Outside the Beltway

So far, three weeks of bad news hasn’t really had much of an impact on the public’s view of how President Obama is handling his job.

Today is the 75th anniversary of Superman.

Because sometimes poorly contructed observations can set a fellow to writing.

The GOP’s public image continues to be bad and there seems to be little sign that they’re doing anything to change that.

Resurrecting and old, and bad, idea.

On rare instances in Washington, reporters do their job and ask tough questions of political leaders. Rarer still, the leaders give good answers.

Like the men who came before him, Barack Obama has vastly increased the powers of his office. Someone should have asked him about that last night.

The President has yet to tell us what he would do with a Second Term.

September’s BLS Report will likely be significant but, behind the numbers, things don’t look all that great.

There’s no doubt about it, our political culture is pretty horrible.

Republicans think they found the smoking gun of the 2012 election. They’re kidding themselves.

The Romney campaign’s critique of the President’s foreign policy record is weak, and based on bad history.

Ben Bernanke thinks doing more of the same is just what the economy needs.

Another bad jobs report threatens to undermine whatever good will the President had coming off the Democratic National Convention.

The Obama campaign clearly does not want Americans to consider whether they are better off now than they were four years ago.

Mitt Romney’s speech last night was the best he’s ever given, but it’s impact may have been undercut but several odd production decisions that preceded it.

Seniors face a variety of economy-based difficulties–but let’s criticizes the media!

We have met the enemy, and it’s most likely us.

What if things don’t ever get better?

Neither Romney nor Obama are running on policy; rather, they’re trying to persuade people the other guy would be even worse.

Stephen Bainbridge argues that corporate governance regulation in the wake of scandals and bubbles is almost uniformly bad.

The President seems to think the private sector is doing fine. He couldn’t possibly be more wrong.

The President’s Cabinet is less a Team Of Rivals and more a Team Of Managers.

The Oval Office is nothing like a corporate boardroom.

Once again, the jobs market appears to be slowing.

The old have most of the money and power in our society, a trend that is accelerating.

The odds are against anyone who challenges an incumbent President. So, how do you do it?

Another good monthly jobs report

2012 may be the last chance for the current Republican Party to win the White House.

The speech did exactly what it was supposed to do: kick off Obama’s re-election campaign while disguised as a call for unity.

Is George Bush to blame for a weak Republican field almost four years after he left office? Not entirely.

The GOP is at a distinct disadvantage in the political fight over President Obama’s Recess Appointment of Richard Cordray to head the CFPB.

Paul Krugman’s latest column, “Depression and Democracy,” is simply bizarre.

Barack Obama now looks to the Rough Rider himself for inspiration. Can’t he find it himself?

Pondering Tea Party comparisons as well as the “does it matter?” question.

The latest Gallup poll shows a record 81 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the nation is being governed.

Where do we stand after 224 years?

A record 46 million Americans are living in poverty.

It’s not a given that we’ll have a massive recovery during the next presidential term but it’s a pretty decent bet. And the party in power will get too much credit for it if it happens.

Whether it’s a “Ponzi Scheme” or not, Social Security has serious systemic problems that must be addressed.

Derek Thompson argues that “the real reason Americans fell so squeezed” is our obsession with productivity.

It never ceases to amaze me how many smart people manage to believe, against all evidence to the contrary, that their political philosophy has massive support.

Did World War II teach us anything about spending-as-stimulus? Not really.

He’s been out of office for more than two years, but George W. Bush is still being blamed for the state of the economy.

Dan Drezner believes those worrying that we’re seeing the global meltdown of 2008 repeat itself are kidding themselves.

Michele Bachmann is claiming that the debt downgrade proves she was right about not raising the debt ceiling.