Outside the Beltway

A defense of a modest philosophy of judicial interpretation.

Despite the activism we’ve seen in the wake of the school shooting in Florida, it’s unlikely that we’ll see significant Congressional action on guns.

The Financial Crisis was not a problem of macroeconomics, but a cluster of microeconomic problems all acting together.

With the top conservative caucus in Congress acquiescing to his candidacy, Paul Ryan is largely certain to become the next Speaker of the House.

Wherein I take the view that as our understanding of language changes, so too does our application of the Constiution.

A sharply divided Court heard argument today on an issue that has sharply divided the nation.

A trial court judge in Tennessee is the first jurist since the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Windsor to uphold a ban on same-sex marriage

A partial victory, but a victory nonetheless.

The string of victories for same-sex marriage continues as a Federal Judge rules that the Commonwealth of Kentucky must recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages.

The House is going to make it more likely that we see a government shutdown at the end of the month.

Absent DOMA, the Full Faith and Credit Clause would seem to make gay marriage legal across the land.

The 5-4 ruling was much more sweeping than needed to strike down DOMA.

DOMA’s trip to SCOTUS was practically baked into the legislation.

Resurrecting and old, and bad, idea.

Are we really going to do this again? The answer appears to be yes.

The Defense of Marriage Act is under challenge through a unique angle: estate taxes.

An unsurprising decision on the Defense of Marriage.

The same-sex marriage pivot that everyone was expecting has come.

We may have to deal with the debt ceiling again before the November elections.

Denying the Tea Party’s role in the downgrade of U.S. debt is to deny reality.

The main issue driving the downgrade appears to be lack of faith in the political parties to act responsibly and compromise over entitlements and revenues.

President Obama and Congressional Republicans have the outline of a deal to raise the debt limit past the 2012 elections.

Does the 10th Amendment contain the answer to the same-sex marriage debate? Not really.

It hasn’t been a very productive weekend in Washington, D.C.

It won’t go anywhere this year, but after 15 years someone is finally trying to repeal a bad law.

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

Arizona’s so-called “Birther Bill” seems to violate several provisions of the Federal Constitution.

Huge news in the marriage equality debate today as the Obama Administration has decided not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court anymore.

A case out of Texas demonstrates quite aptly the absurdity of the current patchwork quilt approach to same-sex marriage in the United States.

Yesterday’s ruling by a federal judge declaring the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional is likely to collapse on appeal.

A district court judge has issued a ruling that could have wide ramifications for the question of same-sex marriage.