Free Republic

I think about myself as like an ocean liner that’s been going full speed for a long distance, and the captain pulls the throttle back all the way to ‘stop,’ but the ship doesn’t stop immediately, does it? It has its own momentum and it keeps on going, and I’m very flattered that people are still finding me useful.” — Leonard Nimoy. There are many different factors that can influence markets, but among the most powerful is momentum for the simple reason that people find comfort and safety in doing what everyone else is doing. Investing professionals are well aware...

Texas Senator Ted Cruz, the guy who liberals tagged with killing the economy because he helped shutdown the government for a few hours more or less, has decided to run for president. And CNNMoney is sore afraid.Why?Who knows with liberals? Maybe it’s because he’s unafraid of common sense. Maybe it’s because he’s happy with going against the conventional wisdom. Maybe it’s because he’s the most sinister of characters: a white Hispanic. But no sooner had the echo faded from Cruz’ announcement than CNNMoney issued a “reality check” on Cruz’ nascent campaign’s economic platform.Most news sites are just happy to “fact...

It's going to be hard for the Republicans to field a presidential candidate as enthusiastic about the H-1B visa as U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Cruz, who announced his presidential bid this morning, once proposed an immediate increase in the base H-1B cap from 65,000 to 325,000. Cruz offered the H-1B increase as an amendment in 2013 to the Senate's comprehensive immigration bill. [...] Cruz is part of large group of politicians who will not acknowledge the H-1B's visas use in offshore outsourcing or the reality of U.S. workers who are forced to train their visa-holding replacements. In defending this...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - Ford says it has the answer for speed demons who can't keep their gas pedals off the metal: A car that reads speed limit signs and automatically slows down.Ford says that the newest edition of its S-Max car has "a new technology that scans traffic signs and adjusts the throttle to help drivers stay within legal speed limits and avoid fines."The new system, called the intelligent speed limiter, was unveiled by Ford of Europe in Germany on Tuesday. But Ford's European division said the technology will be available worldwide.The S-Max can read signs with its traffic...

With tax day fast approaching, it’s time to write about our good friends at the Internal Revenue Service.One of the new traditions at the IRS is an annual release of tax scams. It’s know as the “dirty dozen” list, and while it may exist mostly as a publicity stunt, it does contain some useful advice.And that’s true of this year’s version. But I worry that the IRS is looking at a few trees and missing the forest.The Washington Examiner was kind enough to let me write a cover story on the “dirty dozen” list. Here’s my effort to add some...

AND NOW... amidst billowing clouds of fragrant, aromatic first- and second-hand premium cigar smoke... it is time for... that harmless, lovable little fuzz ball, the highly-trained broadcast specialist, having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have, from behind the golden EIB microphone, firmly ensconced in the prestigious Attila-The-Hun chair at the Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies, serving humanity simply by showing up, and he’s not retiring until every American agrees with him - do NOT doubt him - with shrieks of joy at the mere mention of his name (that’s Rush, for those in Rio...

Existing Home Sales came in slightly below forecast in part to the ongoing supply issue. As a result, median home prices climbed 7.5% from last February to $202,600. This marks 36 straight months of home price increases as 1.8 million homes is equivalent to 4.6 months of demand.However, another part of the problem has been a lack of demand. In fact, lending standards and mortgage interest rates have plummeted because demand has weakened.Thus, here’s the dilemma for renters: they’re pouring more money into a pad they don’t intend to own. When the rate of pay increases, mortgages also increase in...

Janet Yellen channels Billy Flynn? Last week the Fed Chairwoman treated us to a master class of rhetorical misdirection which produced some memorable examples of doublespeak, including the soon to be classic "Just because we removed the word 'patient' does not mean we're going to be 'impatient."' But perhaps more surprising than her new heights of verbal dexterity was the market's euphoria at being so blatantly manipulated. Never has the financial world enjoyed a lie so thoroughly. By simultaneously claiming to be both aggressive and defensive, and to be moving forward even while standing still, Yellen positioned the Fed as...

Imagine there's no IRS. It isn't hard to do. No Obamacare to pay for. And no budget deficits too. Imagine all the people, living with a flat tax. You may say Ted Cruz is a dreamer, but he's not the only one. He hopes some day—especially if you live in Iowa—you'll join him, and, well, he'll be president. That, at least, was the message during his announcement, oddly redolent of John Lennon, that he's officially seeking the highest office in the land. It was a conservative wish list to not only repeal the 21st century, but the 20th, too. About...

Calvisano (Italy) (AFP) - With pools 85 times the size of the nearby pitches where Rugby Calvisano plays, the company Agro Ittica Lombarda is putting this northern Italian town on the map again -- as the world's top caviar producer. The story began in the late 1970s, when the town's steel mill teamed up with a Californian biologist to use the heat generated by the mill to warm pools to raise sturgeons, whose eggs are used to make the salty delicacy. The world's most prized caviar comes from wild sturgeon in the Caspian Sea. Agro Ittica was the first sturgeon...

Oregon’s new governor Kate Brown two weeks ago signed into a law a bill requiring distributors to reduce the carbon “intensity” of vehicle fuel by 10 percent over the next decade. Now the American Trucking Associations has joined with the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers and the Consumer Energy Alliance in suing Oregon to block the fuel standards. “The Oregon program is set up to give a big boost to Oregon’s small biofuel industry, without reducing net greenhouse gas emissions, and at the expense of higher fuel costs for everyone,” said ATA Vice President for Energy and Environmental Affairs Glen...

It seemed to be a classic case of “firemen first,” a theory first put forth in 1976 by legendary Washington, D.C., journalist Charles Peters. Any bureaucrat, when asked to list what services or jobs would be cut because of a looming budget crisis, identifies the most painful losses in public services – firemen, police officers, EMTs, workers who fill potholes, etc. Bureaucrats use it to try and pressure elected officials, afraid of voter backlash, to soften the budget cuts. It played out in the Capitol on March 3, when state Transportation Secretary Mark Gottlieb was asked what major state highways...

Tax Reform: The good news is Americans are fed up with the current code. The bad news is most think the biggest problem is that corporations and the rich don't pay enough.

Search giant (GOOGLE) averages a White House meeting a week during Obama administration. As the federal government was wrapping up its antitrust investigation of Google Inc., company executives had a flurry of meetings with top officials at the White House and Federal Trade Commission, the agency running the probe. Google co-founder Larry Page met with FTC officials to discuss settlement talks, according to visitor logs and emails reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Google Chairman Eric Schmidt met with Pete Rouse, a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, in the White House. The documents don’t show exactly what was discussed...

Kraft Foods Group Inc, maker of Velveeta cheese and Oscar Mayer meats, is in talks to be acquired by Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. 3G teamed up with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc to acquire Ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co for $23.2-billion two years ago. 3G is now expected to merge Kraft with Heinz if it clinches a deal.

Peter Schiff isn’t the only one warning that the economic data of the United States is much worse than the media portrays. Michael Snyder has shared 10 charts pulled straights from the Federal Reserve’s own records that show how things have gotten worse since last crisis, not better. Some of these are points Peter has raised time and again, such as the low labor force participation rate. You can see it has been ticking steadily lower since the turn of the millennium. However, Snyder goes on at length about a number of other important data points. Whether he is looking...

Fox is suing a San Francisco digital music distribution company because of its name. According to TMZ, Twentieth Century Fox Television filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against EMPIRE Distribution over the name it shares with Fox's popular television series "Empire." Founded in 2010, EMPIRE Distribution releases digital music from urban artists including leading hip-hop stars Snoop Dogg, T.I. and Kendrick Lamar. Fox's fictional Empire Records releases urban music including hip-hop and R&B, but in a real life twist, songs from the series are actually available for sale. Columbia Records released songs from each episode for the duration of the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) — On Wednesday, U.S. Congresswoman Aumua Amata participated in a House Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs hearing entitled: “Funding Priorities for and the United States’ Responsibilities concerning Indians, Alaska Natives, and Insular Areas in the President’s FY 2016 Budget Request for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Health Service, Office of Insular Affairs, and Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians.” Amata, a Republican who serves as the vice chairwoman of the subcommittee, addressed Esther P. Kia’aina, the assistant secretary for insular areas, Department of the Interior on many of...

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini arrives in Cuba today (23 March) in a bid to spur sensitive talks aimed at normalizing ties with the Communist island state. The visit comes as previously icy relations between Cuba and the West are thawing, following the dramatic rapprochement between Havana and Washington over the last few months. […] In 2014, the EU launched its normalization process with the Americas’ only communist nation to encourage the country to pursue reforms allowing for private initiatives without having to change the one-party political system. The negotiating sessions earlier this month, initially scheduled for January, had...

... “New Day” anchor Alisyn Camerota asked Atwell, “What do you say to kids out there that are trying to figure out what they want to do when they grow up and might be considering teaching?” “Um, honestly, right now I encourage them to look in the private sector,” Atwell replied. “Because public-school teachers are so constrained right now by the Common Core standards, and the tests that are developed to monitor what teachers are doing with them. It’s a movement that’s turned teachers into technicians, not reflective practitioners. And if you are a creative, smart young person, I don’t...