Free Republic

“With few exceptions”? It’s that last caveat that amused many on social media when NBC reported on a declaration from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Donald Trump’s tax attorneys for the past twelve years. Charles Murray scored the best response on Twitter, joking that “I’ve loved my visits to Middlebury, with few exceptions.”However, the letter does explicitly state the exceptions, which are pretty minor: NEW: NBC News obtains copy of Trump tax lawyers' letter re: any Russian investments reported on US federal tax returns. pic.twitter.com/XEIPyThxTm— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) May 12, 2017 Supposedly, the big issue behind both the push...

Last week, Puerto Rico took another step in its long, mostly futile attempt to stabilize its economy and budget when it filed for a modified version of municipal bankruptcy. It was the latest chapter in a 20-year struggle that began when an odd coalition of budget hawks, statehood advocates, and critics of corporate giveaways convinced Congress to phase out tax benefits that businesses could garner by locating operations in Puerto Rico. Since then, efforts to make Puerto Rico’s economy more independent and sustainable have come to little, in part because the 1996 reforms were incomplete, leaving in place tax advantages...

Federal issues tend to suck up the news cycle, thus, readers likely know more about federal debt than state and local debt, even though state and local debt drag the economy down at least as effectively. This is all the more ironic because local debt should be easier to control. In theory, local voters should have more knowledge and could have more say in state and local budgets.Alas, the ratings draw to national news wins. Local issues should get most of our attention but do not. In the case of public debt, politicians are able to make promises without...

In survey after survey, most Americans tell pollsters they want politicians to address the national debt. Support for specific policies may ebb and flow over time, but what rarely changes are the promises politicians make and break in response. Image via Musée McCordAlmost all politicians pledge to spend responsibly while on the stump, but once they’re in office, voters are at the mercy of a system so complex and crisis-driven it becomes all but impossible to know who’s keeping their word.So who is?As only someone who founded and runs an organization dedicated to reforming federal spending can tell you, understanding...

Americans are struggling to get out of the red. Some 40% of Americans with debt are spending up to half of their monthly income paying it back. And that may not even be enough to cover how much they owe. That’s according to a study on debt Thursday released by Northwestern Mutual, a life insurance and financial services company. The polling company Harris Poll surveyed more than 2,000 U.S. adults in February 2017 on behalf of Northwestern Mutual. The survey found that nearly half of Americans are carrying at least $25,000 in debt, with an average debt of $37,000, excluding...

The Fed likes to brag about the “We saved the world” recovery. However, the unfortunate truth of the matter is a record Half of American Families Live Paycheck to Paycheck. Does it Matter? Let’s investigate. Unprepared for Nearly Anything * 50% are woefully unprepared for a financial emergency. * Nearly 1 in 5 (19%) Americans have nothing set aside to cover an unexpected emergency. * Nearly 1 in 3 (31%) Americans don’t have at least $500 set aside to cover an unexpected emergency expense, according to a survey released Tuesday by HomeServe USA, a home repair service. * A separate...

But don’t blame the oil bust. Commercial bankruptcy filings, from corporations to sole proprietorships, spiked 28% in March from February, the largest month-to-month move in the data series of the American Bankruptcy Institute going back to 2012. They’re up 8% year-over-year. Over the past 24 months, they soared 37%! At 3,658, they’re at the highest level for any March since 2013. Commercial bankruptcy filings skyrocketed during the Financial Crisis and peaked in March 2010 at 9,004. Then they fell sharply until they reached their low point in October 2015. November 2015 was the turning point, when for the first time...

The federal government once again hit the debt ceiling. The ceiling limits the amount of money the federal government can borrow — a number that was set at $20.1 trillion. Although the issue should have been dealt with in 2015, then-Speaker John Boehner capitulated to President Obama and postponed the debt limit until March 16, 2017. Since then, the federal debt has grown by $1,414,397,000,000 — more than one trillion in less than two years. President Trump promised during his campaign to bring back American prosperity and make Washington work for everyone — not just for the small group of...

During his campaign, Donald J. Trump embraced the cause of fiscal responsibility and accused President Barack Obama of shackling the country with a “mountain of debt.” Mr. Obama “doubled our national debt. Doubled it,” Mr. Trump claimed in a speech in Virginia Beach. Then on Wednesday, Mr. Trump unveiled the outlines of his much-anticipated tax overhaul, calling for steep tax cuts with only modest offsetting revenue increases. Economists I spoke to this week estimate it would add trillions to the national debt over the next decade. “We’ve only done the rough numbers, but this looks like a tax cut of...

Where to start… A few days ago Nassim Nicholas Taleb wrote, “So we end up populating what we call the intelligentsia with people who are delusional, literally mentally deranged, simply because they never have to pay for the consequences of their actions, repeating modernist slogans stripped of all depth. In general, when you hear someone invoking abstract modernistic notions, you can assume that they got some education (but not enough, or in the wrong discipline) and too little accountability.” On Monday, James Kunstler wrote, “But the dishonesty at work is pretty obvious, and the problem with dishonesty in financial affairs...

Wisconsin’s highways are seriously underfunded. According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Transportation Fund Solvency report, spending only the $28 billion projected to be available over the next decade will lead to double the number of highway miles in “poor” condition — and will preclude even planning any highway expansions for nearly 40 years. Borrowing enough to spend $31 billion would slightly reduce the amount of “poor” highway miles but still would preclude planning any highway expansions until 2040. But a second WisDOT report offers a way out. Extensive research done last year for the DOT by the consulting firm...

USA Today is reporting that the government may shut down by this coming Friday if Congress does not provide President Trump with a bill to keep it going. Congress returns Monday with just five days left to keep the government from shutting down, and President Trump is adding to the pressure by demanding money for a Southwest border wall and other controversial programs that threaten a bipartisan deal. Lawmakers passed a stop-gap spending bill in December to fund federal agencies through midnight next Friday. Congressional leaders are now scrambling to reach a bipartisan compromise on new legislation to keep the...

The idea of doing away with the Maine Turnpike Authority and eliminating tolls has a long and unsuccessful history through both Democratic and Republican administrations.Gov. Paul LePage revived the concept at a town hall meeting in Gorham on Wednesday night, saying he would like to see the turnpike authority merged with the Maine Department of Transportation and the elimination of almost all tollbooths, having one only in Kittery to collect tolls from out-of-state drivers. “The only toll we should have is for the visitors coming in and out of the state in the summer months,” LePage said, adding that Mainers...

More than a year behind schedule, the massive project to add toll lanes to 11 miles of MoPac Expressway is now costing the government agency overseeing construction some of its savings. The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is dipping into its cash reserves to repay some of the $230 million it owes to the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Austin American-Statesman reports. The agency said once the rest of the toll lanes open — which is now projected to happen June 15, per the Statesman — the revenue collected will solve such cash flow problems. The tolls are expected...

The U.S. government posted a budget deficit in March that is markedly higher than a year ago, as government spending outpaced revenue for the month.The budget deficit hit $176.2 billion in March, up from $108 billion the same month last year. The year-to-date deficit is $527 billion, up 14.7 percent from the $479 billion budget deficit in March 2016. Total government revenue fell by 5 percent in March, down to $217 billion from $393 billion in the same month of 2016.A large part of the deficit increase is due to government officials’ decision to shift $42 billion in benefit payments...

While 86 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 see owning a house as more affordable than renting —and 68 percent view their first house as a "stepping stone" to a dream home — just one in five think they can make a down payment, according to a new report released Wednesday by Bank of America. (The bank, it should be noted, made an unusually low $960 million in consumer mortgage banking income last year.) Millennials, the generation that last year, for the first time in the modern era, became more likely to live with their parents...

Ashley Hardin dreamed of being a professional photographer — glamorous shoots, perhaps some exotic travel. So in 2006, she enrolled in the Brooks Institute of Photography and borrowed more than $150,000 to pay for what the school described as a pathway into an industry clamoring for its graduates. “Brooks was advertised as the most prestigious photography school on the West Coast,” Ms. Hardin said. “I wanted to learn from the best of the best.”

Federal Reserve officials said the shedding of the $4.5 trillion in bonds the central bank is holding on its balance sheet will begin this year. The revelation came Wednesday from a summary of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting held in March, during which the group approved a quarter-point hike in its benchmark interest rate target. Officials at the meeting noted that the Fed likely is on a faster pace with rate hikes ahead. Unwinding the balance sheet is significant both because of its sheer size and the impact it could have on markets, as Fed members including Chair Janet...

The rising burden of student debt is weighing on interest rates in the U.S., and it would be a “reasonable conversation” for policy makers to explore making college tuition free, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley said. The growing pile of student debt is “obviously one headwind to economic activity” that “probably pushes in that direction of lower equilibrium real rates” because it limits households’ spending power, Dudley said Monday during a press briefing in New York.

President Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday to cut red tape to speed up approval of infrastructure projects and said his overhaul could top $1 trillion on roads, tunnels and bridges, one of his 2016 election campaign promises. Trump, a real estate businessman before he was elected, did not provide further details on the amount or where the money would come from. Trump said building a highway can require dozens of approvals and take 10 to 20 years, a process he vowed to speed up. Trump said he would not fund projects that cannot be started within 90 days. The administration...