Free Republic

Broke would be an improvement for Michael Avenatti.The jail-bound lawyer who once took on former President Donald Trump is so impoverished that he sleeps on an air mattress at a friend’s house and can’t get a dime from anyone in his family, a newly unsealed court filing reveals.With mountainous debt and restitution demands, the once-brash lawyer said in the financial document from July 2020 that he’s beyond broke.

Casino titan Sheldon Adelson, who has almost single-handedly bankrolled a "super PAC" backing Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign, now believes Gingrich is "at the end of his line.".... Speaking to a group outside his Las Vegas hotel and casino, The Venetian, Adelson earlier this week criticized GOP front-runner Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, but acknowledged that his preferred candidate has little hope of becoming the nominee.... 'Cause, I mean, mathematically, he can't get anywhere near the numbers, and there's not - unlikely there'll be a brokered convention." Adelson, along with his wife and children, has donated $16.5 million to Winning Our...

Fiscal doom is confronting us. More Americans are face to face with the fact that their government has grown so large and is amassing so much debt that future prosperity is seriously jeopardized. Consequently, a greater number of politicians are openly acknowledging that reality, jumping on the fiscal conservative bandwagon. Bashing Washington (and all government for that matter) for its lack of fiscal restraint is becoming a popular sport and the opprobrium is certainly well deserved. Going unnoticed, however, are the many social factors that are contributing to our collective financial woes. While many prognosticators contend that our situation is...

Normally, today would be the last day for Southern California residents to see “The Glory of Easter” at Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove. For 27 years, Crystal Cathedral has presented the live stage production chronicling the final week of Jesus’ life with the last performance falling on the day before Easter. This year, however, marks the first time the production was not be held “due to severe economic downturn,” according to Robert H. Schuller, Crystal Cathedral’s founder and chairman of its board of directors. “We remain extremely grateful for the dedicated leadership of Paul and Jeanne Dunn and the hundreds...

California schools are woefully under-funded--one estimate of the shortage hovered at an astonishing $1 trillion--according to a massive new study due next week that is believed to be the most comprehensive evaluation ever of California's education system. The omnibus document, a collection of nearly two-dozen reports, is all but certain to set off a new policy debate in the education community and yet another political battle in the Legislature over education funding. The reports are not simply designed to place a dollar figure on what is needed in the schools. They are expected to take a much deeper look at...

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Hit by waning support from fatigued donor nations, the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) has been forced to borrow from banks to pay salaries to its 125,000 employees and may be unable to meet its February payroll, the economy minister said Tuesday. Meanwhile, an Israeli settler was shot dead in a West Bank ambush, and a Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites). With unemployment rampant outside the public payroll, Palestinians could be facing unprecedented economic collapse after three years of conflict with Israel. "We took...