Outside the Beltway

Day One of questions for Judge Brett Kavanaugh went about as you’d expect.

Donald Trump spent part of Labor Day engaged in yet another unhinged attack on his own Justice Department.

Senator John McCain has died at the age of 81,

Judge Brett Kavanaugh reportedly told Senator Susan Collins that he considers Roe v. Wade
“settled law.” This will likely be enough to get her support and that of another holdout Republican Senator.

Another step forward in the seemingly unstoppable movement toward nationwide legalization.

Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination appears to be on track for confirmation before the new Supreme Court term begins in October.

The Garden State has put a hold on marijuana prosecutions in anticipation of full legalization by the end of the year.

A fourth poll in less than a month shows that most Americans support keeping the rights protected in Roe v. Wade alive.

At least in these early days, Democrats appear to lack a coherent message, or a coherent strategy, to propel any effort to block Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.

The ill-advised move is sure to raise costs for businesses and consumers and roil global stock markets.

America promised immigrants who volunteered to serve in our military a fast track to citizenship. Now, we’re throwing them out.

In November, Michigan voters will be able to make their state the tenth state to legalize marijuana. This is just the latest step in what seems to be an irreversible trend.

A Republican organization dedicated to abortion rights is shutting down after 30 years, eight fewer than the Party has opposed them.

Pending the mere formality of approval by the Governor-General, Canada will soon become the largest nation in the world where recreational use of marijuana is legal.

One outcome of the SIngapore Summit includes a purported agreement to work on repatriating American remains from the Korean War. This is a good thing, but the President couldn’t resist adding obvious embellishment.

President Trump continues his unhinged, and unsupported by facts, war on Amazon and its owner Jeff Bezos by pressuring an independent agency to raise shipping rates.

The Postal Service is losing billions of dollars, but not for the reasons the President claims.

Regrets, he’s had a few.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans support marijuana legalization according to a new poll.

With the accusations mounting, the nomination of Ronny Jackson to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs is becoming more and more imperiled.

The highest ranking Democrat in the Senate has introduced a bill that would effectively decriminalize marijuana nationwide and leave it up to each state to decide how far they wish to go with regard to cannabis regulation. It’s a huge step in the right direction.

CNN reports that the Interior Secretary, who claims to be a “geologist,” merely has a geology degree.

Not surprisingly, a joint Senate Committee failed to really lay a glove on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at yesterday’s hearing.

Mississippi’s Governor has chosen a replacement for Thad Cochran, but the White House isn’t too happy about the pick.

What the heck is going on in Kentucky and Tennessee?

John Bolton is leading a cry for preemptive war against North Korea.

Following yesterday’s move by Dick’s Sporting Goods, Walmart has raised the age for all gun sales to 21.

The tragedy in Florida last week revealed once again how hyperpartisanship is destroying our politics and harming the country.

The White House’s immigration plan is facing opposition in both chambers of Congress from moderate and conservative Republicans alike.

It’s been seven years since Congress eliminated earmarking, and what we’ve seen has provided good evidence for the argument that it should never have been eliminated.

The Trump Administration is reversing policy on an Obama Era policy that allowed states to choose their own course on marijuana laws.

Republicans passed their tax bill yesterday. What that means for the economy and the 2018 midterms is another question.

Roy Moore’s loss in Alabama is bringing out into the open a civil war that has been going on for seven years now.

The longest-serving member of the House has retired amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

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

On North Korea, there are two options, deterrence and war. And only one of those options makes sense.

A new poll shows that a record majority of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, support legalization of marijuana.

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

Despite, or perhaps because of, his bigoted, radical, far-right positions on the issues, Roy Moore beat the sitting Senator from Alabama in a runoff election that essentially guarantees that he will win the General Election later this year.

The latest effort to ‘repeal and replace’ the Affordable Care Act appears to be dead.

More evidence of apparent Russian-backed efforts to interfere in the election.

The GOP’s effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act appears to suffer a fatal blow as Senator John McCain announced his opposition to what is the last gasp of that effort in the Senate.

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.

Sarah Palin’s lawsuit against The New York Times suffers a significant setback.

Another escalation on the Korean peninsula.

Seven years of rhetoric on health care reform ended early this morning with a narrow vote on a bill that even Republicans didn’t really support.

In a vote close enough to require the Vice-President to cast a tie-breaking vote, the Senate voted to proceed to debate on a health care bill even though nobody seems to know what bill they’ll ultimately be voting on.

The Senate isn’t giving up in its efforts to ‘repeal and replace’ the Affordable Care Act, despite the fact that it seems clear that the votes aren’t there.

What looks like it will be the Senate GOP’s last effort on the issue of health care reform died less than a day after being put on the table.