Outside the Beltway

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un is extending an olive branch of sorts to South Korea while simultaneously claiming success in achieving a nuclear deterrent.

August’s Jobs Report came in below expectations.

Public defenders in New Mexico are overworked, underfunded, and outmatched, but then that’s true pretty much everywhere in the country.

Canada is phasing out coal as a source of electricity production by 2030. The same thing will happen in the United States no matter how much politicians try to stop it.

February’s Jobs Report was relatively positive, but there are still shadows hovering over the economy as we head further into the year.

The State Of The Union Address was more of the same, and the same will be true of Washington going forward.

Strong jobs growth in November means that 2014 is already the best year for jobs growth since 1999.

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

The first three months of the year were worse for the economy than first thought.

A George W. Bush renaissance? Not exactly.

The Presidential race seems to be returning to the state it was in before the political conventions.

This campaign has gone to the birds.

A sign at a local Exxon station seemingly blames high gasoline prices on Barack Obama.

Jimmy Carter’s ex-presidency has lasted the equivalent of 26 Iranian hostage crises.

Though still just a Tropical Storm, Isaac has the potential to be as dangerous as Hurricane Katrina.

The most recent round of national polling seems to show that the negative attacks on Romney are having an impact.

Carbon emissions in the U.S. have declined just as use of natural gas in electricity production has increased. That’s no coincidence.

As gas prices fall, the politics of fuel prices are changing.

Gas prices are falling nationwide but that’s mostly because the economy kind of stinks.

A spate of bad economic news foretells a shift in the campaign for President.

China’s economic engine may be sputtering.

He may be running against Barack Obama, but Mitt Romney seems to mention Jimmy Carter a lot.

Parties are in politics primarily to win the vote of the median voter, not to join together and sing Kumbaya.

Last week, an absurd campaign became even more absurd.

Once again, those predictions of $5.00 gas may have been much ado about nothing.

The jobs picture–and thus the overall economic forecast–becomes much gloomier with the release of the March Labor report.

Why isn’t Obama doing better in the polls and did we just see a Kinsey Gaffe in the wild?

There will be no more GOP candidate debates. That’s not necessarily a good thing.

The cause of the pain you’re feeling at the pump has little to do with domestic energy policy.

The president’s job approval is down. And it’s also up!

47 percent of Americans disapprove of President Obama’s performance.

Republicans continue to harp on the fact that the President uses a TelePrompter.

Rising fuel prices are starting to hurt the President in the polls, but it’s unclear what that means for November.

The notion that the President of the United States can guarantee a given per gallon price of gas is a fantasy (and, quite frankly, a lie).

Another good monthly jobs report

Prices are rising at the pump, and the candidates for President are starting to notice.

Anyone who falls for this needs to look into bridges in Brooklyn and oceanfront property in Arizona.

Rising prices at the pump could lead to problems at the voting booth.

The January jobs report was the best we’ve seen in more than three years.

Higher gas prices in the spring could have an impact on the economy, and the election.

Michele Bachmann is promising $2.00 gas. Not surprisingly, she has no idea how to achieve this seemingly impossible goal.