Free Republic

Home foreclosure filings in New York rose nearly 70 percent in November compared to the same month a year ago, a much steeper increase than what happened nationally. The number of foreclosure filings in the U.S. rose 18 percent in November on a year-over-year basis, according to RealtyTrac, an online real estate company based in California. Even with the big jump in New York, the state continues to rank toward the bottom in terms of per-capita foreclosures in the United States. New York was 39th on the list. And, compared with the previous month, foreclosures are down 8 percent in...

WASHINGTON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. government racked up a gaping shortfall in the first two months of this fiscal year after posting a record budget deficit last year, congressional analysts said on Friday. In October and November, the government spent $292 billion more than it took in, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said. That was even worse than the same period last year, when the government was on its way to posting a record $1.4 trillion deficit for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. The federal budget has been battered by the worst economic downturn since the...

The Labor Department says initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 474,000. That was above analysts' expectations of 460,000. A Labor Department analyst says claims were partly inflated by a surge following the Thanksgiving holiday week, when many state unemployment offices were closed.

NO SPACE FOR COMPLETE EXPLANATION, CAN ONLY POST EXCERPTS. READ ENTIRE ARTICLE BY CLICKING ABOVE LINK : Potentially fatal flaws come in many forms. But three crop up the most when you talk to experts: excessive debt, superior competitors and the inability to keep up with technological change. 1. Palm With the Treo, Palm (PALM, news, msgs) was an early pioneer of the move to smart phones. So it doesn't seem right that stronger competitors such as Apple (AAPL, news, msgs) and Research In Motion (RIMM, news, msgs) are now going to crush it. But that seems to be Palm's...

America's freight rail industry was well represented in the annual Top 100 Military Friendly Employers for 2010 published by G.I. Jobs magazine. The magazine named four Class I freight railroads among the top 10 most military friendly employers, selecting Union Pacific as number one. CSX Corporation came in second among the top employers of military personnel, while BNSF Railway was fourth, and Norfolk Southern came in at number seven. "The nation's freight railroads maintain a strong commitment to the men and women who serve our country," said Edward R. Hamberger, president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads. "We're...

WASHINGTON (AP) - An unexpected surge in college enrollment has created an $18 billion shortfall in the Pell Grant program, the biggest in its history. An administration official told The Associated Press the program will cost $18 billion more than Congress and the White House had anticipated over the next three years. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the budget, spoke on condition of anonymity.

Obama is so transparent, petty and small, he is an embarrassment. O's latest Chicago way payback? He has nominated Larry Persily, who writes hit pieces on Palin for the Puff Ho, got that? Obama defines the hatred of the good for being the good. You go Sarah. W'vee got your back. Obama nominates former Palin aide to pipeline job [note lefturd Reuters headline -- as if he was part of her camp /not] WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama nominated Larry Persily, a former aide to ex-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, on Wednesday to be federal coordinator for Alaska Natural Gas...

I do my grocery shopping about every two weeks and today when I went I noticed a HUGE spike in produce prices - some items nearly doubling since my last trip, i.e. romaine. Other shoppers were commenting on it as well. Anyone noticing this nationwide?

President Barack Obama said "the freed-up money can help reduce the record-high federal budget deficit and "invest in job creation on Main Street rather than Wall Street."

As one who has made a career out of criticizing government and exposing the various predations of government, one would think I would be intelligent and wise enough not to expect that entity we know as "good government." In fact, given that I am quite familiar with the entire socialist calculation debate and have assigned numerous papers covering that subject to my MBA students, it should have dawned upon me by now that "good government" is an oxymoron at best and a delusional term at worst. Yet I must admit that whenever I see government doing something that is outrageous...

Via the New York Sun: A surprising thing is taking place as Sarah Palin starts speaking out on the issues in recent speeches, internet postings, and in the book tour she is now undertaking for her memoir “Going Rogue.” An outline is starting to appear in respect of the substance of her world view — call it “Palinism” — and it is far more substantive than her detractors suggest or than we gained a glimpse of during the campaign. She has been, in a straightforward way, stepping up on certain issues that her fellow Republicans would do well to emulate....