Outside the Beltway

I know it when I see it.

A massive expansion of the Pell Grant program for prisoners goes into effect next month.

Horse race coverage in all the things.

A significant cut to staff and programming to stay afloat.

A little debt ceiling, a little higher ed, and other misc delights.

The infuriating fight to authorize spending already-allocated money is back.

A truly bizarre vote.

The Schumer-Manchin compromise includes a massive increase in the tax collection budget.

A really weird proposal to solve a problem that probably doesn’t exist.

The Vermont Senator is a better politician than most give him credit for.

Senator Elizabeth Warren released a more detailed version of her ‘Medicare For All” plan late last week. It leaves much to be desired.

Contrary to the promises of December 2017, the Republican tax cuts are not paying for themselves. Instead, they are helping lead us to trillion-dollar deficits.

Don’t worry folks, we’ll make it past that mark quite easily over the course of the new Fiscal Year.

President Trump and the Republican Party have spent the last three years lying about the Federal budget deficit and the economy.

Despite having utterly mishandled both areas when they actually held power, Republicans think they can win back the House of Representatives by focusing on the budget deficit and health care reform.

As predicted, the Federal Budget Deficit has crossed the threshold back into the world of trillion-dollar deficits. This is all due to the hypocrisy of Republicans and so-called conservatives.

Thanks for nothing, Republicans.

The Federal Budget Deficit rose 27% in July, putting it on course for the $1 trillion by the end of September.

President Trump and the Congressional leadership have reached agreement on a multi-year budget deal that that busts through all remaining controls on spending.

The Federal Budget Deficit passed the $700 Billion mark with three months still to go in the Fiscal Year.

Andrew Yang has been a relatively unknown candidate for the Democratic nomination, but he’s slowly risen in the polls and raised more money in the second quarter than several experienced politicians.

The job laid out by the Framers in Article II of the Constitution has expanded a mite.

There are several months to go before a budget must be passed but there are already signs that the White House and Congress could be headed for an impasse.

An odd bureaucratic reshuffling, seemingly out of the blue.

President Trump will ask for $8.6 billion for his border wall in his Fiscal Year 2020 budget. He’s unlikely to get it.

Economic growth slowed significantly in the fourth quarter of 2018 from where it had been earlier in the year. And it’s likely to slow down even more.

Former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld is preparing for a primary challenge against Donald Trump. He won’t win, but he could still have an impact.

President Trump’s impending decision to declare a national emergency to get funding for his border wall will quickly face serious legal challenges. It may be more vulnerable than the White House suspects.

When it comes to the shutdown and border wall showdown that started back in December, Donald Trump is the biggest loser.

The National Debt officially topped $22 trillion, marking a $2 trillion increase since President Trump took office.

A new study reveals that the Republican tax cut package passed at the end of 2017 has not had the economic impact the GOP claimed it would.

President Trump appears to be backing away from the idea of declaring a national emergency to get his wall built. But the other options he’s considering aren’t much better.

Two years of Republican control of the Legislative and Executive Branches has put us back on a path toward $1 trillion budget deficits.

The government shutdown has now entered historic territory, and the Trump Administration is moving closer to a “national emergency” or other extra-legal means to get money for his wall.

President Trump is claiming that he could use authority to declare a “national emergency” to build his wall even if Congress doesn’t authorize it.

As the shutdown drags on, the President is digging in his heels even further.

President Trump is now threatening to close the border if he doesn’t get funding for his border wall.

While it has an admitted populist appeal. the idea of Congressional pay being withheld during a shutdown is a non-starter due to the Constitution.

Trump has reportedly told aides that he doesn’t really care about reports of an approaching crisis of the budget deficit and national debt because he’ll be out of office before it becomes a problem.

A brewing fight over funding for the President’s border wall could throw a monkey wrench into plans to pass a budget by next Friday.

Nearly two years into Republican control of Washington, the budget deficit is headed back up.

With three weeks to go until Election Day, it’s looking like we’ll end up with a Congress divided between Democrats in the House and Republicans in the Senate.

As part of her position as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has use of a rather lavish private residence. This is not a real controversy.

The Federal Budget Deficit is set to end the Fiscal Year close to $1 trillion, and to continue growing after that.

As I have repeatedly noted: Trump is the leader of the Republican Party.

Deficits continue to rise.

The National Debt has passed $21,000,000,000,000 for the first time in history just as the nation begins its return to the era of trillion dollar budget deficits.

A new survey shows that Americans are increasingly unable to tell the difference between fact and opinion. That’s a problem.

The Federal Government will borrow more than $1 trillion this year for the first time in more than a half-decade.

Donald Trump continues to claim that Mexico will pay for his still non-existent border wall. Mexico says otherwise.