Outside the Beltway

This time, it was Newt Gingrich who walked away unscathed from a Republican Presidential debate.

A Democrat sees doom and gloom as far as the eye can see.

Despite the seeming odds against him, the Electoral College map is very favorable for President Obama.

Even if the Senate operated under wholly majority rules, it would not be the House.

The prospects for real economic recovery are not good.

Damage from starting one’s career during a recession can persist over one’s entire working life.

Historian J. David Hacker argues that the death toll from the US Civil War is much higher than we think.

Contrary to what Eugene Robinson and Paul Krugman argue today, compassion does not require one to support government social welfare programs.

College towns and lily white enclaves top the list of best educated cities.

A record 46 million Americans are living in poverty.

Is the NYPD becoming too much like the CIA?

Two economists look at a 30 year investment in a home versus putting the same money in the stock market.

Illegal immigration from Mexico is down substantially, and it has nothing to do with all those anti-immigration laws.

While Gerrymandering Congressional districts to benefit incumbents and the dominant party in the state legislature is an old game, they play it with especial intensity in Illinois.

Cynthia Tucker regrets her support for majority-minority districts.

A majority of Americans think homosexuals account for at least a fifth of the population.

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann is beginning to more like a real candidate for President. She won’t win, but she will be entertaining.

Whites make more money than non-whites throughout our food distribution system.

Should public schoolteachers make more money than the people paying their salaries?

Florida has again scheduled its primary ahead of the deadlines set by the Republican and Democratic parties.

The Republicans are increasingly the party of white America. That’s short term good but long term bad for the GOP.

Two Ohio congressional districts are taking their talents to South Beach.

Red States should gain 10 seats while Blue States should lose eight.

Hinckley, California — the town that Erin Brockovich made famous — has slightly less cancer than we’d expect.

One simple proposal on the size of the House of Representatives.

Is Congress too small and unequal to do its job?

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.

There’s some good news in the October jobs report.

Another month, another bad jobs report.

A new projection of Congressional reapportionment shows a dramatic shift to traditionally Republican states in the South and Southwest.

Thanks to the Internet, there are a lot more Willy Lomans out there.

Afghanistan’s parliamentary elections were marked by another round of allegations of widespread voter fraud, once again bringing to the forefront the question; what exactly are we trying to accomplish in Afghanistan ?

Ohio has long been a bellwethers state and, if a new statewide poll is any indication, it looks to be ready to hand the Democrats a very bad defeat in November.

The August jobs numbers may be “better than expected,” but they still aren’t all that great.

Americans who earn a lot of money disproportionately live in a tiny number of states and are married to other high-earners.

A staggering 8 percent of all babies born in the United States in 2008 were offspring of illegal aliens. What are the public policy implications?

Another bad jobs report demonstrates that the “recovery” is an illusion for many people.