Outside the Beltway

Americans have largely stopped using checks and are rapidly doing the same with cash.

As much as we complain about them, they’ve become indispensable for most of us.

When we do it, it’s negotiation. When they do it, it’s hostage taking—and terrorism.

Striking the balance between cruel and misleading.

The Biden administration had little choice but to act.

Here we go again.

Things finally got too weird for his benefactor.

An illegal practice that won’t go away.

A little debt ceiling, a little higher ed, and other misc delights.

Wherein I examine UATX specifically.

NATO has stepped up in a pleasantly surprising way to resist the Ukraine invasion.

Sanctions are already taking a toll. But the West could do more if it had the will.

Putin’s forces are in Kyiv.

Children are starving and it’s partly our fault.

Making sense of a weird story.

Some remote employees are working hard. Some are hardly working.

An interesting proposal to improve tax collection.

This is no ordinary recession.

It’s more embarrassing than we thought.

The leading papers in Iowa and New Hampshire are backing Klobuchar and Warren, respectively.

After a promising start, Kamala Harris’s campaign appears to be in crisis mode.

Senator Elizabeth Warren released a more detailed version of her ‘Medicare For All” plan late last week. It leaves much to be desired.

Former North Caroline Senator Kay Hagan has died,

They know how Congress works, but are banking on the fact that many Americans don’t.

The real crime is what’s legal.

Trump’s attacks on racial minorities are going to continue, and get worse, the closer we get to 2020. Because stirring up fear and racial resentment among white working-class voters is the only way he can win.

The Trump Administration unveiled new sanctions against Iran yesterday. They’re unlikely to accomplish the entirely unrealistic goals the President claims to have in mind.

Amusing results, and a history lesson, in a new poll

President Trump’s stonewalling strategy suffered another legal setback in New York City yesterday.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin punted once again on the question of replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, making clear that any change that does occur won’t happen until after Donald Trump is out of office.

The Trump Administration is taking an unnecessarily militaristic approach toward Iran, and that poses real dangers for the country and for the Middle East.

It’s a lot harder than it looks.

The early frontrunner for the Democratic nomination is drawing fire from multiple fronts. It may destroy his candidacy before it begins.

With criminal charges and an election hanging over his head, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is looking to the political right for support and survival.

And a reminder about how little the current POTUS understands.

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is the latest Democratic entrant into the 2020 race for President.

The President’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen has been sentenced to three years in prison for his role in assisting the President in various scandals and cover-ups.

Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen plead guilty to lying to Congress about Trump’s business dealings with Russia, and has agreed to cooperate with Robert Mueller’s investigation.

The issues are different than in Florida or Arizona, but the Georgia Governor’s race remains unresolved as Stacey Abrams hopes to find enough votes to force the race into a runoff.

Whether as candidates or as voters, Democrats can thank women for many of their victories on Tuesday.

The economy appears to have grown strongly in the third quarter, but concerns about long-term growth remain.

Much of what Donald Trump has claimed about how he built his fortune is a lie, and at least part of it originated in his father’s shady efforts to evade taxes.

Jobs growth in August was slightly better than expected, but still nothing overly impressive.

Florida voters in the Republican and Democratic parties have set up a Gubernatorial race that provides a stark choice on the table for Sunshine State voters in a race that will likely have national implications moving forward.

Senate Democrats appear to be recognizing that there’s basically nothing they can do to stop the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

The recent report of 4.1% GDP growth over the previous quarter is indeed welcome news. However, taking a look at the data both recent and in the past and there are some reasons to be concerned about GDP growth in general.

New York and several other states have filed an incredibly dubious lawsuit against the Republican’s new tax law.

The plan to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill appears to be running up against President Trump’s bizarre affinity for Andrew Jackson.

New documents reveal that the Limited Liability Company that paid off Stormy Daniels also received payments from a company linked to a Russian oligarch.