Outside the Beltway

Current attempts to take power away from the state executive branch illustrates a lot of what I have been writing about for years.

Protests that have killed four and injured hundreds have been rewarded and show no sign of ending.

Washington said farewell to George H.W. Bush today in a service that both remembered his spirit and his heroism, and stands as a sharp rebuke to what politics has been reduced to in America today.

The Trump Administration is preparing to ban bump stocks in the coming weeks.

Republican lawmakers in Michigan and Wisconsin are responding to their party’s losses at the Gubernatorial level by attempting to restrict the powers of the incoming Democratic Governor.

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar is reportedly considering a bid for the Democratic Presidential Nomination in 2020.

Yesterday. the Supreme Court heard argument in a case that makes the argument that nearly half of Oklahoma is actually Native American territory.

In the end, the race between Cindy Hyde-Smith and Mike Espy was not even close.

President Trump’s job approval numbers continue to be worse than those of any President since the end of World War Two.

A brewing fight over funding for the President’s border wall could throw a monkey wrench into plans to pass a budget by next Friday.

A Mississippi law that seeks to ban most abortions after 15 weeks was struck down by a Federal District Court Judge.

The C.I.A. has apparently concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. What will the Trump Administration do about this?

Senator Jeff Flake is threatening to vote against President Trump’s judicial nominees unless he gets a floor vote on a bill to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

It would be a rather quixotic effort, but Jeff Flake isn’t ruling out challenging the President for the Republican nomination in 2020.

With their House majority secure, Democrats must now select their leadership team for the next two years. It’s not going smoothly.

Who’s John Delaney? Well, he’s a Congressman from Maryland who’s apparently running for President.

Last week, the Mexican Supreme Court pushed that country further down the road toward legalization of marijuana for all purposes.

Democrats have flipped the Senate seat currently held by Republican Jeff Flake.

In addition to being mandated by the Constitution, birthright citizenship goes to the core of what it means to be an American.

The GOP is likely to lose control of the House of Representatives tomorrow, but could this actually help Trump?

Overwhelmingly, legal experts agree that President Trump is wrong about birthright citizenship and the Fourteenth Amendment.

In another sign of the rapid secularization taking place in that country, Irish voters last weekend voted to rescind the nation’s centuries-old, albeit not recently enforced, law against blasphemy.

President Trump is now claiming he will end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants via Executive Order. He clearly lacks the authority to do this.

The vise is tightening on the Catholic Church.

Donald Trump is talking about a tax cut that appears to exist only in his own mind.

Republicans passed a tax cut bill in December they hoped would help in the midterm elections. It has turned out to be a big dud.

Alaska’s Independent Governor Bill Walker has suspended his campaign and endorsed his Democratic rival in the hope of blocking a Republican victory.

Marijuana is now legal in Canada, and many people are watching the country to see how it adjusts to this change.

Part III is here (a lot sooner than Part II was).

American involvement in the genocidal Saudi war on Yemen is getting more complicated. This is a bad idea.

For the second time this year, a Federal Court has struck down a state law designed to punish businesses that engage in a boycott aimed at Israel.

The State of Texas is arguing in Court that a school district can force a student to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. This is a blatant violation of the First Amendment.

Donald Trump has been in office just over 600 days, and he’s proven beyond any doubt that he doesn’t care if what he says is the truth or not.

As expected, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo easily fended off a challenge from actress Cynthia Nixon. Let the Presidential speculation begin.

The Federal Budget Deficit is set to end the Fiscal Year close to $1 trillion, and to continue growing after that.

With the Democratic Primary just days away, Andrew Cuomo’s Democratic challenger in New York is making headlines thanks to a rather odd culinary choice.

Delaware Democratic Senator Tom Carper beat back a challenge from a ‘progressive” challenger in Thursday’s primary.

Donald Trump is a bad, inept, and potentially dangerous President. That doesn’t mean that a ‘soft coup’ inside the White House is the answer to the problem he presents to our democratic republic.

An Oregon state agency is suggesting that Walmart’s decision to restrict arms sales to bar people under 21, but over 18, from being able to purchase firearms violates state law.

Washington said farewell to John McCain today in a service that both remembered his spirit and his heroism, and stands as a sharp rebuke to what politics has been reduced to in America today.

A Federal Judge in Texas has declined to grant a request to bring the DACA program to an end, but its days appear to be numbered unless Congress acts.

Former Vice-President Biden’s eulogy for his friend John McCain is a lesson in what has gone wrong with American politics.

California is taking a major step in Criminal Justice reform by eliminating cash bail.

As expected, Rick Scott easily won the GOP nomination for Senate in Florida, setting up one of the most highly anticipated Senate races of the year.

Another step forward in the seemingly unstoppable movement toward nationwide legalization.

Laura Ingraham has responded to the deluge of criticism to her foolish and disturbing commentary. This response is also disturbing. Her attempt to walk back the racist tone of her monologue falls flat. Her statement trying to make her views more clear reveal more of her limited thinking on this matter and in general.

In an obvious effort to pander to the city’s taxi industry, New York City is placing new limits on ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft.

In a rare red-state victory for labor unions, Missouri voters rejected a right to work initiative by an overwhelming margin.

Kris Kobach, the controversial Secretary of State of Kansas who is also a Trump ally, holds on to a slim lead in the GOP Primary for Governor.

A Federal Appeals Court has found that a Trump Administration policy purporting to punish so-called sanctuary cities is unconstitutional.