Free Republic

U.S. employers cut payrolls for a second straight month during February, slashing 63,000 jobs for the biggest monthly decline in nearly five years as the nation's labor markets weakened steadily, a government report on Friday showed. The Labor Department said last month's cut followed an upwardly revised loss of 22,000 jobs in January rather than the 17,000 reported a month ago. It also said only 41,000 jobs were created in December, half the 82,000 originally reported. "This confirms the fears that have been lurking in the financial markets in recent weeks. The probability of a U.S. recession is at more...

...The US is insolvent. There is simply no way for our national bills to be paid under current levels of taxation and promised benefits. Our federal deficits alone now total more than 400% of GDP. That is the conclusion of a recent Treasury/OMB report entitled Financial Report of the United States Government that was quietly slipped out on a Friday (12/15/06), deep in the holiday season, with little fanfare. Sometimes I wonder why the Treasury Department doesn’t just pay somebody to come in at 4:30 am Christmas morning to release the report. Additionally, I’ve yet to read a single account...

JERUSALEM & D.C. WERE BLIND TO THIS 'BLACK DAY' By URI DAN JERUSALEM — The reaction here is: Shock and "Oy!" Like the shock-and-awe military tactics that transformed the Mideast in the Iraq war, Hamas' stunning election victory has instantly redrawn the balance of power in the region. This time, the Israeli political, intelligence and defense establishment was caught off guard. There were no intelligence estimates or evaluation that forecast a Hamas victory, let alone the landslide that the world woke up to yesterday. That means the Sharon-less Israeli government is working overtime to contain their shock — and the...

U.S. Supreme Court says cities have broad powers to take property.