Free Republic

In many ways, Speaker Johnson didn’t bail out Democrats from a tough political predicament as much as he did his own Republican members.The outline of the spending agreement House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., cut with Democratic leaders sounds bad on its face. But the underlying reasons for that agreement seem far worse.As I wrote last week, “Speaker Johnson and Republican ‘leadership’ … bailed the Democrats out of the predicament they put themselves in last May.” To which I should make an important addition: In many ways, Johnson didn’t bail out Democrats from a tough political predicament as much as he...

Former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that today’s soaring inflation was former President Donald Trump’s fault. Heitkamp said, “You always blame the party in power. And, you know, the administration wasn’t aggressive enough, in my opinion, in pushing back on the red herrings. The red herrings like it’s because you didn’t build the Keystone XL pipeline and remind them one of the first things Donald Trump did was give the permit, and in four years, the pipeline didn’t get built? Why not? It wasn’t economical to build that pipeline in those price points. They argue...

At a time the wealthiest Americans have gotten even richer due to booming times on Wall Street, pernicious inflation would give working families a crushing blow.resident Biden claims he won’t raise taxes on families making less than $400,000 per year. But given Biden’s twists and turns on taxes—he now wants to eliminate a loophole he and his wife exploited to avoid more than $500,000 in taxes the past four years—Americans have reason to take his campaign promises with a grain of salt.Even if he does not levy taxes on middle-class families directly, Biden’s free-money policies are beginning to impose a...

The IIF said global debt would break new records in the coming months to reach $277 trillion by the end of the year. Among advanced nations, debt surged above 432% of GDP in the third quarter — a 50 percentage points increase from 2019. In emerging markets, debt levels rose to over 248% of GDP, with Lebanon, China, Malaysia and Turkey experiencing the biggest rises in non-financial-sector debt.

In fiscal year 2020, which ended on Sept. 30, the U.S. government set some impressive new records. The deficit came in at $3.1 trillion, twice the previous record of $1.4 trillion in 2009, which was set during the Great Recession, and three times the 2019 deficit of about $1 trillion. Federal spending hit $6.5 trillion, one-third of U.S. gross domestic product, a share unrivaled except for the later years of World War II when federal spending exceeded 40% of GDP. The U.S. national debt, $14 trillion when Donald Trump took office, now stands at $21 trillion, roughly the same size...

The state of the federal budget, shaky to begin 2020, is being pushed to the brink by the COVID-19 crisis. This year’s deficit is expected to reach $4 trillion, which is almost as much as last year’s $4.4 trillion total budget. Total federal debt held by the public is on track to exceed GDP for the first time since 1946. Lawmakers are currently negotiating another multi-trillion-dollar fiscal response package. Despite all this,  there are bipartisan efforts to use low interest rates as an excuse for yet more reckless deficit spending unrelated to the immediate crisis. President Trump in late March tweeted,...

Over the last 10 months we have seen Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) struggle with keeping her caucus in check. Months ago, she made it very clear the House would not move forward with impeaching President Donald Trump because of the it was an issue that divided Americans. She lost that fight to the extreme progressives of her party, in particular the freshman “Squad” consisting of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA). Even though she can’t control her caucus – or the very chamber she oversees – Nancy has a word of advice...

The Pi Day of the century, 3.14/15 is only a little over a week away. For a time now Pi Day has been all about fun and of course pie, but with the way in recent years, science and even reality itself have come more and more under attack, I’m thinking maybe this year it’s time for Pi Day to emerge as something more than just fun. For so much of our history, the people of our country and the world have benefited greatly from the science-based reality that has shaped America’s future. Science may be based on numbers, but...

I have had a fulfilling career as a pediatric neurosurgeon, which unfortunately included numerous instances where worst-case scenarios played out in the operating room. Good surgeons plan ahead for these possible events so that bad outcomes are minimized. But of course, few treatment plans will succeed if the doctor continually fails to make a proper diagnosis before surgery begins. When I look at our nation’s massive federal debt, it is clear that Washington has chronically misdiagnosed the situation, which has resulted in a seemingly never-ending cycle of borrowing and spending. Much like a life-threatening disease, if the underlying cause is...

You know how it is, you're going along with the lies that are told every day about "recovery" and "economic conditions are kinda "OK" and "we're doing all right" and then the mainstream media and "economists" like Goldman's Alec Phillips step on their ***** and tell the truth by accident. Economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., IHS Inc. (IHS) and BNP Paribas SA said they expect the Treasury to husband the tax money it collects to make sure it can meet interest and principal payments on the nation’s debt. Other obligations, from salaries of government workers to payments to defense...

If you're reading this, you've survived the "sequester" cuts! That may surprise you, since President Obama likened the sequester to taking a "meat cleaver" to government, causing FBI agents to be furloughed, prosecutors to let criminals escape and medical research to grind to a halt! The media hyped it, too. The NBC Nightly News said, "The sequester could cripple air travel, force firefighter layoffs -- even kick preschoolers out of child care!" The truth is that the terrifying sequester cuts weren't even cuts. They were merely a small reduction in government's planned increase in spending. A very small reduction. After...

As you folks all know I've been pounding the table for years about the fact that if we're serious about addressing what's wrong with our budget we must break the medical monopolies. Indeed, there's an entire sub-category of Tickers dedicated to Health Reform, which I started writing on when the entire Obama mess began and the discussion took off in earnest. But lately I've been asked to look once again at exactly what sort of realistic budget cuts we could make, especially now that the "fiscal cliff" game has been "punted." Let's remember something here folks -- last calendar year's...

Congress continues to show that they view us as serfs and view your hard earned money as automatically belonging to them first…..you should just be happy that they allow you to keep some...

Look, up in the sky! It’s a “fiscal cliff.” It’s a slope. It’s an obstacle course. The truth is, it doesn’t really matter what we call it. It only matters what it is: a lamebrained package of economic depressants bearing down on a lame-duck Congress. This hastily concocted mix of across-the-board spending cuts and tax increases for all was supposed to force Congress to get serious about dealing with our nation’s debt and deficit. The question everyone’s asking is this: On whose backs should we balance the federal budget? One side wants higher taxes; the other wants spending cuts. And...

President Barack Obama demands more stimulus spending to avoid the "fiscal cliff." Obama increased the national debt $6 trillion to $16 trillion. Yet the Democrats' 'cure for what ails ya' is even more spending. Obama demands around $75 billion in new spending to stimulate the economy in 2013. "Keynesian Economics" is the insane belief that the economy can be stimulated by government spending. It provides the excuse to depart from common sense that allows politicians to ignore the alarm bells. It is ludicrous mainly because our government doesn't have any money to spend. If the government had a surplus saved...

Negotiations can’t be going too well if the Senate Minority leader is openly scoffing at President Obama’s “bipartisan” plan to solve the looming “fiscal cliff” crisis. Yikes: Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, says he “burst into laughter” Thursday when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner outlined the administration proposal for averting the fiscal cliff. He wasn’t trying to embarrass Geithner, McConnell says, only responding candidly to his one-sided plan, explicit on tax increases, vague on spending cuts. Geithner’s visit to his office left McConnell discouraged about reaching a “balanced” deal on tax hikes and spending reductions designed to prevent a shock...

I beleive that if Obama wins this election he will move to nationalize our 401Ks and every other pension plan in the country. Why? Consider: Even after raising taxes on the "rich" he'll be no nearer to reducing the deficit; and then Obamacare kicks in. His big idea boys will look around and notice the trillions locked up in pensions and 401Ks. They'll figure its all the government's money anyway and so they'll grab it. They won't be able to go through the legislature so they'll need to use one of the Cabinet dept's to make the grab, and they'll...

The Labor Department announced on Monday that it will be awarding almost $100 million in grant funding to states to prevent layoffs by allowing businesses to pay employees as part-time workers and the federal government will pick up the tab for the cost of a full-time paycheck. The “work-sharing” program was passed as part of a Republican-led bill in the House, H.R. 3630, and Senate Amendment 1465 to extend the payroll tax deduction and unemployment benefits. In February 2012, President Barack Obama signed the bill into law, which included the $100 million in funding. "Establishing or expanding work-sharing programs nationwide...

As the title suggests, please name the latest bubble: (see picture - answer below)

Sometimes it helps to offer an analogy to show how utterly out of their minds they are in Washington when it comes to financial matters. We offer for your consideration, this short video. The names have been changed to protect the politicians.