Outside the Beltway

The Federal Reserve sees the economy staying relatively the same for the foreseeable future, which is both a good and bad thing.

The first estimate of economic growth in the first three months of 2018 beat expectations slightly, but it doesn’t bode well for the immediate future.

March’s Jobs Report fell far short of expectations.

Republicans spent the eight years of Obama Administration railing against fiscal irresponsibility. Now that they have power, they’re the ones being fiscally irresponsible.

With Republicans fully in control in Washington, their concerns about the budget deficit seem to have disappeared.

In addition to deadlines on the Federal Budget and DACA, Congress also has to deal with the debt ceiling at some point in the next month.

November’s Jobs Report was stronger than expected, but there are several caveats to keep in mind.

The Senate passed a tax cut bill last night, but it leaves a lot to be desired.

House Republicans unveiled their tax reform bill today, but its fate is far from clear.

It’s been two years since John Boehner stepped down as Speaker, and he’s got a few things to say about his former colleagues and the state of American politics.

Perhaps it’s time to consider getting rid of the debt ceiling entirely.

Kamala Harris has joined Bernie Sanders’ call for creation of a single-payer healthcare system.

A new poll shows that most Americans want Republicans want to move on from their failed effort to ‘repeal and replace’ the Affordable Care Act.

For the third time since December,, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates.

In addition to everything else on its plate, Congress will have to revisit raising the debt ceiling again sometime this summer.

The first scorecard for President Trump’s first economic quarter in office isn’t exactly very good.

The Trump Administration is out with a tax plan, but it’s seriously lacking in details.

The Meatloaf All Around Edition OTB Caption Contest^TM is now over.

For only the third time since the Great Recession ended, the Federal Reserve Board has raised interest rates.

Budget hawks in the GOP face a showdown with Donald Trump’s spending ambitions this year that will likely decide whether we’ll ever get spending under control.

The election of an anti-austerity government in Portugal is raising some concerns.

Yesterday, Paul Ryan spoke out against the procedure under which the new budget deal was negotiated. Today, he announced that he’ll vote for it anyway.

Paul Ryan has yet to say if he will run for Speaker of the House, but that hasn’t stopped the opposition on the hard right from forming already.

Yes, Ben Carson’s comments about the debt ceiling are silly, but it’s the fact that a lot of Republicans agree with him that’s dangerous.

Polling shows that Republicans increasingly see Donald Trump as Presidential and trustworthy. The rest of America disagrees.

Despite the conciliatory language after Tuesday, it’s unlikely that much will change in Washington in the next two years.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul continues to challenge Republican orthodoxy on foreign policy, and that’s a good thing.

A somewhat surprising win in Georgia.

Once again, the Tea Party wing of the GOP is talking about taking out John Boehner.

Refusing to raise the debt ceiling does nothing at all to control spending.

Nearly two-thirds of House Republicans voted for default. They lost.

A plan finally starting to come together?

If Congress isn’t able to reach a deal, the big problem going forward would be uncertainty.

The House wasted a day yesterday, now it’s crunch time.

One Virginia Republican suggests that defaulting on our bonds wouldn’t be that big of a deal.

Harry and Mitch to the rescue?

They’re back…….

To borrow a phrase from Stephen Colbert, if you want to understand how Congress works, you better know a District.

Republicans reportedly have another plan to get what they want on Obamacare and other issues.

Japan’s National Debt has reached a level that’s somewhat incomprehensible.

As of today, John Dingell has been a Member of Congress for 20,997 days, a new record. That’s not something to celebrate.

The sequestration cuts are fast approaching, and the political battle is continuing.

Pretending like the Bush administration never happened is a problem for the GOP.

The GOP is following a strategy on the debt ceiling that cannot possibly succeed.

Once again, the House GOP is risking sending the economy into the tank to prove a political point.

You can’t always get what you want.