Free Republic

S&P Global Ratings announced yesterday that it was changing its outlook on San Francisco's debt from stable to negative.The outlook on the city-county’s outstanding general obligation and appropriation debt was cut to negative from stable this week by the ratings company. The weakness in the city’s commercial real estate market and tourism activity were factors that drove the move, S&P said. Adding to the city’s burdens, San Francisco’s budget expenditures outpaced revenue growth in fiscal 2023.To be clear, the ratings agency hasn't downgraded the city's credit rating, which is still at "AAA," the highest possible. A downgrade in the credit...

Attorney generals for 17 Republican-led states have sued the Biden administration over its latest student loan debt forgiveness plan, arguing it does not have the authority to wipe out student loan debt for an estimated 30 million Americans. Under Biden’s new effort, called the Saving on a Valuable Education plan, “borrowers who originally took out $12,000 or less in loans and have been in repayment for 10 years are eligible to get their remaining debt canceled,” an April 8 news release states. The SAVE plan would also forgive debt for “borrowers in public service for 10 years who have made...

Congress is facing the most significant and transformational opportunity to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base (DIB) since the end of World War II. The heritage equipment that the United States has provided to Ukraine for its self-defense in the face of the brazen and illegal invasion by Russian forces in 2022 needs to be replenished to ensure the United States is postured to continue to deter its adversaries. The new hardware will be produced at factories across the nation. Of the $113 billion appropriated by Congress to date related to the conflict in Ukraine, as much as $68 billion...

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) blasted the House for passing foreign aid bills, arguing Congress is spending money that “we don’t have” and that the U.S. should be focusing on securing its own borders instead. “We’re gonna further mortgage and plunder our children’s future, over $100 billion,” Johnson said during his Saturday morning appearance on NewsNation. “We spend close to $900 billion on defense, but every time there’s some kind of defense action seems like we need to do a supplemental.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was “personally” grateful to “Speaker Mike Johnson for the decision that keeps history on the right track” after Johnson shepherded a $61 billion Ukraine aid package through the House Saturday. The image of scores of Democrats waving Ukraine flags and cheering on the House floor as the bill passed will forever sting the conservatives from whose ranks Johnson rose, only to serve them with the ultimate betrayal.

In 1797, a year after revolutionary France abolished paper money following a disastrous inflationary experiment, U.S. President John Adams delivered a warning on government debt. “The consequences arising from the continual accumulation of public debts in other countries ought to admonish us to be careful to prevent their growth in our own,” Adams told Congress.

It’s practically an international article of faith: Countries may not default on their sovereign debt. Yet China has done just that on $1 trillion it owes to U.S. bondholders. Is there nothing we can do about it? Finding members of Congress willing to talk tough isn’t hard. Many resolutions and joint letters over decades have called for China to honor its debt to U.S. citizens. But too many members, their election coffers lined by Wall Street and other financial and business interests heavily exposed to China, leave it at that. OPINION>FINANCE THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND...

Moments like the one we live in now come along from time to time, providing the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the past. For instance, key takeaways from the Deepwater Horizon incident of April 2010 and how they apply to today are clear except to those who deny them. On Apr. 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion, which killed 11 men, caused the rig to sink into the deep and started a devastating oil leak from the well. Prior to it being capped three months afterward,...

Congressional Spending Goes Full WeimarIt has become a speculative game in the blogosphere to predict what black swan calamities could lead to a breakdown in civil order and the imposition of some form of martial law. Wars and rumors of war abound. We have already seen a container ship mysteriously knocking down a bridge and closing a key port. Other such scenarios include massive cyber-attacks that shut down the grid and block communication and transportation networks nationwide. The speculation on the variations of such events is virtually endless.However, one crisis is no black swan and is entirely expected, already happening,...

For Joe Biden, government spending has no bottom. There's always a student loan to 'forgive,' a green scheme to lose money on, or an illegal alien to offer a 'free' lifetime service package to. And bureaucrats to hire, lots and lots of bureaucrats... As a result the U.S. deficit has hit record levels. According to the Treasury Department:A deficit occurs when the federal government’s spending exceeds its revenues. The federal government has spent $1.06 trillion more than it has collected in fiscal year (FY 2024, resulting in a national deficit.And the national debt? The Treasury Department says:The national debt ($34.60...

@_wake_up_USA 🚨BREAKING: House Speaker Mike Johnson moves forward with a $95 billion dollar aid package, including funds for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. $61 Billion for Ukraine $26 Billion for Israel $8 Billion for Taiwan

The International Monetary Fund sounded the alarm on the Biden administration’s rampant spending as “out of line with what is needed for long-term fiscal stability.” The latest forecast from the IMF — a Washington-based group tasked with fighting financial crises worldwide — warned that the ballooning national debt and the fiscal deficit threatened to exacerbate sky-high levels of inflation while posing a long-term risk to the global economy. The IMF noted in its forecast that the US federal budget deficit grew from $1.4 trillion in fiscal 2022 to $1.7 trillion last year. ... The debt held by the public, which...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Tuesday that America’s recent economic performance is partially the result of the country’s unsustainable fiscal practices, creating risks for the global economy. “The exceptional recent performance of the United States is certainly impressive and a major driver of global growth, but it reflects strong demand factors as well, including a fiscal stance that is out of line with long-term fiscal sustainability,” the IMF wrote in its latest World Economic Outlook. “This raises short-term risks to the disinflation process, as well as longer-term fiscal and financial stability risks for the global economy since it risks...

A series of weak auctions for U.S. Treasurys are stoking investors’ concerns that markets will struggle to absorb an incoming rush of government debt. ... inflation not tamed ... Federal Reserve will leave interest rates at multidecade highs for .. years to come. The 10-year yield—the benchmark for borrowing rates on everything from mortgages to corporate loans—finished the week around 4.5%... At the same time, the government is poised to sell another $386 billion or so of bonds in May—an onslaught that Wall Street expects to continue no matter who wins November’s presidential election. While few fear a failed auction—an...

An equation to understand the current confusion: National debt = issuance of Treasury bonds = printing dollars (Q.E.), and increasing the supply of money = federal spending. Therefore, national debt = federal spending. It’s the principle of equivalency. All those who work for a living, and who make their own way, pay this debt. The recipients of this spending, like welfare and entitlement beneficiaries and federal subsidies like E.V. credits, ride on the effort of those who work. Corporations don’t pay debt; they increase the price of their products and pass it along to buyers. Bottom line: Every citizen bears...

Illegal immigration weighs heavily on the wallets of hardworking American taxpayers - to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars annually.Still, the Biden administration turns a blind eye to these fiscal strains, neglecting the toll on our economy, the structural integrity of our nation, and the safety of our citizens.Estimates suggest that illegal immigrants cost each household about $1,000, adding up to more than $120 billion a year.Sources such as Newsweek hint that the true cost may be even higher, possibly reaching $150 billion annually, an amount shared by both federal and state governments. In all actuality, the financial...

Joe Biden, his Administration, and The Federal Reserve are really “The Alligator People.” Despite what they tell you, they have small brains (particularly Biden) and are hyperfocused on spending. A good example comes from “Wall Street On Parade” where they show that The Federal Reserve is still paying BILLIONS to US Treasury in the form of remittances (losses). While at the same time, paying the mega banks on Wall Street high interest loans. As of April 3 of this year, the Federal Reserve (Fed) has racked up $161 billion in accumulated losses. We’re not talking about unrealized losses on the...

“They have tried to solve a wide range of insoluble problems, from the weather to poverty to viruses, and now they will attempt to solve us.” —Eugyppius. This is that part of the movie where the hero — you — tumbles off the cliff on Kong Island in a lightning storm with a canyon full of tarantulas down below where you’ll soon be landing. I know, not a pretty picture. The cliff is our country’s financial quandary; the lightning is us getting sucked directly into war; and the tarantula pit below is the emerging peril of Covid vaccine injury and...

On Thursday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” White House Council of Economic Advisers member Heather Boushey stated that President Joe Biden is fighting inflation and its impact by “lowering the cost of student debt for all of those borrowers” with the student loan plan he announced earlier in the week. Boushey said, “[T]he President has been focused on using all the tools that he has at his disposal to make sure that he lowers costs for families. So, this is the first President to be negotiating with Big Pharma over prescription drug prices. That’s going to lower prices for...

When the economy is going well, people buy a lot on credit and keep current with their credit card debt. When the economy stinks, people still buy a lot on credit but fall behind in their payments. By that measurement, we're in a lot of trouble. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia published a study showing that the rate of credit card delinquencies — 30, 60, and 90 days past due — rose to a level not seen since 2012. And it gets worse. "Fourth quarter 2023 featured the worst card performance in the series," the report said. "All stages...