Outside the Beltway

Alaska Governor Sean Parnell says he won’t comply with any of the provisions of the Affordable Care Act, but his decision seems to rest of precarious legal ground.

The White House Press Office produces a blog, YouTube channel, Flickr photo stream, Facebook and Twitter profiles, and daily video programming.

We need to remember who actually sets the budget and, further, who is ultimtately responsible for the behavior of politicians.

Shirley Sherrod’s lawsuit against Andrew Brietbart promises to be an interesting test of the boundaries of defamation law in the political blogosphere.

Ezra Klein dubs the Federal government “an insurance conglomerate protected by a large, standing army.”

The Obama Justice Department says it can look at phone records without warrants or judicial oversight.

The Obama administration’s investigation into Toyota safety problems has found no electronic flaws to account for reports of sudden, unintentional acceleration and other safety problems.

Hosni Mubarak may hang on to some semblance of power longer than many expected in the middle of last weeks chaos, mostly because there are few other alternatives right now.

Sarah Palin said something about the crisis in Egypt, but it’s not at all clear what she meant.

The end game in Egypt may be beginning.

Breaking news from CNN.

The United States is facing a serious public relations problem among the Egyptian people.

The Obama administration’s slow and cautious response to Egypt’s protest was frustrating. And correct.

Anti-government protests raged in Egypt for a second day, and nobody seems to know where they’re headed.

Demanding that the new GOP House hold the line at the current number is satisfying rhetorically, but all-but-impossible politically.

Time for midterms.

Inevitably, the Nazis made an appearance during yesterday’s debate over health care reform in the House. It’s time for it to stop, or at least time for the rest of us to stop taking seriously anyone who resorts to such arguments.

The Stuxnet virus that has set back the Iranian nuclear weapons program by several years at least appears to have originated as a joint project between the United States and Israel.

House Republicans want to do away with the increasing number of “czars” in the White House.

President Obama’s selection of Bill Daley as Chief of Staff is being seen as a sign that the White House is moving to the center and gearing up for 2012.

President Obama is likely to issue a signing statement in order to keep his Gitmo options open.

Freshman Members of Congress are threatening to block a vote to raise the debt ceiling that Congress will have to take by this Spring. They’d be irresponsible if they did so.

The reaction to President Obama’s recent recess appointments provide us with yet another example of bipartisan hypocrisy.

Does NATO membership serve a strategic purpose?

With just over a week to go before the 112th Congress convenes, battle lines are already being drawn in battle over the defense budget.

A capsule look at the world situation as 2010 draws to a close.

The seemingly sensible end-of-life counseling that was originally part of the Health Care Reform Bill is making a comeback.

Frustrated that it couldn’t achieve desired environmental legislation despite huge majorities in both Houses of Congress, the Obama administration has decided to govern by executive fiat.

The new year will bring major changes to the White House Staff.

The Federal Communications Commission is using a statute from the 1930s to try to regulate the technology of the 21st Century. It’s a mistake.

The new health care law’s individual mandate was the subject of another bruising court battle yesterday, but the real question in the room was what, if any, are the limits on Congressional authority?