Outside the Beltway

The GOP seems to be losing the public relations battle over deficit reduction.

There are signs that the Ryan Plan isn’t playing well with the public.

Contempt for Congress is an old American tradition. Unfortunately.

The new CBS/NYT poll is out and the numbers are not exactly happy, no matter whom you support.

According to a new poll, the American public still isn’t sold on the idea of cutting entitlements to cut the budget deficit.

More on that freeloader problem (today with less snark).

Australia is the only major country with lower tax rates than the USA.

In all honesty, much of what is coming out of the mouths of self-described conservatives is actually pretty darn radical.

Will the Ryan Plan ever be voted out of the House?

President Obama’s budget speech was light on specifics, but that’s because it was really the opening salvo of the 2012 campaign.

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

Whenever I despair at the current state of the Republican Party, I remind myself that things aren’t much better across the aisle.

Prepare to be underwhelmed by President Obama’s big deficit speech on Wednesday.

A government shutdown is not just a hypothetical in a debating contest. It will affect real people.

Paul Ryan unveiled an ambitious plan to cut the deficit today. The question is whether it will be the beginning of a debate, or an opportunity for Democratic demagoguery

Rather than fighting over the remnants of the FY 2011 budget, the GOP should make a deal and get ready for the bigger, and more important, battle ahead.

The American people have no idea what’s really in the Federal Budget, which makes any discussion about what to cut virtually impossible.

Matthew Doig of the Sarasota Herald-Tribune posted a want ad for an investigative reporter and it’s gone viral.

Another survey shows that Americans don’t know much about their own history, but does it really matter?

Republican budget cuts to this point have been less than serious.

Republicans are about to take a walk along the third-rail of American politics.

More evidence of what we already knew: the public isn’t especially interested in cutting entitlements.

The most likely cuts in federal spending are likely to actually increase the deficit over time.

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

We can’t rely on private companies, the stock market, or the taxpayers to maintain our lifestyle in our golden years.

The primary job of the Federal Government today is to take money from Peter and give it to Paul.

You don’t have to be Admiral Akbar to suspect that the President’s refusal to deal with entitlements in his budget proposal is a trap for the GOP.

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.

Ezra Klein dubs the Federal government “an insurance conglomerate protected by a large, standing army.”

No, the legislation does not in any way “suggest that some kind of rape that would be okay.”

If you watched last night’s State Of The Union Address, you wouldn’t have had any idea just how serious a problem we’re facing.

We won’t be able to solve our fiscal problems until the American people grow up. So far, there are no signs of that happening.

The current approach of the GOP to health care is not dissimilar to its approach to fiscal policy: not a lot of substance.