Free Republic

Economists don’t have to be right – ever. They just have to say what fits the liberal mindset. Since the proved pedophile John Maynard Keynes told Franklin Roosevelt the way to get America out of the Depression was to make prices so high no one could afford to buy anything, liberals have used economists to justify their failed policies. The latest stupid prediction from the Democrats’ useful economists (DuE) fits perfectly into this construct. When faced with a terrible 0.2% GDP growth rate for the first quarter they told us, “U.S. economic growth braked more sharply than expected in the...

Gov. Scott Walker told a heavily — if not exclusively — Christian crowd gathered at the Italian Community Center in Milwaukee Thursday to go out and share their faith with the world, and to pray for their leaders in government and business regardless of party or position. "Always pray for our leaders so that God's will will be followed rather than their own," he said. Walker spoke at the annual Governor's Prayer Breakfast, organized by the West Allis-based Christian publishing nonprofit ProBuColls Association. An evangelical Christian, Walker has been increasingly open about his faith on the campaign trail, as he...

Lynn Parramore: How would you describe the problem of Too Big to Fail banks. Whey does it matter to an ordinary person? Anat Admati: Too Big to Fail is a license for recklessness. These institutions defy notions of fairness, accountability, and responsibility. They are the largest, most complex, and most indebted corporations in the entire economy. We all have to be really alarmed by the fact that not only do we still have such institutions, but many of them are ever-larger and more complex and at least as dangerous, if not more so, than they were before the financial crisis....

Since becoming governor of Wisconsin in 2011, Republican presidential hopeful Scott Walker has signed into law 15 tax bills that have reduced taxes by nearly $2 billion. “Every action of our administration should be looked at through the lens of job creation,” Walker told lawmakers in early 2011. In that year, despite a looming fiscal deficit, he persuaded the Republican-controlled Legislature to enact a variety of tax incentives for employers. Those included a tax credit for business relocations to Wisconsin, a credit for manufacturing and agriculture, capital gains tax relief for new investment in Wisconsin, a deduction for new hires,...

Fed chief Janet Yellen rattled the stock market Wednesday when she said "equity market valuations at this point generally are quite high," saying that raises "potential dangers." She added that she doesn't see "the hallmarks of a bubble," but stocks retreated from opening gains and traded lower, though the major averages closed off intraday lows. Are stocks overvalued? After a six-year bull market, a correction should be expected, although the odds favor a more garden variety downturn of 20% or so over a period of several months, not the painful free-falls of 2000-02 or 2008. Wednesday's selling prompted IBD to...

When he came to office, not unlike other politicians, Obama made many promises. Nearly every promise he made has remained unfulfilled — with one exception: The promise that “change has come to America.” My dad used to tell me that nothing was so good it could not be better or be so bad it could not get worse. Things have indeed gotten worse, much worse, and it would appear that there is no bottom as to how far we may ultimately fall at the hands of an administration and politicians from both sides of the aisle, who only care about...

Republican Mike Huckabee launched a bid for his party's 2016 presidential nomination on Tuesday, zeroing in on the plight of blue-collar American workers who have been left behind in the country's rebound from the Great Recession. The 59-year-old former Arkansas governor and former host of a popular Fox News television show is considered a long shot in the widening race to represent the Republican Party in the November 2016 election. He is the sixth Republican to make a formal run. Huckabee's emphasis on American workers marks an attempt to expand his base beyond social conservative voters who the former Southern...

One of America’s most astute businessmen, known for having expanded the Las Vegas strip of resort hotels and casinos in the 1990s, says the U.S. remains mired in an economic funk and any talk of a broad recovery is “pure fiction. A lie.” Steve Wynn, the 73-year-old founder and CEO of Wynn Resorts, made the comments in a televised interview with Jon Ralston of PBS’ “Ralston Live.” He opened the Wynn Hotel and casino in Macao, China, in 2006, and is known as an international gaming and casino magnate. Wynn’s Macao operation recently reported a 28 percent quarterly loss in...

The nation’s first black President has so poorly served the interests of the African-American population that they are worse off today Commenting on the rioting in Baltimore, the Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Henniger was almost to the end of his April 30 text when he said “On Wednesday morning, the year’s first-quarter GDP growth rate came in—0.02%. Next to nothing. For the length of the Obama presidency, with growth significantly below norm, unemployment for blacks aged 24 and younger has hovered between 30% and 40%. That’s the real powder key, not the police.” Most Americans do not put the state...

WASHINGTON (CNN) —Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush may be the most popular Republican presidential hopeful nationwide, but he trails his rivals badly in the critical state of Iowa, according to a new poll released Wednesday.... The top Republican in Iowa is Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who garnered support from 21% of those surveyed. Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas, Marco Rubio of Florida, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee are tightly packed for second place, each earned between 13% and 11% support. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who unveiled his campaign on Monday, tallied 7% of the vote....

In the 2016 presidential race, a new poll shows New Jersey Republicans prefer a governor who isn’t theirs. Their choice would be Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. According to a Monmouth University poll released today, in a matchup between Walker and Gov. Christie, 44 percent of New Jersey Republicans would pick Walker, while 30 percent would go with their own governor. Three months ago, the state’s Republicans had favored Christie over Walker, 51 percent to 30 percent.

Gov. Scott Walker wants to make the most public fight of his administration a national issue should he run for president. In an interview with Radio Iowa, the Wisconsin Republican made the case for a national “right to work” law: “As much as I think the federal government should get out of most of what it’s in right now, I think establishing fundamental freedoms for the American people is a legitimate thing and that would be something that would provide that opportunity in the other half of America to people who don’t have those opportunities today.”Currently, twenty-five states have right-to-work...

Best-selling author Harry Dent says the stock bubble we have today is the biggest in history.  Dent contends, “Now we’re in a third bubble, and each of these bubbles peaks at higher highs, and then they each crash to lower lows.” “We’ve been looking for the Dow to peak right around here between 17,000 and 19,000.  So, we are right in the middle.  We are looking for an even bigger correction likely in late 2016 to 2017.  This whole thing has been in an artificial bubble” “We’d be in a depression right now if it were not for $11 trillion...

Though he is among the earliest of those in the Millennial generation- individuals born from 1982 through 1997- and is now older than 30- David Weliver is the creator and editor of the website MoneyUnder30.com. He speaks from first-hand experience when he says that finding a source of income, i.e. work, has got to be Priority #1 once you graduate. “If you don’t have a job lined up right out of college, you need to focus on your career search.” In addition, he says you should take time to “project what your life is going to look like in 6...

It turns out the US economy may have contracted in the first quarter. Last week, we learned that gross domestic product grew by just 0.2% in the first quarter, far below the 1% economists had expected. Then on Tuesday, the Commerce Department reported that the trade deficit in March exploded to a six-year high, $51.4 billion. The surge in the deficit — the gap between imports and exports — has been largely blamed on the nine-month slowdown at West Coast ports, which has been resolved. The slowdown and strike over a labor dispute limited the flow of goods through some...

Baltimore Is Not About Race Government-induced dependency is the problem—and it’s one with a long history. By William McGurn May 4, 2015 For those who see the rioting in Baltimore as primarily about race, two broad reactions dominate. One group sees rampaging young men fouling their own neighborhoods and concludes nothing can be done because the social pathologies are so overwhelming. In some cities, this view manifests itself in the unspoken but cynical policing that effectively cedes whole neighborhoods to the thugs. Opinion Journal Video Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Jason Riley on what prompted the violence and what comes next....

Republican presidential hopeful Gov. Scott Walker teased a new stance on immigration on Glenn Beck's radio show recently: Now, he wants to decrease legal immigration into the United States. Walker's shift brings up several questions about how Americans — in particular, Republicans — think about immigration. Given the more pro-immigration positions of Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, Walker's move is a likely strategic play for the anti-immigration portion of the party. But public opinion polling data from The Chicago Council on Global Affairs shows that it is unlikely to benefit him politically in the long run. Overall, we find that...

Baltimore Received $1.8 Billion from Obama’s Stimulus Law City burned despite ‘massive investment’ implemented by president BY: Elizabeth Harrington May 4, 2015 5:00 am The city of Baltimore received over $1.8 billion from President Barack Obama’s stimulus law, including $467.1 million to invest in education and $26.5 million for crime prevention. President Obama claimed last Tuesday that if the Republican-controlled Congress would implement his policies to make “massive investments in urban communities,” they could “make a difference right now” in the city, currently in upheaval following the death of Freddie Gray. However, a Washington Free Beacon analysis found that the...

MADISON—Under Republican Gov. Scott Walker, Wisconsin has seen a nearly 12-fold increase in the number of people suspended annually from the state’s food stamp program for fraud.The suspensions for “intentionally violating program rules” are part of a larger get-tough approach to people receiving federally funded nutrition assistance, called FoodShare in Wisconsin. Walker has also introduced new work rules for some FoodShare recipients, and proposes to seek a federal waiver to begin requiring all adult participants of the program to undergo drug testing.In 2011, Walker’s first year as governor, 102 people were suspended from the FoodShare program for violating program rules,...

Wisconsin ranks 40th in the nation for job growth, or so says a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Many in the media and political circles pounced on the release as evidence that the policies of Republican Gov. Scott Walker, a potential presidential candidate, have left the Badger State trailing much of the nation. But the report failed to give sufficient context to Wisconsin’s job growth. The BLS, along with other reports touting similar results, ranked states based on how much private employment increased over a year. Why might Wisconsin’s employment increase seem modest? One reason could be that more...