Outside the Beltway

The participants in the debt negotiations are being led by constituencies that have little interest in compromise.

Based on its history, the debt ceiling law may be the most pointless statute in the entire U.S. Code.

Our fundamental fiscal problem is an unwillingness to deal realistically with costs and benefits.

Do people who take advantage of tax breaks get a “government benefit”?

It was a largely fruitless weekend in the debt negotiations.

A study shows how a brief blip in payments in 1979 had negative consequences.

It’s still politics as usual in Washington.

Philadelphia’s marijuana decriminalization program has saved the city over $2 million so far.

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

The White House has apparently rejected using a tortured interpretation of the 14th Amendment to deal with the debt ceiling debate.

Judging by the June jobs report, there’s no economic recovery coming in the near future.

More than any other time in the past, the GOP is now firmly under the control of its most conservative members.

There’s apparently a new proposal on the table at the debt negotiations, and it looks very interesting.

The so-called “14th Amendment option” to fix the debt ceiling crisis is really just a prescription for an even more powerful Presidency.

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

The Ronald Reagan that Republicans lionize is very different from the one who actually served as 40th President of the United States.

House and Senate Republicans are pushing a Balanced Budget Amendment. It sounds like a good idea, but it isn’t.

If the U.S. defaults, Eric Cantor will make some money.

Does a little known provision in the 14th Amendment make the entire debt ceiling debate irrelevant?

Talks about a deal to raise the debt ceiling seem pretty close to collapse now that there are no Republicans involved.

What was that, a joke about shovel ready jobs not being so shovel ready. Yeah unemployment a topic ripe for great comedy.

Rick Perry makes a valid point about bringing the economy back to Biblical principles.

The US spends a lot on defense relative to, well, the rest of the world.

The main issue, above all else, is taxes.