Free Republic

In the aftermath of the pandemic, wealth inequality in the United States has intensified, according to reports from the New York Fed and Reuters. This outcome aligns with expectations, given the surge in financial assets that largely exclude those with minimal net worth. Individuals without exposure to these assets rely solely on earnings growth to accumulate wealth, further widening the economic gap. A concerning trend accompanies this disparity. Credit card debt witnessed a significant uptick, surging by 14.5% in the fourth quarter of 2023, as reported by CNBC. This increase places additional financial strain on individuals grappling with a lack...

When President Obama took office, the economy was losing 800,000 jobs per month. Today, we are in the midst of the longest streak of job growth on record. U.S. businesses have added 15.6 million jobs since early 2010. The unemployment rate has been cut by more than half from its peak. Rising home prices have brought millions of homeowners back above water. We’re less reliant on foreign oil than we have been in nearly three decades. We’ve cut our budget deficit by two-thirds as a share of the economy. Last year, the poverty rate fell by more than any year...

Full Tirle****************************************************** Obama Blames ‘Talk Radio,’ ‘Domestic Propagandists’ for Rise of State-Sponsored ‘Fake News’*************************************‘So if we want to really reduce foreign influence on our elections, then we better think about how to make sure that our political process, our political dialogue is stronger than it’s been’ Dec 16, 2016

Records Show Obama Hired Behavioral Experts to Expand Use of Govt. Programs - Judicial Watch http://www.judicialwatch.org/the-blog/records-show-obama-hired-behavioral-experts-expand-use-govt-programs/ Records Show Obama Hired Behavioral Experts to Expand Use of Govt. Programs SEPTEMBER 08, 2016 The Obama administration quietly hired 20 social and behavioral research experts to help expand the use of government programs at dozens of agencies by, among other things, simplifying federal forms, according to records obtained by Judicial Watch. The controversial group of experts is collectively known as the Social and Behavioral Sciences Team (SBST) and it functions under the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). In 2015...

The Obama administration is turning to HBO, Snapchat, and a controversial, Oscar-winning screenwriter to help them fight ISIS. Earlier this year, the State Department convened a group of friends in the U.S. film industry, social media, and premium cable TV to brainstorm ways to counter jihadist propaganda.

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell insisted Monday that Obamacare is “clearly working,” trying to move past the rocky rollout of President Obama's signature health law by insisting that her agency was not concerned with fighting “last year's battles.” Burwell in a speech at George Washington University said that the verdict was in on Obama's signature domestic initiative. “The Affordable Care Act is clearly working,” the HHS chief said. “Healthcare is more affordable for families, businesses and for our economy as [a] whole. Coverage and services are more widely available to more people. Doctors and hospitals are delivering...

For some, Animal Planet’s annual “Puppy Bowl” is more sacred than the Super Bowl. CNN summed it up in a nutshell: . . . the sublime result of pairing a bunch of wiggly puppies — 66, in fact — with squeaky toys and a mini-stadium set. Add a “rufferee” and a kitty-filled halftime, and every floppy tackle or slobbered-on football inspires an unintelligible burst of baby talk and giggles. That’s the power of puppies! Maybe it’s not for everyone, but those who love it want to keep politics out, and who can blame them? This year, Michelle Obama had to...

Mara ShankarYalie20-something The New Boss of Everything Maya Shankar is a senior policy advisor at the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy. Her mandate is to supervise the organization of a federal government 'nudge squad' that will subtly change the behaviors of bureaucrats -- and the rest of us. When does a nudge become a shove? Americans may find out, as the federal government is setting up a 'behavioral insights team' to tinker with the way we accomplish everything from saving money and staying in school to losing weight and becoming more energy-efficient. The Obama administration's grand plans...

According to Fox News, the Obama administration is building a team of experts in psychology to come up with ways to subtly persuade Americans to change their behavior in ways the government approves of – kind of like lab rats, Pavlov’s dogs or teachers unions. The “Behavior Insights Team” team is only in its formative stages, but its goals are all ambitious, according to a recruiting letter Fox said it obtained from a university professor who was identified for membership: “Behavioral sciences can be used to help design public policies that work better, cost less, and help people to achieve...

The U.S. government is looking to recruit members for what some are calling a “Behavioral Insights Team,” a panel of experts that will study human behavior so as to “design public policies that work better, cost less, and help people to achieve their goals,” according to a document describing the program...

The federal government is hiring what it calls a "Behavioral Insights Team" that will look for ways to subtly influence people's behavior, according to a document describing the program obtained by FoxNews.com. Critics warn there could be unintended consequences to such policies, while supporters say the team could make government and society more efficient. While the program is still in its early stages, the document shows the White House is already working on such projects with almost a dozen federal departments and agencies including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture. "Behavioral sciences can be...

Bureau of Land Management officials say they believe the blaze was caused when a bullet hit a rock and sparked the fire. This is the 20th target-shooting related fire this year in Utah, they said.

President Barack Obama said Sunday that United States will not hesitate to attack Iran with military force to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon, but he cautioned that "too much loose talk of war" recently has only helped Tehran and driven up the price of oil. Speaking to a powerful pro-Israel lobby, Obama appealed to Israel for more time to let sanctions further isolate Iran. He sought to halt a drumbeat to war with Iran and hold off a unilateral Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. "For the sake of Israel's security, America's security and the peace and security...

President Barack Obama on Friday sacked a controversial proposed regulation tightening health-based standards for smog, bowing to the demands of congressional Republicans and some business leaders. Obama overruled the Environmental Protection Agency and directed administrator Lisa Jackson to withdraw the proposal, in part because of the importance of reducing regulatory burdens and uncertainty for businesses at a time of rampant uncertainty about an unsteady economy. The announcement came shortly after a new government report on private sector employment report showed that businesses essentially added no new jobs last month — and that the jobless rate remained stuck at a historically...

President Barack Obama announced Friday that he was directing the EPA to withdraw a draft regulation that would tighten air quality standards for Ozone due to concerns about costs. In a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner Tuesday, Obama revealed that the rule under consideration by the Environmental Protection Agency could cost up to $90 billion to implement. Obama said that while he supports the regulation, it will be updated again in 2013, adding, "ultimately, I did not support asking state and local governments to begin implementing a new standard that will soon be reconsidered." The proposed regulation,...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Friday scrapped his administration's controversial plans to tighten smog rules, bowing to the demands of congressional Republicans and some business leaders. Obama overruled the Environmental Protection Agency — and the unanimous opinion of its independent panel of scientific advisers — and directed administrator Lisa Jackson to withdraw the proposed regulation to reduce concentrations of ground-level ozone, smog's main ingredient. The decision rests in part on reducing regulatory burdens and uncertainty for businesses at a time of rampant uncertainty about an unsteady economy.

Detailed technical analysis of the PDF file the White House released April 27 indicates it is not a scan of the original document, as claimed by the White House, but instead is the final form of an electronic file used to forge the birth certificate on Adobe software, according to reports by experts. Failure to demonstrate how a simple computer scan can produce the effects observed in the Obama birth certificate PDF lends support to arguments that the Obama birth certificate is a forgery, the experts contend. OBOTs jump to defend Obama birth certificate The radical Obama supporters known as...

'There isn't much point to denial,' source says of White House-linked James A. Johnson A radical Obama supporter who organizes an "Obama-Robot" website has admitted in online posts that WND correctly identified former chairman of Fannie Mae chairman James A. Johnson as the group's White House-associated ring-leader. William L. Bryan, who posts under the username "P.J. Foggy," is the organizer of Fogbow.com, a self described "OBOT," or "Obama-Robot" website. On his weekly "Reality Check Radio" broadcast July 21, Bryan began the show by acknowledging the veracity of the WND report. "As far as I know [WND] got the boss," he...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The American economy is now strong enough to withstand Middle East turmoil and the Japanese nuclear crisis. Only a big rise in the price of oil could stop it now. Those are the findings of an Associated Press survey of leading economists, who are increasingly confident in a recovery that is nearly two years old. They expect the economy to grow faster every quarter this year.

NEW YORK – Circulation continues to drop severely at U.S. newspapers, though the rate of decline slowed from the previous six-month reporting period. Figures released Monday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations show average weekday circulation fell 8.7 percent in the six months that ended March 31, compared with the same period a year earlier. Sunday circulation fell 6.5 percent. That's a slight improvement from April through September of last year, when average weekday circulation dropped 10.6 percent from a year earlier and Sunday circulation fell 7.5 percent. Even so, the top 25 newspapers in the country showed some huge...