Outside the Beltway

After making a big deal about voting against the budget bill passed yesterday by Congress during the last debate, Marco Rubio ended up missing the vote altogether.

In a move it had been telegraphing for the better part of a year, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time since July 2006.

A new study suggests that being a national leader may shorten your expected lifespan.

Ohio’s Secretary of State is already precluding the possibility that Donald Trump could get on the ballot as an independent in the Buckeye State.

Marine Le Pen suffered setbacks in the second round of regional voting on Sunday, but the party still seems likely to become more popular in the coming years.

Rand Paul is likely to miss the main stage for next Tuesday’s debate, so his campaign is already calling on CNN to change the rules.

A new poll appears to show that a majority of Republicans support Donald Trump’s plan to bar Muslims from immigrating to the United States.

Donald Trump’s plan to exclude Muslims from the United States is provoking condemnation, and confusion, around the world.

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have mostly avoided attacking each other, but if the polls are any indication that detente may be about to come to an end in the Hawkeye State.

Europe’s anti-immigrant, xenophobic far right scored major victories in France yesterday.

The November Jobs Report was good, but there still aren’t signs of the kind of stronger economic growth we need to see.

For good reason, many Republicans are worried about the prospect that Donald Trump could end up winning the Republican nominee, but they don’t seem to have a plan to stop him.

Blaming political opponents for criminal acts they clearly didn’t commit or advocate isn’t a political argument, it’s demagoguery.

A vote is still as much as two years away, and support for staying in the E.U. still has the most support, but support for the idea of a British exit from the European Union has grown in the past several months.

Polls are quite useful in the right circumstances, but knowledge, complexity, and timing all have to be taken into account in determining what they are telling us.

The election of an anti-austerity government in Portugal is raising some concerns.

The GOP “establishment” isn’t planning to take on Donald Trump directly and instead relying on Republican primary voters to come to their senses. They may be waiting for something that will never happen.

France’s President has spent the week trying to forge and agreement on an anti-ISIS policy, but the two nations that matter the most also disagree the most.

Tensions between Russia and Turkey remain high in the wake of yesterday’s incident, but there are some signs that things are starting to cool down.

Democrat John Bel Edwards scored an easy victory over Senator David Vitter last night in Louisiana, and Vitter announced that he’d be leaving the Senate after his term is up.

It’s Election Day in Louisiana again, and voters have the same crappy choices they usually end up with.

To a large degree, the narrative you believe will govern the 2016 elections depend on which party you want to see win. But what’s the most likely outcome?

Much more so than in the past, the race for the Republican Presidential race has become a battle to define what it means to be a ‘conservative.’ Especially on issues like immigration and national security, one side seems to be winning the battle.

The news that at least some of the men who were involved in the terrorist attacks in Paris were among the refugees who have arrived in Europe since the summer is likely to complicate an already complicated situation.

The Supreme Court has accepted a case involving a new Texas abortion law for review, the first abortion rights case it will hear in eight years.

A new Gallup poll shows public approval of Congress once again approaching historic lows, but it means far less than anyone thinks.

Republicans haven’t really moved beyond the legacy of George W. Bush’s failed Administration as much as they’d like to think, but it doesn’t seem to be hurting them very much.

Legislators in Spain’s Catalonia region took a step toward independence, but Madrid apparently wants nothing to do with it.

President Obama’s executive action on immigration suffered another setback in court late yesterday.

A new poll shows that Democratic voters are less engaged in the 2016 campaign right now than Republicans are, but that probably doesn’t mean that much for next year.

Ben Carson and his supporters would have you believe that he is being subjected to unprecedented and unfair scrutiny. That assertion is completely false.

To no real surprise, the Obama Administration has rejected the application to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline. It is likely to remain an issue in the upcoming Presidential campaign, though.

Why Republicans nominate moderates for president and not other offices.

Well this could be a game changer.

Forget about Congress, the real story going forward is likely to be Republican dominance of state legislatures nationwide.

Virginia Democrats tried to capture control of the Virginia State Senate by, in part, emphasizing gun control issues. The fact that they failed is instructive.

For the first time since Chang Kai-Shek escaped across the Taiwan Strait, the leaders of the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China will meet this weekend.

Republican Matt Bevin picked up what comes as a surprise win to many observers, and that sets up a big fight over what had been a PPACA program that the White House has touted.

Another piece of news that all but guarantees the fate of the Keystone XL project will not be resolved before President Obama leaves office.

Today, many states and municipalities are having elections that will mostly attract Democrats.

Paul Ryan’s admission that immigration reform will not happen as long as Barack Obama is President simply reflects the reality of immigration politics in Congress.

Will Canada ditch FPTP?

Marco Rubio has won the support of a top Republican donor and bundler, giving a much needed boost to his campaign.

With only a handful of opposition, Paul Ryan was easily elected the 62nd Speaker of the House.

Congress and the White House have reached a tentative deal on the budget and debt ceiling that promises to make Paul Ryan’s initial months as Speaker a lot easier.

Republicans seem to be thinking that Hillary Clinton will be an easier General Election candidate than the evidence suggests she is likely to be.

A new poll shows that the Tea Party movement is more unpopular than it has ever been before, even among Republicans and conservatives.