Outside the Beltway

Are we placing far too much importance on how someone does in a two hour so-called “debate”?

The cable networks and the political parties will tell you otherwise, but the 2012 isn’t quite as important as they’re saying.

Where do we stand after 224 years?

Last week’s opinions from the Fourth Circuit provide an avenue for the Supreme Court to avoid an early ruling on the individual mandate.

Both Virginia lawsuits challenging the Affordable Care Act have been dismissed by a Federal Appeals Court.

There were eight people on the stage last night, but the GOP field has narrowed significantly.

Obama’s economic policies are failing because he’s listening to conservatives – not small businesses.

The MOVE THAT BUS… Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

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.

Although he didn’t get the words quite right yesterday, Mitt Romney was exactly right about corporations.

A somewhat surprising First Amendment decision arising out of the 2010 Elections.

Another government program isn’t going to bring health care costs under control.

The two Minnesotans in the Presidential race are starting to trade barbs.

The idea that the GOP can block a debt ceiling vote and benefit politically is, quite simply, absurd.

While unemployment remains stubbornly high, Washington is spending its time fighting over the budget deficit

Whatever happened to the GOP’s promise to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act?

What exactly is the GOP trying to accomplish in the debt ceiling negotiations?

Contrary to what Senator McCain, seeking realism in military policy does not make one an isolationist.

The debate format was the biggest loser last night, but there were a few memorable moments in New Hampshire.

It was a good day in Court for opponents of the Affordable Care Act.

Another appellate panel heard arguments on the Constitutionality of the health care reform law this week.

To the shock of no one, Mitt Romney announced his bid for the GOP presidential nomination today.

Arguments for the Ryan Plan that characterize it as being “against bureaucracy” are apparently oblivious to the fact that private health insurance is full of bureaucracy.

The We’re All Bozos On This Bus Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

The 4th Circuit has asked for supplemental briefs on an issue that could put a quick end to the lawsuits against the Affordable Care Act.

Even before the individual mandate kicks in, the ACA has added hundreds of thousands of people to health insurance rolls.

With co-frontrunner Mike Huckabee out, Mitt Romney looks stronger than ever.

Newt Gingrich says the coming presidential election will be the most important since the Civil War.

Mitt Romney began his effort to confront what is likely to be his biggest political liability in the 2012 campaign.

How much of public opinion is about tribal political identification and how much is about the actual policies themselves?

The Tea Party Mascot Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

Obama’s main politics are hardly as leftist as many make them out to be. Indeed, much of them could have fit well in the the GOP of 1990s and early 2000s.

The challenges to the Affordable Care Act will remain in the Courts of Appeals for now, but they’re still on a pretty fast track.

What, if anything, does the budget deal mean for the future?

Given the schedule they’re on in the Courts of Appeals, it is likely that the Supreme Court will rule on one or more of the lawsuits challenging the Constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act just before the start of the 2012 campaign.

The Federal Government has filed its response to Virginia’s request for an expedited review of Virginia v. Sebelius, and they’ve got an compelling argument against rushing things.

All of the plausible Republican contenders for 2012 have significant downsides.

Mitt Romney starts his 2012 run as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. But, in reinventing himself yet again, the “authenticity” issue that troubled many of us in 2008 looms again.

Judge Roger Vinson stayed his own ruling in the Florida ObamaCare lawsuit today and acted to speed up the appellate process, but not by much.

Democrats won’t say if they consider Mitt Romney a threat, but they’re sure acting like they do.