Outside the Beltway

The GOP seems to be telling President Obama that revenue increases are off the table. That’s a huge mistake.

People and businesses are sitting on cash out of fear, creating a vicious cycle.

Can the massive destruction caused by the Japanese earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdowns stimulate the economy?

Moodys warns the the Republican plan to cut spending could cost the economy 700,000 jobs.

The Social Security “trust fund” may actually be worse than worthless.

The drive to cut taxes is at the heart of the budget mess.

President Obama’s new budget involves nothing less than a thumb in the eye of anyone who hoped he would seriously address federal spending in his first term.

While most Americans consider themselves “conservatives,” some conservatives exclude most Americans from the definition.

Does Russia really spend more on roads than we do?

With just over a week to go before the 112th Congress convenes, battle lines are already being drawn in battle over the defense budget.

The US has always outspent our G7 brethren on healthcare but the divergence has skyrocketed over the last three decades.

The Republican talking point that lowering taxes lowers spending and raising taxes increases spending is denied by reality.

Another round of GDP growth figures are out, and they show that the U.S. economy continues to grow far slower than necessary to sustain job growth. Is this a temporary problem, or something we can expect to live with for the foreseeable future?

While the American economy languishes, China is booming again.

Tonight’s topics: The foreclosure mess, low GDP growth, and the world-wide Tea Party.

The numbers tell us we’re not in a recession, but the public thinks otherwise.

A case study in how one’s choice of graphing techniques can shape a debate over known data.

Great news, everybody: The biggest economic calamity since the Great Depression has been over for well over a year.

The CBO sees a clear threat of a fiscal crisis during the next two decades unless we’re saved by magic ponies.

David Brooks blames our economic woes on a change from a culture that valued productive work to one of gentility. And Bill Cosby.

Another set of bad economic numbers are out today, and one wonders when we’ll start getting the good news.

A combination of news and some lunchtime satire.

Twenty-five years after retiring as President Reagan’s Budget Director, David Stockman is back with a scathing indictment of Republican fiscal policies over the past four decades.

The US standard of living is not only growing but its lead over Europe and Japan is growing.

The latest GDP numbers are nothing but bad news for Democrats.

With everyone concerned about the budget deficit, the idea of cutting military spending is finally gaining traction on Capitol Hill.

Now we’re doubling down on the Karzai government.

Recent debates over the economic and fiscal impact of the Bush tax cuts indicate that Republicans still haven’t learned the lessons of the Bush years.

Nobody can really say whether the stimulus worked — or even define “worked” — but that doesn’t stop them from issuing pronouncements.

There are further signs that the economy will remain anemic through the end of 2010, if not longer.

President Obama was shocked –SHOCKED! — to learn that bureaucracy and contracting hassles delay construction projects.