Outside the Beltway

A US-EU free trade zone is a no-brainer. But the devil is in the details.

Coming across as uncaring doesn’t help advance your political arguments.

The June Jobs Report is basically good news.

Is the Religious Freedom Restoration Act itself an unconstitutional Establishment of Religion barred by the First Amendment? There’s a compelling argument that it is.

The Supreme Court has limited the ability of public employee unions to force people to join their ranks.

Hobby Lobby wins, but it’s unclear just how far this opinion will go.

Apparently, the EPA needs to start environmental cleanup a little closer to home.

We federal civil servants are apparently in for a backdoor pay raise.

Lawmakers and journalists don’t understand the civil service.

The First Amendment protects government employees who testify truthfully.

Did sending some of its workforce home without pay impact the work environment at the Defense Department? Duh.

The May Jobs Report was fairly good, and it marks the end of a jobs recession that started six years ago. But things aren’t entirely rosy.

For the first time, Edward Snowden is talking to the American media.

While it’s been much derided in recent years, there’s a definite economic benefit to obtaining a college degree,

And Pennsylvania makes it 19.

People are still going to jail for being unable to pay their fines. And often billed for the priviledge.

Good news.

In an ideal world, we would be more tolerant of leaders who held controversial positions. We don’t live in that world.

Time to have some sympathy for those poor penny-pinching Congressmen and Senators? Hardly.

March’s Jobs Report was about as uplifting as the numbers in the past.

After many ballyhooed glitches, 7 million Americans have signed up for ObamaCare. Now what?

The Let Us Spray Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

What if the jobless recovery is but the beginning of a trend?

The Jobs Report for January once again leaves much to be desired.

A CBO report on the Affordable Care Act is getting a polarized reading.

The House GOP leadership’s principles are a good start, but it’s unclear if they can make it past the anti “amnesty” crowd that seems to dominate the GOP.

A surprisingly disappointing jobs report for December.

An excellent argument for immigration reform can be found in the case of one Californian named Sergio Garcia.

“Reality” TV star says something dumb about gay people, gets suspended, usual pointless outrage ensues.

In an ordinary post-recession world, we wouldn’t need to talk about extended unemployment benefits, but times are far from ordinary.

For veterans who get in trouble with the law, *when* they commit a crime can have profound implications on their future. Does this make sense?

Nobel physicist Peter Higgs says he could not make it in academia today.

Some good numbers for November in the Jobs report, but questions about the future remain.

The Federal Exchange website seems to be functioning better, but many questions about implementation of the PPACA remain to be answered.

Jeff Bezos’s latest idea may never get off the ground, but it sure is interesting.

Politics aside, the challenges to the PPACA’s birth control mandate raise important legal issues.

Was the Jobs Report released one month before Election Day 2012 rigged? Despite a new report, there’s no evidence to suggest that it was.

Phil Carter draws attention to “The Vets We Reject and Ignore.”

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act passed the Senate yesterday but it’s unlikely to go much further.

A better than expected jobs report in October, but one that comes with a few caveats.