Outside the Beltway

Matthew Dickinson takes a stab at explaining “Why So Many Republicans Are Running in 2016.”

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal enters the Presidential race today, but it’s hard to see how he even manages to become a plausible candidate.

As Governor Haley pushes the South Carolina legislature to take the Confederate Flag down, the movement moves beyond the Palmetto State.

The tide has turned.

It’s easier for an American citizen to go to Iran or North Korea than it is for them to go to Cuba, That’s insane.

As early as tomorrow, the Supreme Court could issue its ruling in the latest Obamacare case. Depending on the ruling, Republicans could find themselves in a political firestorm.

Pope Francis’s new encyclical isn’t exactly being received positively by American conservatives, because they seem to be missing the point.

A new Michigan law allows religious-affiliated adoption agencies to turn away parents for religious reasons, and it seems fairly obvious what the target is in this case.

A Federal Appeals Court In Washington has ruled that the military tribunal convictions of one group of Guantanamo Bay detainees was unconstitutional.

House Democrats defied President Obama on an important trade deal today, thus arguably marking the official beginning of his lame duck status.

Before the end of the month, the Supreme Court could issue a ruling that ends subsidies for the vast majority of people who bought insurance under the PPACA, and the political battles are already starting.

Kansas Republicans are threatening to cut off funding for the entire state judicial system if the state’s Supreme Court strikes down a law the legislature likes.

He hasn’t declared yet, but Scott Walker is running for President, and he’s pandering to the most extreme wing of the Republican Party.

The Senate passed a bill that renews, and modifies, the Patriot Act

Lindsey Graham is the latest entrant into the Presidential race, but it’s hard to see how he gets out of the bottom of the polls.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker isn’t officially a candidate for President yet, but he’s doing quite well in Iowa anyway.

Many provisions of the Patriot Act lapsed at midnight, but apparently the world hasn’t ended.

The Senate returns tomorrow to try to pass an extension of the PATRIOT Act before it expires, but it may not be able to do so.

Marco Rubio seems to be in lockstep with the extreme social conservatives when it comes to same-sex marriage.

A minimum wage for thee, but not for me.

The Senate went home last night without passing a bill to renew the PATRIOT Act, which expires at the end of the month.

Disturbing developments on the part of the Ukrainian government.

Thwarted by the legislature, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal used his executive power to take action that seems directed more toward evangelicals in Iowa than anything happening in his home state.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer suggests that his fellow Congressmen and Senators are underpaid at $174,000 per year.

Rand Paul held the Senate floor for nearly twelve hours yesterday to talk about the PATRIOT Act, but it’s unclear if he accomplished anything.

A Second Amendment victory in the District of Columbia,

Lindsey Graham says that, if elected president, he would summarily kill anyone thinking about joining ISIS.

Fresh off an election victory, British Prime Minister David Cameron is set to propose a series of new measures to crackdown on extremism that raise serious civil liberties concerns.

The House has passed a bill that would place real restrictions on the National Security Agency’s data mining program. Now, it moves to the Senate.

As expected, the Republican-controlled House passed a bill that would ban most abortions after twenty weeks. It also happens to be completely unconstitutional and has no chance of actually becoming law.

A plan to distribute migrants from the conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa across the entire European Union seems destined to cause political conflict.

House Republicans are set to vote on a bill banning abortion in almost all cases after twenty weeks. What they can’t do is explain where the Constitution gives Congress the power to do this.

For reasons only he can understand. South Carolina’s senior Senator will be entering the race for the White House early next month.

Two Republican candidates for President say that Republican elected officials should simply ignore the Supreme Court if it strikes down bans on same-sex marriage.

A Federal Appeals Court has ruled that the N.S.A.’s data mining program is illegal, but its ruling may not have a very big impact.

In a move that is clearly designed to have an impact in the General Election, Hillary Clinton came out in support of broad immigration reform in Nevada yesterday.

Republicans on Capitol Hill are talking about fundamentally changing what it means to be an American, and it’s a bad idea.

Congress can’t really do anything to stop a nuclear deal with Iran, and John Boehner knows it.

Another poll shows that Republicans are largely out of step with public opinion on the question of whether businesses should be free to refuse to provide services for same-sex weddings.

Ted Cruz and Steve King think the Court should be prevented from hearing any case involving same-sex marriage. Because they know they’re losing.

Senate Republicans are working on legislation to fix the PPACA’s subsidies if the Supreme Court rules against the Federal Government in June.

For months, Ted Cruz said the nomination of Loretta Lynch must be blocked. Then, he failed to show up when the Senate voted on her nomination.

Seventy years ago, Harry Truman became President in the final months of a war. He wasn’t prepared for it, but most Vice-President’s after him have been.

Five years after it became law, the Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act appears to be over.

After months of resistance, the White House will allow Congressional review of any deal with Iran, but it may not hamper negotiations much in the end.

Marco Rubio is the first Republican in the race who actually has a plausible chance to win the nomination, but it’s not going to be easy.

Legislators in Tennessee have taken the “gun rights” argument further than it was ever intended to go.

Fox News’ Catherine Herridge is creating a scandal where none exists.