Outside the Beltway

Two new polls show that the public supports the budget deal, but has no idea what to do to solve our long term problems.

The President’s winter polling bounce is gone, and he’s looking vulnerable again.

The public, and Congress, are skeptical of the mission in Libya, and the reason for that is because the President has failed to tell us exactly why we’re there and what we’ll be doing.

Alain Juppé’s concession that “the moment has passed” for NATO to successfully intervene in Libya is correct.

A new set of polls from Gallup show that President Obama is still looking good for re-election.

President Obama isn’t unbeatable in 2012. but it’s clear even now that he’s going to be a far more formidable opponent than many Republicans seem to think.

State and AID budgets are a rounding error in the Defense budget.

The American military personnel system works against keeping the best and brightest officers in the service.

The Presidency has lost the aura of mystique that used to surround it, and that’s a good thing.

Do graduates of elite colleges earn more because of where they went to school? Or because of the traits that got them selected?

The GOP is headed for big gains on Tuesday. The only question now is how big they’re going to be.

“Those who doubt that the failings of higher education in America have political consequences need only reflect on the quality of progressive commentary on the tea party movement.”

A new Gallup poll shows President Obama beating Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical 2012 Democratic nomination fight. Nobody should be surprised by that.

Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell has a history of embellishing her educational history.

Once again, Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin are at the top of the field in the GOP 2012 race, but that may not last forever.

A third of the Forbes 50 were born billionaires. Does that mean the game is fixed?

Christine O’Donnell’s claim that she studied at Oxford is a tad misleading.

America’s elite universities have proportionately fewer slots than their English and French counterparts. Does it matter?

The political fight over the extension of the Bush tax cuts took a very interesting turn today.

According to Gallup, there was a ten point move in the public’s preference on the Generic Congressional Ballot between last week and this week. What’s more likely is that Gallup is making a mistake somewhere.

Republicans now have the largest lead in Gallup’s Generic Congressional Ballot poll that they’ve ever had.

Washington Monthly ranks colleges “based on what they are doing for the country — on whether they’re improving social mobility, producing research, and promoting public service” rather than “wealth, exclusivity, and prestige.” Too bad they don’t hire that way.

Harvard has overtaken Princeton to retake the top spot in the US News college rankings.

While political junkies dissect every vote and utterance, most Americans vote based on their gut sense of how the economy is doing.

Elena Kagan may be smiling because her confirmation is assured, but she doesn’t have as much public support as previous nominees.

A bizarre rant in American Spectator contains some interesting thoughts about the nature of America’s political elite.

A Princeton economist has devised a formula for a classic sitcom paradox.

Parenting is hard work and kids are a giant pain. Is it worth it?

President Obama continues to suffer politically as a result of the oil spill crisis.