Outside the Beltway

With the advantage of hindsight, it’s clear that more creative strategies were needed. But they probably couldn’t have been passed.

Mitt Romney is still being dogged by charges of changed positions. Now, he’s trying to spin that as a good thing.

The economy continues to drag the President down.

It’s not a given that we’ll have a massive recovery during the next presidential term but it’s a pretty decent bet. And the party in power will get too much credit for it if it happens.

It never ceases to amaze me how many smart people manage to believe, against all evidence to the contrary, that their political philosophy has massive support.

Did World War II teach us anything about spending-as-stimulus? Not really.

Rick Perry’s vision of capitalism doesn’t exactly comply with what Adam Smith had in mind.

Once again, the debt ceiling deal is raising questions about the President’s leadership.

A Presidential candidate’s medical condition is entirely relevant to their fitness for office.

Will Joe Biden be on the podium with Barack Obama at the 2012 Democratic convention, or will there be a new running mate?

Barack Obama’s leadership style may be his undoing.

Does a little known provision in the 14th Amendment make the entire debt ceiling debate irrelevant?

Sunday afternoon musings on an electoral college sweeps.

President Obama’s signing statement on the allocation of funds to Presidential “czars” sets a potentially dangerous Constitutional precedent.

Paul Krugman is disappointed with the President, but it’s really his own fault for being so naive.

When America’s leaders make the decision to engage in military action abroad, has the time for debate ended, or is it more important than ever that those with doubts about the policy speak out?

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

Neither side is covering themselves in glory in the battle over the Badger State budget.

The Obama Justice Department says it can look at phone records without warrants or judicial oversight.

Oddly, the Democratic Party seems to be responding to the 2010 midterms by moving further left.

Examining Levin’s examination of the Constitution, jurisprudence, and property rights.

Ronald Reagan would have turned 100 today. Here are some thoughts on his legacy.

Was the 2011 SOTU a blatant rip-off of past speeches? Or simply banal?

As noted recently, whites are leaving the Democratic Party in droves. Some black Democrats think it’s time to take affirmative action.

Now that Republicans have the House, wouldn’t they be better off playing nice?

House Republicans want to do away with the increasing number of “czars” in the White House.

Honest pundits will tell you that it’s simply too early to make useful predictions about the 2012 elections.

The Presidency has lost the aura of mystique that used to surround it, and that’s a good thing.

President Obama is already taking heat from the left for his compromise on tax cut extensions, but will it actually hurt him in the end?

After 1 1/2 years in office, President Obama has yet to grant a single request for a pardon or clemency, continuing a thirty year trend in which the Presidential pardon power has nearly fallen in to disuse.

Virginia Senator Jim Webb is the last of a dying breed of Democrats, but his party may need him if it wants to remain competitive anywhere outside of a Blue State.

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.

If the polling is anywhere close to accurate, a Republican wave will come crashing down today, repudiating the first two years of the Obama administration. What does it mean?

David Broder offers up some odd ideas on the relationship between a war with Iran and the economy.

Is angry and violent language which dominates blog comments sections a sign of broader trends in our political culture?

A federal judge has ruled that ObamaCare’s individual mandate is Constitutional and thus brings to fruition the inevitable, ridiculous result of Wickard v. Filburn.

Arnold Schwarzenegger predicts President Obama’s re-election. Historically, that’s the safe bet.

In his farewell speech on Friday, Rahm Emanuel said that the Obama Administration had faced tougher times than any previous President. That is a fundamentally absurd idea.

Robert Lane Greene investigates the rise of acronyms, initialisms, and other informal shortenings of speech.

Support for the Tea Party is at record levels but that movement does not have a coherent policy platform. Can the energy be harnessed to good use?

If you think Jimmy Carter is the Worst Figure in American History, you really need to read more.

Why I wasn’t fooled by Barack Obama’s campaign promises to curb presidential power.

Will a debate over foreign policy tear apart the GOP ? Probably not.

A bizarre rant in American Spectator contains some interesting thoughts about the nature of America’s political elite.

When it comes to opinions about Sarah Palin, there is a striking difference between Republicans and Americans in general.

American businesses are sitting on a big pile of cash, and giving no indication that they have any intention of spending it any time soon.

It’s going to be much harder for reporters to get access to the military thanks to new rules announced last night by the Pentagon.

A survey of historians ranks Obama as the 15th best president ever, ahead of Ronald Reagan and behind Bill Clinton.

President Obama is following the example of his predecessors in abusing his power to enact his preferred policies. Has he gone too far?