Free Republic

NEW YORK (AP) — Consumers barely increased spending in May from April as still high inflation and high interest rates curbed spending. Retail sales rose 0.1% in May, below the pace that economists projected, according to the Commerce Department. And April sales were revised downward — a 0.2% decline, from unchanged. Sales rose 0.6% in March and 0.9% in February. That comes after sales fell 1.1% in January, dragged down in part by inclement weather. Excluding gas prices and auto sales, retail sales rose the same amount. Excluding sales from gasoline, whose prices have been falling, sales were up 0.3%....

CHICAGO - Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced an executive order Monday to establish a reparations task force and agenda aimed at addressing historical injustices against the African American community. The task force will develop a definition and framework for reparations, identifying areas for restorative action such as housing, education, jobs, and criminal justice. It is also responsible for conducting a comprehensive study to catalog policies that have harmed African Americans in Chicago, including controversial real estate practices like redlining and restrictive covenants. Johnson made the announcement during a Juneteenth flag-raising ceremony at Daley Plaza. "Reparations will be an investment in...

Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) is being mocked for owning a Prius as far-left electric vehicle policies become prominent issues in key Senate races. The Washington Post pointed out Tester’s ownership of a Toyota Prius in an article published Monday that highlighted that vulnerable Democrats are working to scramble away from President Joe Biden’s radical electric vehicle policies. “According to Tester’s memoir, published in 2020, he bought a used Prius to drive while in Washington, D.C.,” the Post notes.

Sorry folks, I think I've created a monster. There's a difference between hard rules and soft guidelines. FR is intended for family audiences. Even though I'm a sailor and a sinner I know not to use the F bomb in mixed company. So do you. But I think I effed up By isolating the sh word in a prior post. We all know that BS Is B S especially in politics. Even women and children know that BS is BS. No need to report it every time you see it. We're swamping our abuse reporting system. My own sainted mother...

Former chief White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci revealed in a forthcoming book that former President Trump dropped expletives during a 2020 phone call with him during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fauci recounted in a new autobiography that Trump dropped numerous expletives in the call just three months into the pandemic, according to reports from The New York Times and The Daily Beast. The Daily Beast reported that the rants included Trump screaming f-bombs at Fauci multiple times, according to the copy of the book obtained by the outlet. “The president was irate, saying that I could not keep doing this...

President Joe Biden’s campaign aired an ad on Monday that capitalized on the weaponization of government against his political opponent, former President Donald Trump. The Biden campaign has mostly shied away from campaigning on Trump’s criminal conviction — until now. In a $50 million ad buy through the end of June, Biden will cast Trump as a criminal and himself as a protector of family values. The Associated Press described the ad: Besides Trump’s criminal conviction, the ad, titled “Character Matters,” notes the former president also was found liable for sexual assault and financial fraud in separate proceedings. Trump also...

A few things that President Trump with a Republican House and Senate can do to immediately stop the downward spiral: Fire all the Democrat lawyers and activists you possibly can from government perches. Cut the government, cut the spending, for the first time ever. Slash the income tax for personal and business. Again. Make it permanent this time. Drill, baby, drill! Achieve energy independence again. Become a net exporter again. Secure the border. again. Deport all the illegals that can be deported. Then deport some more. Reapply the tariffs. Again. Get us out of foreign wars. Again. Tell the UN,...

(NewsNation) — Americans’ morning commutes are getting longer as remote work and rising housing costs continue to change the way people live. The share of “super-commutes,” those 75 miles or longer, is up by nearly a third since the start of the pandemic, according to new research from Stanford University. Those trips to the office typically take two hours and 20 minutes each way, nearly five hours total, the study found. For workers who super-commute daily, that’s almost a full 24-hour day of travel per week. However, a daily journey may not be the norm. Researchers suspect hybrid work is...

Constituents have not enjoyed a better life under the decades-long congressional reign of Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), challenger Duke Buckner said during an appearance on Breitbart News Daily, noting that individuals are struggling in that district under Democrat leadership. “Actually, at the end of this term, he will have had 32 years. So he’s been in there over 30 years, and it’s time for him to go,” Buckner said of Clyburn. “And I mean, he’ll be 84 years old next month, and all of his political clout and high rank and being the Majority Whip during the Obama administration has...

Mayor Eric Adams said Monday that the Big Apple is ready for its first heat wave of the year — but reminded city dwellers to prepare for a string of steamy days that could push the heat index up to nearly 100 degrees. “A heat wave can be more than just uncomfortable,” Adams said at a morning press conference. “It can be deadly and life-threatening if you are not prepared. But New York City has a plan to beat the heat, and we want all New Yorkers to have a plan, too.” Hizzoner urged New Yorkers to work slowly and...

CNN senior political data reporter Harry Enten said Monday on “News Central” that former President Donald Trump has historic strength with black voters. Host John Berman asked, “Where does the race stand among African-American voters right now?” Enten said, “I keep looking for this to change, to go back to a historical norm and it’s, simply put, has not yet. In 2020, Joe Biden was getting 86% of the African-American vote. Look at where it is now. It’s 70%, that’s a 16-point drop, John. And more than that, it’s not just that Joe Biden is losing ground, it’s that Donald...

Former President Barack Obama despairs at the state of political discourse in 2024, telling some 80 digital content creators we live in a “cynical time” and he finds solace in watching sports instead. The Hill reports Obama made his revelation at a glittering Biden campaign fundraiser with the president on Saturday in Los Angeles, telling a select group of TikTok and Instagram creators he understands the challenge “influencers” face avoiding politics in their work. “We live in a cynical time,” Obama said. “Let’s face it: I think a lot of the people who watch you, listen to you, who are...

(NEXSTAR) – Warning signs that could signal a rise in COVID infections are appearing in parts of the U.S. Wastewater testing, which can help detect the spread of a COVID in a community, has shown a significant uptick of the virus in several states. Testing sites in Montana and Florida are reporting “very high” levels of COVID, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. Levels are “high” in wastewater across Alaska, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland and New Mexico. Emergency room visits related to COVID-19 are also on the rise, the CDC says, spiking 12.6% in one week. The biggest...

(NEXSTAR) – The U.S. may have fallen off the list of the happiest countries for the first time this year but that doesn’t mean there aren’t pockets of happy folks across the nation. In fact, 10 U.S. cities recently ranked among the happiest cities in the world. Researchers with the Institute for Quality of Life, a London-based organization, recently released its latest ‘Happy City Index’ of the 250 happiest cities in the world. They analyzed various “indicators…that directly relate to the quality of life and the sense of happiness of its residents.” Cities needed to have at least 300,000 inhabitants,...

A stretch of Midtown Manhattan has become a “strip of despair,” where smacked-out addicts shoot up, light up and conk out at the feet of commuters and tourists, locals say. “I see a lot of things around here,” one shop owner told The Post of the so-called Eighth Avenue corridor near Penn Station, where there is a cluster of addiction clinics and homeless shelters. “Fights, drugs — oh my God — bad things. “I don’t know if they have knives or guns,” she said, explaining how people who appear to be both extremely high and severely disturbed regularly barge into...

The White House has reportedly grown weary of videos that appear to show President Joe Biden experiencing a cognitive decline and right-leaning media reporting on them. A report from the Daily Beast attempted to debunk a series of clips that appeared to show the president experiencing cognitive decline, saying they were either misrepresented or deceptively edited. The outlet did not address the fact that the president has exhibited public gaffes and memory lapses for several months now. From the report: In a statement to The Daily Beast, the White House fumed at the so-called “cheap fake,” which it contends is...

S​ummer 2024 is likely to be one of the hottest on record in the United States, according to an updated outlook released Friday by The Weather Company and Atmospheric G2. The heat will be widespread. Above-average temperatures are expected from the Southwest and Rockies to the East Coast, with parts of the Midwest, Plains, northern New England and the Southwest being the most above average. "We've run out of superlatives to describe what we expect as an historic summer." - Todd Crawford, Vice President of Meteorology, Atmospheric G2 The lone exception may be the West Coast, from western Washington to...

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) said Sunday on MSNBC’s “Inside” that former President Donald Trump did not love America. Host Jen Psaki said, “I’m sure you are aware of the controversy that broke out over some comments that Trump made about Milwaukee, which is hosting the Republican convention coming up later this summer. He reportedly called Milwaukee a horrible city. He called Washington a filthy and crime-ridden embarrassment. He has called Chicago worse than Afghanistan. He once called Baltimore a disgusting rat and rodent infested mess. These are America’s cities. what do you make of his comments, and what is driving...

ORLANDO, Fla. - Data this weekend indicates a low potential for a tropical depression or storm to form and track due west into the east coast of Florida or southeast Georgia by late Wednesday into Thursday. Such an event would be "extremely rare" for June, said FOX 35 Storm Team Meteorologist Noah Bergren. "Historically, only three storms have made landfall from the east in June," he added. "The most recent was Tropical Storm Danny in 2021, which hit South Carolina."

Joe Biden has logged yet another foreign policy disaster under his belt after the Pentagon announced the "Gaza pier" will be dismantled due to damage. Some press reports describe the move as "temporary," though it's questionable whether the project will ever resume after being completely torn down and towed away. This marks the latest in a string of logistical issues involving the president's prized pier. For context, the pier has been in place for less than a month, and it's already suffered multiple shutdowns related to moderate seas overtaking it. Here's the full timeline illustrating just how absurd this idea...