Outside the Beltway

America is discovering that throwing money at an industry in the hope it will create jobs doesn’t work.

Why was the ATF allowing thousands of weapons to be smuggled to Mexican drug gangs?

The Solyndra case is a classic example of what’s wrong with “government investment.”

No matter how weak he becomes, no President will ever be completely irrelevant to the political process.

What does the apparent outcome of the war in Libya mean for the so-called “Responsibility To Protect” doctrine?

The bloom is off the rose for some of the President’s most ardent 2008 supporters.

Sarah Palin’s much-anticipated Tea Party speech in Iowa was, in the end, much ado about nothing.

Environmentalists are upset by President Obama’s decision to abandon stringent new smog regulations, but he made the right decision.

The connections between the White House and failed solar energy company Solyndra deepen.

The failure of a solar energy firm in California is raising questions about a centerpiece of the Administration’s economic policy.

Supreme Court nominees were confirmed quite easily within recent memory. What’s changed?

Romney’s VFW speech was filled with tropes and bromides but nothing that should raise eyebrows.

Details of the President’s jobs plan are starting to leak out, and they’re not looking impressive.

Ben Bernanke didn’t offer many clues in his speech today, but one wonders if he really has any tricks left up his sleeve.

That a popular two-term governor of Utah is being rejected by likely Republican primary voters as insufficiently conservative shows just how extreme American politics has gotten.

He’s been out of office for more than two years, but George W. Bush is still being blamed for the state of the economy.

The U.S may be on the verge of committing the next decade to the future of Afghanistan.

The world is likely to get worse before it gets better.

Success in Libya does not make the American mission any less unjustified than it was on the day President Obama announced it.

Steve Benen has coined the phrase “Thank America Last” to describe those avoiding praise of President Obama for success in Libya.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta gave the strongest signal ever that there will be some U.S. military presence in Iraq after December 31st.

Under new policies, deportation efforts will be concentrated on people who pose a threat to society. It’s a sensible policy, so of course it’s being denounced.

Jon Huntsman just tweeted, “To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.”

The U.S. and its allies are calling on Bashar Assad to step down, but there’s little we can do when he says no.

For the past 18 months, Medicare spending has slowed down considerably – especially compared to the private sector.

If we cannot adequately diagnose our problems it will be even harder to fix them.

Like the rest of us, financial analysts across the globe are trying to figure out what the U.S. debt downgrade means.

So, it happened………

International options with respect to Syria are limited and likely to have little impact on the governments treatment of civilians.

One year ago, Timothy Geithner said them things about the economy he probably wishes he could take back right now.

First it was same-sex marriage, now it’s a abortion. Rick Perry hasn’t met a Constitutional Amendment usurping state power he doesn’t like.

The world is starting to denounce the crackdown in Syria, but the reaction seems unlikely to go much beyond strongly worded statements.

Now that America’s political leadership have probably averted a self-inflicted global economic calamity, it’s time to assess the winners and losers.

Congress failing to raise the debt ceiling would involve abrogating an enormous amount of power to the Executive.

It is always useful to go inside the numbers.

Barack Obama’s biggest enemy in the debt negotiations has been himself.

The Supreme Court is being asked to decided if Congress can overrule a foreign policy position the U.S. has held since 1948.

Some on the left are upset with the President, but does it really matter?

Cornel West is a bright and accomplished man. He has his PhD from Princeton and has inspired bidding wars between prestigious universities for his services. But, man, he’s out there.

On paper, the U.S. lost $1.3 billion on the Chrysler bankruptcy, but the true cost is far higher than that.

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

Moody’s is on the right track. The current debt ceiling law has done more harm than good.