly biased writers. Why can’t newspapers do the same?

Does it matter if the controversial McChrystal comments were “off the record” ? No, it doesn’t.

A roundup of some of the more intelligent commentary on the Big Picture issues in the brouhaha of the day.

Do journalists have any expectation of privacy in their emails?

You know who would be a good replacement for him at the Right Now blog? David Petraeus.

An article attempting to illustrate the obsolescence of newspapers inadvertently does the opposite.

The odds that David Petraeus will be able to pull off a miracle in Afghanistan like he did in Iraq are very slim.

Sharing your unvarnished thoughts on a listserv is just asking for trouble, as Dave Weigel is the latest to discover.

Stanley McChrystal is being called to face Obama’s national security team this morning. They should take the opportunity to come up with coherent Afghanistan policy.

General Stanley McChrystal is opening his mouth again and, this time, it could cost him his job.

Christian Bleuer provides a 10-step solution for victory over the Taliban.

The White House and Rahm Emanuel were quick to deny the reports that he has a plan to leave the White House.