Outside the Beltway

The Federal Budget Deficit passed the $700 Billion mark with three months still to go in the Fiscal Year.

President Obama wanted to end it but his former VP used it to his advantage.

Christian doctrine actually has a lot to say that is of relevance to the border.

Boris Johnson is one step closer to becoming the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Mitch McConnell has had an unsurprising change of heart on the issue of Senate consideration of Supreme Court nominees in a Presidential election year.

Justin Amash’s call for impeachment of the President, and the Republican Party’s reaction to it, is telling us a lot about the current state of the GOP.

There are many things to dislike about the Democratic socialist from Vermont. Hypocrisy isn’t among them.

Colorado Senator Michael Bennet is the latest entrant into the race for the Democratic nomination for President, and the field isn’t done growing.

Former Vice-President Joe Biden is calling for an end to American support for the Saudi war on Yemen.

Bernie also faces disclosure pressures.

In 2016, a crowded Republican field yielded an unlikely nominee. Could history repeat itself in 2020?

There appear to be enough votes in the Senate to pass the resolution disapproving President Trump’s border wall “emergency,” but there’s not enough Republican support to override an expected veto.

Despite overwhelming calls for his resignation, Ralph Northam is refusing to step down as Governor of Virginia.

Two years of Republican control of the Legislative and Executive Branches has put us back on a path toward $1 trillion budget deficits.

President Trump’s speech on the border wall and the shutdown was fact-free, misleading, and overall a bomb.

Trump has reportedly told aides that he doesn’t really care about reports of an approaching crisis of the budget deficit and national debt because he’ll be out of office before it becomes a problem.

In news replete with irony, it’s being reported that Ivanka Trump used a private email account to communicate about government business.

Claiming it was because of the weather President Trump chose to skip a visit to a cemetery at the site of one of the bloodiest battles involving Americans in World War One.

The Merrick Garland precedent is power politics, nothing more.

The Kavanaugh fight is just another indicator of our national divide.

At least for the moment, the fight over Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court appears to be helping Republicans rally their base for November. The question is whether it will last after the fight is over.

The status of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation remains up in the air, as does the question of whether or not Christine Blasey Ford will appear for a hearing on Monday morning.

There was a time when Mike Pence believed that a President’s personality morality and trustworthiness mattered. He clearly doesn’t believe that anymore.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she’d like to stay on the Court at least until she turns 90, but it’s unlikely she’ll go anywhere voluntarily as long as Donald Trump is President.

Based on what can only be described as pure vindictiveness, the President is apparently planning on revoking security clearances of former officials who have been outspoken against the Administration and its policies.

Democrats are making largely meaningless appeals to the so-called ‘Merrick Garland Precedent” to argue for a delay in confirming the President’s next Supreme Court nominee. The American people feel differently.

After thirty years on the bench, during which he played a central role in some of the Supreme Court’s most significant rulings, Justice Anthony Kennedy is retiring.

In the age of Trump, morality is optional for conservatives.

Conservatives claim to support freedom of speech and freedom of expression, but they’ve utterly failed that test when it comes to their reaction to players who peacefully and respectfully kneel during the National Anthem.

The prosecutor who came to national prominence jumping on the #MeToo bandwagon has now been run over by it.

Michael Cohen will invoke his rights under the Fifth Amendment in response to any questions asked in discovery in the civil suit filed against him by Stormy Daniels. That’s really the only option he has.

President Trump took to Twitter this morning and decided poke a stick in the eye of the Russian bear.

For every Trump tweet, there is literally something that says exactly the opposite.

The Atlantic fired one of their few conservative voices for saying women who have abortions should be hanged. Was this beyond the pale?

A top basketball prospect is skipping the farcical year in college before turning pro.

Whether it’s the abuse angle or the more serious issue of security clearances, the White House still can’t get the story straight on the Rob Porter case.

Israeli police have recommended that charges be brought against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Whether that damages him politically remains to be seen.

A Federal Court in New York City is set to hear argument tomorrow in a case that essentially argues that a large swath of Federal laws regarding marijuana are unconstitutional.

Donald Trump has blocked the release of a memo prepared by House Intelligence Committee Democrats to rebut the Nunes memo. It’s hard not to see this as a blatantly partisan move.

While most of America slept, the government was shutdown thanks to some faux theatrics by a single Senator.

Congress seems likely to pass a budget deal today that will massively increase spending, putting to rest once and for all the rank hypocrisy of Republicans when it comes to claims that they are “fiscally conservative.”

With Republicans fully in control in Washington, their concerns about the budget deficit seem to have disappeared.

Imagine a world where Hillary Clinton was President and stood accused of the same things Donald Trump and his campaign are currently under investigation for.

It’s been seven years since Congress eliminated earmarking, and what we’ve seen has provided good evidence for the argument that it should never have been eliminated.

Some Democratic Senators are suggesting that Al Franken should reconsider his decision to resign from the Senate.

A Los Angeles reporter says that Minnesota Senator Al Franken groped her and engaged in other inappropriate conduct during a 2006 USO tour.

More indications that Donald Trump Jr. was heavily involved in Trump campaign efforts to coordinate with foreign contacts regarding damaging information about Hillary Clinton.

The White House believes that it is ‘inappropriate’ to question Generals. This argument is not only wrong, it’s downright dangerous.

While there are real differences between what’s being reported about White House officials such as Jared Kushner and what Hillary Clinton did, the charge of hypocrisy is well-founded.

Yes, even Nazis must have their rights to peaceful speech and assembly protected.