Free Republic

No current events have as much impact on the lives of ordinary paycheck-to-paycheck Americans as the NAFTA trade negotiations. Every person in the U.S., our children and the lives of following generations, are impacted by the ongoing economic battle. The consequences are epic in proportion, yet the MSM insufferably avoids discussion.

For years luxury brands have mesmerized us with highly desirable products and services. They inspire us to dream bigger and leave us desiring more. You can learn so much about attracting ideal clients from these dream building brands. I had a client (let’s call the brand was called “Arnanda”) this client had on their list On the outside, it seemed that this client was a success but this client was struggling financially to reach more high-end clients and make a profit. On the other hand, another one of my clients from Italy, who had worked as a consultant for Salvatore...

The price of Rat meat goes up in Thailand I rarely copy a news story but a story about eating rats I can't pass up. This story from PDN about the price of rat meat in Phitsanulok. Before you think that's it's only poor farmers eating rats, the cost of rat meat is double that of chicken and pork. This lady says it costs 250 baht a kilogram for a big rodent, not that i'm noting to buy a whole kilo of it! Still I've eaten rat meat and although I prefer fried frog, fried rat isn't too bad...

If the mall killed Main Street, then this must be Main Street’s moment for schadenfreude. Real Estate Investment Trust stocks have dropped 18% in the past year, Bloomberg recently reported, and while mall executives would prefer to see the current decline as a transformative period rather than a death knell, that may be wishful thinking. Not all malls are created equal, of course. A-class malls are thriving, due to a premier selection of retail and restaurant tenants that successfully target the affluent communities they serve. However, B and C-class malls are struggling to find customers and keep tenants, as anchor...

We now take more pills than ever. Is that doing more harm than good? If you’re like most Americans, you probably start your day with a hot shower, a cup of coffee—and a handful of pills. More than half of us now regularly take a prescription medication—four, on average—according to a new nationally representative Consumer Reports survey of 1,947 adults. Many in that group also take over-the-counter drugs as well as vitamins and other dietary supplements. It turns out Americans take more pills today than at any other time in recent history (see “Pill Nation: The Rise of Rx Drug...

Republican donors are protesting GOP lawmakers' failure to repeal Obamacare by withholding donations to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. At least $2 million in contributions originally promised to the NRSC have not materialized, CNN reported Tuesday. The failure of Republicans to fulfill a central campaign promise particularly concerns some donors because it could disillusion core voters heading into the 2018 midterms. The uncertainty could put the Republicans' majority—especially in the House of Representatives—at risk.

President Trump’s assault on red tape has saved businesses nearly $4 billion per year compared with President Barack Obama’s pace of imposing regulations, a new study found Tuesday. Final rule costs during Mr. Trump’s first six months in office will cost U.S. businesses about $378 million per year, compared with $4.2 billion for the same period of Mr. Obama’s presidency, according to the conservative American Action Forum. “The results are substantial,” said Dan Goldbeck, an analyst at AAF who prepared the report. “New regulatory burdens are a fraction of those established under President Obama’s first six months; overall regulatory volume...

Gallup's job creation index at +37 in July—a record high Optimism for small-business owners about their business situation is at the highest level seen in a decade, according to a poll from Gallup. Business owners were asked about their current business situation and how they felt about their businesses' future. While business owners are historically more positive about the future than their current situation, the results from this poll show a large uptick in how businesses feel about their current situation. "The overall increase in the index this quarter is mainly the result of an uptick in present situation...

Links only, per agreement with Gannett Trump's accomplishments Gary Varvel's Wall Street cartoons

Stuart Varney interviews Economist John Lott who says optimism over tax reform is boosting the markets.

AmericaÂ’s largest companies are on pace to post two consecutive quarters of double-digit profit growth for the first time since 2011, helped by years of cost-cutting, a weaker dollar and stronger consumer spending. Earnings at S&P 500 companies are expected to rise 11% in the second quarter, according to data from Thomson Reuters, following a 15% increase in the first quarter. Close to 60% of the firms in the index have reported second-quarter results so far. Even as activity inside the Beltway bogged down, the markets have been on an almost nonstop rally since the election. The S&P 500 is...

MADISON - Foxconn Technology Group will announce at the White House on Wednesday its plans to bring jobs to Wisconsin. Company officials have talked about a massive investment in the United States that would create thousands of jobs. They have visited Wisconsin and other states in recent weeks as they consider their options

Donald Trump doesn’t bluff. Bluffing is for those who accept they may or may not win. The outcome is based on an unpredictable response from the opponent. In business or in life, go review the decades of available information and you will see that Donald Trump, now President Trump, doesn’t bluff. It’s one of the reasons he so openly owns the downsides. It’s also the reason he has never engaged in the stock market. President Trump controls outcomes.

A great pizza dough flipper probably can’t turn out one perfectly shaped pizza dough every nine seconds, but one California company’s robotic pizza dough press can make a great pie at that whiplash-inducing rate. Silicon Valley start-up Zume Pizza has nearly fully automated the process of making fresh, made-to-order pizza – and it’s streamlined the delivery process, too. If you live in Mountain View, California, and you order a pizza, it could be at your door as quickly as four minutes later. While other pizzas – especially the bake-at-home kind you buy at the grocery store – are also made...

Monsanto’s legal woes continue to mount as two separate state-level decisions against the agrochemical company’s products were announced this past week. In a first for the U.S., California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) reported on June 26 that it will require Monsanto’s popular weed killer product Roundup to have a label warning stating it contains a known carcinogenic. Beginning July 7, 2017, Roundup’s primary ingredient glyphosate will be added to California’s Proposition 65, a list of chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects and other reproductive damage. Monsanto and other companies that produce glyphosate-based products in the state...

LONDON — The rest of the planet bears a warning for President Trump’s plan to lean heavily on private business in conjuring a trillion dollars’ worth of American infrastructure: Handing profit-making companies responsibility for public works can produce trouble. In India, politically connected firms have captured contracts on the strength of relationships with officialdom, yielding defective engineering at bloated prices. When Britain handed control to private companies to upgrade London’s subway system more than a decade ago, the result was substandard, budget-busting work, prompting the government to step back in. Canada has suffered a string of excessive costs on public...

Disgusted with the subway? Well, chew on this: Since 2014, the city has forked over more to its pension funds than it has for building and repairing schools, parks, bridges and, yes, subways — combined. In fact, the city’s current predicament is the result of benefit increases that state lawmakers have showered on retired city workers. The pension sweeteners added just in 2000 alone cost the city $13 billion over the next 10 years. These two factors (over-optimistic assumptions and ever-greater benefits) are why the city’s yearly contribution to the funds has had to mushroom nearly sevenfold, from $1.4 billion...

Title and link only, due to restrictions. Essentially about the crummy contracts certain truckers submit to. Many of these issues arise from CA's CARB law that essentially banned all trucks older than 2015 forcing drivers and industries to spend mega bucks on new equipment and updating equipment. A classic case of what Bastiat call the seen and the unseen and a good example of Leonard Read's, "I Pencil," in practice. http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/rdPncl1.html

Before explaining I must state this is written with a servant’s heart. It is not my intention to debate the arguments or merit of legislation, only to point out the logical pathway if people hang tough, support President Trump and stay out of the traps laid by special interests (and their special-interest paid troll army). (snip) ♦Unions don’t want health insurance back in/on their liabilities. ♦U.S. CoC Multinational Corporations (Wall Street) don’t want the liability of worker health insurance back on their ledgers. ♦Big Pharma does not want limits to how much they can charge (profits) and they want a...

Making America Great Again continues to run up against the reality of DC UniParty roadblocks. Both Democrats and Republicans are procrastinating while hoping for any excuse not to participate in America-First policy advancement. The election result in Georgia’s sixth district is yet another example of Trump supporters removing excuses the DC UniParty puts forth; yet the DC apparatus is so entrenched in their opposition to President Trump’s policy agenda, they sit idle spinning various congressional hearings-to-nowhere in an increasingly transparent effort to avoid action.