Free Republic

I don't care what FR neocons say UK/US are officially bombing one of the poorest countries on Earth. It's unconscionable. I want peace. Enough.

CNBC personality Rick Santelli said on Thursday’s “Squawk Box” that it takes a $1.19 to buy what a dollar bought before the coronavirus pandemic. Santelli said, “Our Consumer Price Index read for the month of December by Bureau of Labor Statistics expected to be up 0.2% up 0.3%. And if you strip out food and energy, it is exactly as expected, which is up 0.3%.” He continued, “Let’s go along here. Year over year, CPI is expected to be up 3.2. It’s up 3.4. The best it’s been was 3.0 in June of last year. That is the best since...

The House Freedom Caucus said it's a 'total failure' Republican hardliners in the House of Representatives are pushing back against the bipartisan deal struck on Sunday aimed at avoiding a government shutdown.The conservative House Freedom Caucus led the revolt against Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s agreement on Sunday evening, recirculating a late December memo that said any funding topline higher than $1.59 trillion would be "totally unacceptable.""It’s even worse than we thought," the group posted on X. "Don’t believe the spin. Once you break through typical Washington math, the true total programmatic spending level is...

The conservative House Freedom Caucus slammed House Speaker Mike Johnson's proposed top-line spending deal with Senate Democrats as a "total failure," arguing the potential agreement costs about $68 billion more than the Louisiana Republican said it would.Johnson told members of Congress on Sunday that he reached a $1.590 trillion spending deal with the Senate and White House, but the Freedom Caucus slammed the proposal later that evening in a post on X, formerly Twitter."It’s even worse than we thought," the caucus wrote. "Don’t believe the spin. Once you break through typical Washington math, the true total programmatic spending level is...

WASHINGTON -- The federal government's gross national debt has surpassed $34 trillion, a record high that foreshadows the coming political and economic challenges to improve America's balance sheet in the coming years. The U.S. Treasury Department issued a report Tuesday logging U.S. finances, which have become a source of tension in a politically divided Washington that could possibly see parts of the government shutdown without an annual budget in place. Republican lawmakers and the White House agreed last June to temporarily lift the nation's debt limit, staving off the risk of what would be a historic default. That agreement lasts...

WASHINGTON, Jan 2 (Reuters) - The U.S. federal government's total public debt has reached $34 trillion for the first time, the U.S. Treasury Department reported on Tuesday as members of Congress gear up for another series of federal funding battles in coming weeks. The Daily Treasury Statement for Friday showed that the total public debt outstanding rose to $34.001 trillion from $33.911 on Thursday. The debt that counts toward the federal debt ceiling rose to $33.89 trillion on Friday from $33.794 trillion on Thursday. This "debt subject to limit" category excludes the unamortized discount on Treasury bills and zero coupon...

Most do not realize that the West has been funding Ukraine’s entire government. Biden and other world leaders have promised Zelensky that they would fund the salaries and pensions for all Ukrainian politicians and government workers. Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister, issued a warning that Ukraine will be unable to pay MILLIONS of government employees if the West does not resume payments. The figures are correct. The West has the salaries of 500,000 Ukrainian civil servants on its payroll, along with 1.4 million teachers. The highest priced item is the 10 MILLION pensioners living completely off of foreign aid....

Lawmakers will resume negotiations in January with daunting prospects … … Under a provision of the debt ceiling law President Biden negotiated with House Republicans last year, an automatic 1% cut would hit agencies’ budgets on May 1 if Congress has not yet approved full-year funding. That was designed to disproportionately impact defense spending and therefore incentivize all sides to avoid the automatic reductions, as Republicans typically prioritize that side of the ledger. Due to “anomalies” included in stopgap measures, however, the Congressional Budget Office recently determined domestic agencies would shoulder the impact. Assuming a full year of funding for...

<p>Concerns about the high cost of countering the threat posed by the Yemeni armed forces in the Red Sea are growing in the Pentagon, according to US defense officials who spoke with Politico.</p><p>Sanaa has reportedly fired at least 100 drones toward Israeli-linked commercial vessels for the past month in support of the Palestinian people. US estimates place the cost of the domestic-made drones at $2,000 each.</p>

Biden is lucky in that many portray him as a senile, dumb US Senator who happens to be President. Perhaps Biden is actually insidious allowing for open borders in the hopes of crashing the US economy by overloading the welfare system and driving national debt through the roof? To the extent that this was Biden’s mission, destruction of the US economy, he has been wildly successful. According to the Center For Immigration Studies, 59% of non-citizen-headed households receive welfare. The Cloward-Piven strategy is to overload the welfare system to the point of chaos, take control and implement Marxism through government...

“Since 2009, this has been 100% artificial, unprecedented money printing and deficits; $27 trillion over 15 years, to be exact. This is off the charts, 100% artificial, which means we’re in a dangerous state,” Harry Dent told Fox News Digital. “I think 2024 is going to be the biggest single crash year we’ll see in our lifetimes.” “I’m the guy that’s praying for a crash while everybody else is not. We need to get back down to normal, and we need to send a message to central banks,” he continued. “This should be a lesson I don’t think we’ll ever...

In a distressing revelation, the Federal Reserve anticipates three rate cuts next year, acknowledging the challenge posed by persistent inflation. The economic engine falters as demand plummets for homes, vehicles, and goods, painting a grim picture of financial distress among Americans. Once deemed a lifeline, credit cards are now avoided, sinking below pre-pandemic levels. Soaring default rates further darken the economic landscape. Powell’s unexpected dovish shift marks a stark departure from his recent hawkish stance, signaling an alarming shift. The Fed’s surrender to inflation raises concerns, leaving a trail of confusion and uncertainty.

The House, in a decisive vote Thursday, passed the annual defense authorization bill, delivering a bipartisan rebuke to its most conservative members who had sought to infuse the legislation with a wishlist of provisions targeting Pentagon policies on abortion, diversity and LGBTQ+ rights. The $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was approved by a vote of 310-118, having passed the Senate by an overwhelming margin Wednesday night. It proceeds next to the White House, where President Biden is expected to sign the legislation into law.

In straightforward terms, let’s address a pressing concern: Inflation is here to stay, and the US deficit is spiraling out of control. Despite Treasury Secretary Yellen’s reassurances, there’s reason to be uneasy about the mounting US debt. Facing the facts, $1 trillion-plus US budget deficits are becoming the norm, and federal projections paint a grim picture with deficits surpassing $1 trillion through 2033. In essence, the likelihood of witnessing a year with a US deficit below $1 trillion seems increasingly improbable.

In a surprising move, the Federal Reserve is hinting at multiple rate cuts in 2024, sparking questions about the stability of the financial system. This decision has historical echoes, as every major rate cut since the 1970s has been followed by a substantial 30% drawdown in the S&P 500. For the first time in recent history, Chair Powell’s alignment with market expectations signals a potential departure from the usual cautious stance. The market has responded positively, with the S&P 500 on track for its 9th green day out of the last 10, reflecting investor confidence in the Federal Reserve’s promises.

As federal budget projections unveil a distressing trend, $1 trillion+ US budget deficits are solidifying their status as the new normal, stretching through 2033 and beyond. The grim reality suggests that witnessing a year with a deficit below $1 trillion may be an elusive prospect. In a disconcerting revelation, the US Treasury anticipates borrowing an additional $816 billion in Q1 2024 alone, with a significant portion allocated to deficit spending. The trajectory of deficit spending, as predicted by the Council on Foreign Relations, has propelled the US to allocate more funds to gross interest payments than to defense, painting a...

WASHINGTON — US Army leaders have publicly clamored for lawmakers to pass the stalled supplemental spending bill, in part, to ramp up artillery production lines. But two senior service officials told Breaking Defense they need the money for another critical task: backfilling US stocks of ground combat vehicles. “There’s definitely a little bit of a [funding] backlog there that we want to catch up on,” Army acquisition chief Doug Bush told Breaking Defense Dec. 2 on the sidelines of the Reagan National Defense Forum. The service needs those extra dollars, he added, in order to get replacement vehicles on contract....

In a concerning development, approximately one-third of the U.S. government’s debt is slated to mature in the next 12 months, posing a potential problem as highlighted by Apollo, one of the world’s largest asset managers. Apollo cautions that as we move into 2024, Treasury auction sizes are projected to be, on average, 23% higher than in 2023.

Raj Shah, the Deputy Chief of Communications for Speaker Johnson, has announced that Speaker Johnson is scheduled to meet with Volodymyr Zelensky at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. Zelenskyy’s visit coincides with a deadlock in Congress over an assistance package that is ‘supposed’ to combine funding for Ukraine with policy measures, including immigration and border security. In October, Joe Biden requested massive funding of over $100 billion earmarked for defense assistance to Israel and Ukraine, along with border security funding in the US, and aid to nations in the Indo-Pacific, including Taiwan.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California is facing a record $68 billion budget deficit, state officials announced Thursday, forcing hard choices for Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom in his final term as he works to build his national profile. The nation's most populous state — with an economy that is the fifth largest in the world — has been struggling since last year because of the rising prices of most goods and services and how the U.S. government has been trying to control it. It is now much more expensive for people and businesses to borrow money, meaning fewer people are buying...