Outside the Beltway

Is asking to see a professor’s e-mails a legitimate open records request or is it an attempt at silencing a critic?

Regardless of one’s preferences in terms of endgame in Wisconsin, democracy will win out.

Players from the Los Angeles Clippers chipped in to pay for the surgery of assistant coach Kim Hughes back in 2004. It’s been a secret until now.

The Adult Swim Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

A Welcome to Wisconsin sign with another sign saying “A Division of Koch Industries” is going around Twitter.

Recent events in Wiscosin seem to undercut the hypothesis that public sector unions have undue political influence.

Was the GOP’s maneuver legit? And what’s next?

Wisconsin Republicans stripped state employees of collective bargaining rights without the Democratic senators who fled the state to prevent a quorum.

The Blue Man Dupe Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

The funny thing is that the quorum-busting in WI is more like a filibuster ought to be: a true delaying tactic that eventually has to give way to a democratic outcome.

The Democrats appear ready to come home (or, as per the update, maybe not).

As the standoff in Wisconsin drags on, there is no sign that the public accepts the argument being made about public sector unions by Governor Scott Walker and other Republicans.

Why can’t the Wisconsin Stand-off end in compromise?

The Moral High Ground Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

Scott Walker’s attempt to crush the Wisconsin public employee unions may be the first wave in a fight to elect Republican governors in 2012.

Opposition to marriage equality is no longer the wedge issue it used to be.

A former Democratic state attorney general thinks Wisconsin’s Republican governor may have violated state ethics laws while on a prank phone call.

Wisconsin’s taxpayers are paying 100 percent of the cost of the benefits programs for state employees. But the benefits amount to a payment in kind.

The Big Bird Flips Big Bird Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker did not campaign on the union-busting package he’s proposing now.

Federal laws designed to protect unions add yet another wrinkle to the Wisconsin standoff.

Is Jon Stewart a useful idiot?

There are a lot of issues on the table, so to speak, in the WI situation. Here I try to entangle them a bit.

A new national poll suggests that moves to restrict the collective bargaining rights of public sector unions are not popular with the public at large:

Should public schoolteachers make more money than the people paying their salaries?

Of the 314 police and firefighter unions in Wisconsin, only four endorsed Scott Walker.

Contrary to some assertions, Wisconsin public servants are not better compensated than their private sector counterparts.

Why not include police, firefighters and state troopers in the ban on collective bargaining?

Either Andrew Breitbart controls the entire media complex or Crooks & Liars jumped the gun. “Figure it out.”

It’s time to end the ability of public sector labor unions to hold taxpayers hostage.

A commenter asks, “Why does Wisconsin have a quorum rule if not for situations like this?”

The primary job of the Federal Government today is to take money from Peter and give it to Paul.

Republicans won the right to govern Wisconsin. What does that mean for Democrats?