Outside the Beltway

The “makers vs takers,” “the 99 percent vs. the 1 percent,” and “53 percent vs. 47 percent” memes are getting tiresome.

The biggest surprise of the Presidential race to date is the fact that Mitt Romney has lost the edge he once had on economic issues.

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

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are refusing to provide significant details about their tax plan. That’s a mistake.

After two-and-a-half years and who knows how many taxpayer dollars spent trying to prove criminal wrongdoing, the SEC fell short.

Once again, a pundit has come up with the boneheaded idea of reinstating the draft.

The PPACA, the fight over it, and the Sibelius ruling all underscore this fact.

More evidence of the extent to which Members of Congress have profited from the inside information they receive.

The Obama administration admits its push for the “Buffett Rule” is not about dealing with our budget woes.

Newt Gingrich is morally and intellectually bankrupt, so perhaps it’s no surprise that his health care think tank is now fiscally bankrupt.

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

One Goldman Sachs employee decided to quit his job in a very public manner.

A legal dispute exposes an open wound.

David Frum begins a withering review for The Daily Beast, “Charles Murray’s Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010 is an important book that will have large influence. It is unfortunately not a good book.”

If Romney loses in November, it could be the start of a bitter fight insider the Republican Party.

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

Monday’s debate in Tampa was a far more subdued affair than what we saw last week.

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

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

Guess who got advance warning of government actions on the eve of the 2008 financial crisis?

Can we credibly blame the CRA, Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac, and the like for the mortgage crisis?

Barry Ritholtz lists a dozen causes of the financial crisis.

Did Congress cause the mortgage crisis by mandating loans to poor people? No.

It’s the 5% versus the 1% moreso than the 99% against the 1%.

Occupy Wall Street is not motivated by envy of the rich or even animus towards banks.

Rick Perry’s tax plan isn’t very impressive.

Some Northeastern Senators want to make selling fake maple syrup a federal offense.

A cute protest sign based on a blog quip has created a minor internet sensation.

Some on the right are giving Occupy Wall Street and The 99%’ers a second look.

Ronald Reagan’s chief economist has a radical plan for solving the housing crisis.

The Tea Party flame was lit by the battle over TARP, but they quickly forgot about those bailouts that supposedly upset them so much.

With the advantage of hindsight, it’s clear that more creative strategies were needed. But they probably couldn’t have been passed.

Judging them by their own manifesto, the Occupy Wall Street protesters are pretty silly people.

We won’t solve our fiscal problems by soaking “the rich.”

Jon Huntsman is out with a tax and jobs plan that deserves a lot more attention than it’s likely to get.

That a popular two-term governor of Utah is being rejected by likely Republican primary voters as insufficiently conservative shows just how extreme American politics has gotten.

It’s a shame that Duverger’s Law doesn’t come with criminal penalties.

Taking an initial look into the Texas economy.

Is S&P’s downgrade of the US bond rating “free speech” and thereby protected by the Constitution?