Free Republic

The porn industry was featured last night on CNBC, which took its viewers “inside the $13 billion business of pleasure.” Well, there is no doubt that millions of Americans derive pleasure from porn, which may be found at the magazine stand, in the video store, on regular and pay-per-view cable and, of course, all over the Internet. But it is the passing pleasure of sin, as the Scripture warns us. It has a corrosive effect on our souls. That is borne out by the powerful testimonies of men and women alike who have experienced, first-hand, the deleterious effects of porn...

Andrew Ross Sorkin is apparently not too big to tank. The same goes for “Money Honey” Maria Bartiromo. CNBC insiders tell us executives at the cable business channel are “freaking out” because viewership levels are down essentially across-the-board, particularly with its marquee shows, “Squawk Box” and “Closing Bell." “Their biggest attractions have become their biggest losers,” says one TV industry insider familar with the cable channel’s numbers. According to Nielsen ratings obtained by Gatecrasher, from April 2011 to April 2012, “Squawk Box” is down 16 percent in total viewers and 29 percent in the important 25-54 demographic bracket that advertisers...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is considering a release from its strategic oil reserves, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday, acknowledging the harm that supply disruptions from Iran could have on the global economy. Rising tensions between Iran and the West .. have fueled a rise in oil prices, pushing benchmark Brent crude above $125 a barrel on Friday. "There is a case for the use of the reserve in some circumstances and we will continue to look at those and evaluate that carefully," Geithner said on CNBC television. "Obviously Iran can do a lot of damage to...

A previous story incorrectly reported that Mitt Romney's former firm, Bain & Co., was part of a team of consulting companies that advised President Barack Obama on a decision to shutter car dealerships during the auto bailout. Bain & Co. said it has no connection to the "Bain Consulting" firm referenced in government documents.

Newt Gingrich, presidential candidate, discusses the economy in the CNBC GOP Debate. The debate highlighted a simple but profound fact regarding the economy: returning to prosperity and job creation will not be easy. It will require fundamental change of the big government policies of Barack Obama and the Washington establishment.

The Republican candidate held their first debate in weeks last night, a forum dedicated to economic policy hosted by CNBC’s John Harwood and Maria Bartiromo, and for the most part they seemed to have improved with the time off. For the first hour or so of the debate, everyone seemed sharp, with crisp answers and very little to criticize. Even Rick Perry seemed to have improved — and then, one of the worst moments in decades of major political debates took place when Perry got lost on an easy listing of Cabinet-level agencies he wants to eliminate. Worst of all,...

From what I read today at the Chicago Tribune and the LA Times: "The CNBC host asked that if corporations care about the character of their chief executive officers, why shouldn't Americans care about the character of their presidential candidates?" 1.) Why shouldn't Americans care about the character of their presidential candidates... When did Cain ever say that Americans don't care about the character of their presidential candidates? 2.) On top of this apparently loaded question, this was shifted to Romney, who was - somehow - fortuitously placed right next to Cain during this debate. Coincidence? 3.) Now the MSM...

Putting aside Rick Perry's awful 53 seconds, the real story of the CNBC debate last night was how thoroughly the so-called weak field of Republican Presidential candidates collectively embarrassed the panel aggregated by the financial network. This was not lost on questioners Maria Bartiromo and Jim Cramer, whose demeanor change was obvious as the debate wore on. Meanwhile, in the post debate questioning, manchild Carl Quintenilla asked perhaps the worst question in the history of American journalism by trying to couch Herman Cain's "Queen Nancy" reference in light of his "problems with women." Puh-leeze. Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/11/weak_field_spanks_cnbc_liberals.html#ixzz1dJyZwnGK

No one touched Romney. He was unflappable and knowledgeable. He again showed the right political instinct to want to address the struggles of the middle class, although his tax plan doesn’t do it. His China-bashing will probably play well in the Midwest, although it’s foolhardy on the merits. He consistently got applause. I remember one of the early debates when Romney was flying above the other candidates and Pawlenty–I think–attacked him and he declined to reply, saying “that’s fine.” He said the same thing tonight when Santorum went after him. After all the churning in the race, Romney is in...

The crowd at the Republican presidential debate at Oakland University in Michigan made it clear Wednesday night that it wanted to hear about the economy, and not harassment allegations against former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain dating back to the 1990s. The crowd booed CNBC moderator Maria Bartiromo as she alluded to the allegations and asked Cain, “why should the American people hire a president if they feel there are character issues?” The debate was marketed beforehand as a discussion on the economy. Cain responded: “The American people deserve better than someone being tried in the court of public opinion...

The crowd at the Republican presidential debate at Oakland University in Michigan made it clear Wednesday night that it wanted to hear about the economy, and not harassment allegations against former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain dating back to the 1990s. The crowd booed CNBC moderator Maria Bartiromo as she alluded to the allegations and asked Cain, “why should the American people hire a president if they feel there are character issues?” The debate was marketed beforehand as a discussion on the economy. Cain responded: “The American people deserve better than someone being tried in the court of public opinion...

Carl Quintanilla: There's also a political element to this, and some people tell you if this had been a former Republican senator, or a Republican governor, the main-stream press would be much more aggressive than it is but because he was a Democrat, is a Democrat, because he was a friend of the President, that they've somehow, maybe... I guess they're saying that we've been soft on him... ? Dan Primack: You know, it's interesting... I'm not one to buy media conspiracies, or left-wing media conspiracies, it's not my bias, and to be honest, if we could pull off a...

NEW CANAAN, Conn. – Daisy Franklin of Norwalk was among the nearly 100 protestors who came to the New Canaan home of General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt Saturday to take part in the first known Occupy Wall Street rally in Fairfield County. "I worked in a small Norwalk manufacturing company for 15 years until it was forced to shut down a year ago," Franklin, 55, told the crowd, using a bullhorn. "Now, I get by on less than $200 a week of unemployment for me and my daughter. When you run out of money, you run out of options. So,...

Jim Cramer, CNBC host: "Now let's talk about the fact that you said the economy is weak. You put out a jobs plan. The New York Times today basically gives its obituary. 'Tax plan for jobs bill.' Familiar ring. Meaning the GOP will not back this. Is this dead on arrival?" Tim Geithner, U.S. Secretary of Treasury: "Absolutely not. I think that there's no reason now for the Congress of the United States not to act to help strengthen growth in the near term. It's the conservative, prudent, responsible thing to do. You can think of it as protection against...

The media is still showing the love for Obama. Not only does the fawning coverage continue but media executives are putting their money where their collective mouths are, by showering the Obama campaign with money. Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator and the new owner of NBC (and MSNBC) is the company that tops out the list of executives giving money to the Obama Victory Fund. Abby Phillip writes in Politico: President Obama raised eyebrows this weekend when he visited Comcast CEO Brian Roberts' Martha's Vineyard home on Sunday. Comcast, beyond being a telecommunications giant, is also the parent company...

Rick Santelli: 'If it Wasn't for the Tea Party...We Would Have Been Rated BBB' By Noel Sheppard Created 08/08/2011 - 7:09pm For over 24 hours, Obama advisers, Democrat senators, and terminally stupid ideologues in the media have been blaming Standard and Poor's downgrade of America's debt on the Tea Party. On Monday, one of the only sane voices in the mainstream media stood up and said, "If it wasn't for the Tea Party, they would have passed the debt ceiling thumbs up, we would have been rated BBB" (video follows with transcript and commentary): JOE KERNEN, CNBC: Alright. You know,...

Santelli slams the Obama administration for playing the blame game over the downgrade to our credit rating, noting that even if you think it’s a bad call, you don’t beat up the other coach or take the umpire out behind the barn. And he also points out that without Tea Party, we would’ve had a clean debt ceiling increase and our credit rating would have likely been dropped even lower to BBB. Listen to the end to hear his great analogy why we have a spending problem:

VIDEO:WATCH THE INTERVIEW:Presidential Candidate Bachmann On Jobs and Unemployment

Should the space shuttle program be continued? Yes No Unsure

<p>The last month has been a horror show for the U.S. economy, with economic data falling off a cliff, according to Mike Riddell, a fund manager at M&G Investments in London.</p> <p>"It seems that almost every bit of data about the health of the US economy has disappointed expectations recently," said Riddell, in a note sent to CNBC on Wednesday.</p>