Outside the Beltway

The first estimate of economic growth in the first three months of 2018 beat expectations slightly, but it doesn’t bode well for the immediate future.

We’re set to return to the era of trillion dollar budget deficits, and Republicans won’t do a thing about it.

Fourteen months into his presidency, he has no idea how the federal budget works.

Republicans spent the eight years of Obama Administration railing against fiscal irresponsibility. Now that they have power, they’re the ones being fiscally irresponsible.

WaPo is overhyping things a bit.

Congress seems likely to pass a budget deal today that will massively increase spending, putting to rest once and for all the rank hypocrisy of Republicans when it comes to claims that they are “fiscally conservative.”

With Republicans fully in control in Washington, their concerns about the budget deficit seem to have disappeared.

After an extended break for the Republican retreat, Congress heads back to work today with just three days before a possible government shutdown.

In addition to deadlines on the Federal Budget and DACA, Congress also has to deal with the debt ceiling at some point in the next month.

It’s been seven years since Congress eliminated earmarking, and what we’ve seen has provided good evidence for the argument that it should never have been eliminated.

It’s Day Two of the Federal Government shutdown and there are few signs of a quick resolution.

Once again, tax “reform” won’t make it easier to prepare or file tax returns.

The final version of the tax bill appears to be on track for passage, but the devil is in the details.

The Senate passed a tax cut bill last night, but it leaves a lot to be desired.

Donald Trump’s entire modus operandi involves pushing divisive cultural hot buttons.

In addition to everything else on its plate, Congress will have to revisit raising the debt ceiling again sometime this summer.

The latest CBO score for the American Health Care Act is bad news for Republicans.

By the barest of margins, the House passed its bill repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, but the future of that bill is highly uncertain.

After failing twice in a month, House Republicans apparently think they have the votes to pass their bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

The Trump Administration is out with a tax plan, but it’s seriously lacking in details.

Donald Trump has basically declared war on the people who blocked the AHCA from passing last week.

The president’s skinny budget would eliminate most funding for science and the arts to fund more Defense spending.

The Congressional Budget Office delivered some bad news yesterday to House Republicans on their replacement for Obamacare.

Health care policy analysts seem united in their assessment of the House GOP’s replacement for the Affordable Care Act, and it’s overwhelmingly negative.

Reports indicate that President Trump will seek to increase military spending. We don’t need to, and we can’t really afford it.

Budget hawks in the GOP face a showdown with Donald Trump’s spending ambitions this year that will likely decide whether we’ll ever get spending under control.

Even if you’re not sure who you should vote for, it’s obvious who you shouldn’t vote for.

In a rational universe somewhere, John Kasich is preparing to become the de facto Republican nominee for President. In ours, he’s dropping out in favor of Donald Trump.

The business of the media is business. Business is not good.

Donald Trump just keeps leading in the polls, and Republicans keep arguing that it can’t last.

Last night’s debate in Wisconsin was arguably the most substantive we’ve seen so far between the Republican candidates, and one that displayed quite starkly the policy differences between them.

Congress and the White House have reached a tentative deal on the budget and debt ceiling that promises to make Paul Ryan’s initial months as Speaker a lot easier.

With the voting now seemingly a mere formality, the question becomes what kind of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan will become.

Paul Ryan has yet to say if he will run for Speaker of the House, but that hasn’t stopped the opposition on the hard right from forming already.

Yes, Ben Carson’s comments about the debt ceiling are silly, but it’s the fact that a lot of Republicans agree with him that’s dangerous.

Congress has just over a week to pass a funding bill, and it’s not looking very good.

Mitch McConnell spoke a truth that many conservatives are likely not going to want to accept.

Another poll confirms the fact that Americans of all political stripes continue to hold Congress is disdain.

Donald’s Trump’s campaign is the logical conclusion of more than a decade of emotion-drive, substance-free politics.

Ohio Governor John Kasich looks good on paper, but his campaign seems as though it’s unlikely to get out of the starting gate.

Lindsey Graham is the latest entrant into the Presidential race, but it’s hard to see how he gets out of the bottom of the polls.

Hillary Clinton’s political and personal baggage is likely to be a bigger problem for her than whomever her Republican opponent ends up being.

A theme that just won’t go away.

The costs of more than a decade of war are far higher than many ever thought, and we’re still paying the price for the fiscal irresponsibility of the Bush Administration while they were being fought.

Quietly, oil prices have been falling for months now. That’s potentially a very big deal.

Will the President back track on his promise of further action on immigration if the GOP wins the Senate?

Good news for Republicans.