Free Republic

In striking down vast new authority that the Obama and Biden administrations had claimed for the Environmental Protection Agency , the Supreme Court stopped the expansion of, but did not roll back, the powers of bureaucracies to self-seize ever-greater power. The decision was a clear but limited victory for those wanting to honor the Constitution’s separation of powers and restrain governmental overreach. At issue, in terms of practical policy, was whether the EPA, when under left-wing political leadership, can force coal plants to choose (essentially) between reducing the amount of energy they produce for public use or spending billions of...

The growth rate of real gross domestic product (GDP) is a key indicator of economic activity, but the official estimate is released with a delay. Our GDPNow forecasting model provides a "nowcast" of the official estimate prior to its release by estimating GDP growth using a methodology similar to the one used by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. GDPNow is not an official forecast of the Atlanta Fed. Rather, it is best viewed as a running estimate of real GDP growth based on available economic data for the current measured quarter. There are no subjective adjustments made to GDPNow—the...

The Fed is raising interest rates aggressively in an attempt to tame raging inflation. But according to legendary investor Rick Rule — former president and CEO of investment fund Sprott U.S. Holdings — things may not go as planned for America’s central bank. “I think they’ll chicken out,” he told Stansberry Research earlier this month. “If we had a period of real interest rates it would certainly cure inflation, but it wouldn't cure inflation until it did amazing damage to various balance sheets.” This isn't the first time Rule has voiced concern about the economy’s ability to handle substantially higher...

It’s the last day of Q2, 22. Let’s see how Biden has faired according to Rasmussen’s approval index throughout his time in residence. The approval index is the difference of strongly approve and strongly disapproved. Rasmussen polls every non holiday weekday. They use a three day moving average. Historically: The debut for Biden’s approval index was January 22, 2021 at -2. That’s for a resident that was just elected with more votes (cough) than any other President. American hearts were filled with love on the Friday prior and Monday following St. Valentine’s Day when Biden had an approval index of...

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Thursday will launch a $1 billion pilot plan to address what he sees as cities and neighborhoods racially segregated or divided by roads. Buttigieg has previously declared “there is racism physically built” into U.S. infrastructure, promising to address it soon after taking office. As Breitbart News reported, he argued that some highways and bridges across several cities were designed to divide communities by race. “Well if you’re in Washington, I’m told that the history of that highway is one that was built at the expense of communities of color in the D.C. area,” he said....

(No search results) Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Cassidy Hutchinson shared a warm embrace on Tuesday after the partisan January 6 Committee heard testimony from the 26-year-old witness. The emotional spectacle raised red flags from some onlookers, who questioned the objectivity and fairness of the committee’s hearing. “If questioner (Cheney) wants to appear fair to jury (American people), it probably is not a good idea to get caught on camera hugging the witness,” Newsmax’s Greta Van Susteren said.

A study conducted by FOX News Digital shows higher gun ownership “[does] not correlate with more gun murders.” FOX News Digital compiled data from FBI stats on 2019 and reported “many states with higher percentages of gun ownership had lower or similar murder and gun murder rates to states with strict gun control.” The findings showed, “Montana and Wyoming came in the top spots for states with the highest percentages of gun ownership, with more than 66% of households with at least one firearm. However, the states also saw murder and gun murder rates similar to states with strict gun...

Even though more voters identify as pro-choice than pro-life, full half of them approve of the recent Supreme Court ruling that overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 50% of Likely U.S. voters approve of the Supreme Court abortion ruling, including 38% who Strongly Approve of the decision, which means that each state can now determine its own laws regarding abortion. Forty-five percent (45%) disapprove of the Supreme Court’s new ruling, including 38% who Strongly Disapprove. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House aide who was the January 6 committee’s star witness during a surprise hearing held on Tuesday, reportedly fabricated pieces of her testimony about conversations she had with former White House counsel Pat Cipollone. During her testimony, Hutchinson claimed that Cipollone told her to tell her boss, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, that former President Donald Trump should not go to the Capitol on January 6. Hutchinson testified that Cipollone said, “We’re going to get charged with every crime imaginable,” if Trump went to the Capitol. The committee’s vice-chair, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), doubled down...

Without a loss Tuesday night, former President Donald Trump hailed a perfect 12-0 record in a Truth Social post Wednesday.Trump's primary endorsement record is now, according to an unofficial Newsmax tally, 143-10, a 93.5% winning percentage (Trump officials count candidates advancing to a runoff as victories).Among the most noteworthy victories included a pair of Trump-endorsed candidates winning in the reliably blue state of Illinois, where Trump held a Save America rally Saturday, stumping for Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., and gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey.Trump called Miller "a star" Wednesday."Well, Mary Miller did it, she won BIG in Illinois tonight," Trump wrote...

The data show the “Nones” walking away from organized religion. Is pop culture taking its place? With every passing year, traditional religious belief continues its trend of steady decline in the United States. According to the latest Gallup Values and Beliefs poll, a record low of 81 percent of American adults believe in God. That’s a slip of 6 percentage points since 2017, the last time Gallup conducted the poll, which found 87 percent of respondents affirming belief in God. As traditional beliefs wane and a new generation increasingly makes its way in the world without them, a new American...

Just two days after agreeing to lift deal-breaking objections to Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession, Turkey’s leader warned Thursday that Ankara could still block the process if the two countries fail to fully meet his expectations. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the close of the alliance’s summit in Madrid that the 10-article agreement with the Nordic pair was a victory for Ankara and addressed all its “sensitivities.” He particularly stressed the satisfying of Turkey’s demand for Sweden and Finland to extradite terror suspects with links to outlawed Kurdish groups or the network of an exiled cleric accused of a...

Next in line is Rabine, the founder of the Rabine Group and owner of 13 businesses. His road-paving company is hitting the highway and getting out of Chicago, he said. “We would do thousands of jobs a year in the city, but as we got robbed more, my people operating rollers and pavers we got robbed, our equipment would get stolen in broad daylight and there would usually be a gun involved, and it got expensive and it got dangerous,” Rabine told Fox News this week.

Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema remain steadfast in their defense of the filibuster, their offices said, despite public pressure from all the way up to President Biden. Manchin's office told DailyMail.com that the West Virginia Democrat's position had not changed in light of the president's new comments, and Sinema's office referred DailyMail.com to a statement the Arizona Democrat made after the leaked Supreme Court decision: 'Protections in the Senate safeguarding against the erosion of women's access to health care have been used half-a-dozen times in the past ten years, and are more important now than ever.' In new comments...

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Cassidy Hutchinson shared a warm embrace on Tuesday after the partisan January 6 Committee heard testimony from the 26-year-old witness. The emotional spectacle raised red flags from some onlookers, who questioned the objectivity and fairness of the committee’s hearing. “If questioner (Cheney) wants to appear fair to jury (American people), it probably is not a good idea to get caught on camera hugging the witness,” Newsmax’s Greta Van Susteren said. In an interview set to air Sunday, Cheney told ABC’s “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl that she is “absolutely confident” in Hutchinson’s testimony, even though...

(Translation) Independent Representative Luis Raúl Torres Cruz introduced two proposals to call on the people through a special referendum to decide if they wish to recognize the right to life of a conceived child and affirm the mother’s own right to life, or that abortion be free and unrestricted. “Certainly, there are diverse visions on abortion and the Legislature as an institution has not been able to reach a position of consensus on the matter. Therefore, these proposals aim at having the sovereign people of Puerto Rico express themselves directly in a constitutional-amendment consultation so the matter may be settled,”...

President Biden made a pointed effort to criticize two branches of the American government during his trip to Europe. The president first voiced his frustration with the Supreme Court during his press conference in Spain, for their “outrageous behavior” by overturning Roe v. Wade and ruling in support of the Second Amendment. He described the Supreme Court as “destabilizing” to the global order. “We’ve been a leader in the world in terms of personal rights and privacy rights and it is a mistake in my view for the Supreme Court to do what it did.” But Biden boasted of his...

p>Former President Donald Trump criticized three nominally conservative pundits as well as National Review magazine on Sunday following their recent dismissive pieces of the former president. Trump excoriated Peggy Noonan, columnist for The Wall Street Journal and former speech writer for President Ronald Reagan; Rich Lowry, editor of National Review; and George Will, columnist for the Washington Post."I listen to all of these foolish (stupid!) people, often living in a bygone era, like the weak and frail RINO, Peggy Noonan, who did much less for Ronald Reagan than she claims, and who actually said bad things about him and his...

Remember after the draft majority opinion of Dobbs was leaked, when some people predicted the ruling would help Democrats in November? Those were good times. Unfortunately for them, polls at the time showed that it had virtually no impact. Oops. Oh well.Nevertheless, now that the final opinion has been released, the same voices are once again predicting that the Dobbs decision will change the trajectory of the 2022 midterm elections.Well, they’re about to be disappointed. Again. According to a new YouGov/Economist poll conducted after the Dobbs decision was released, 45% of voters say they’d vote for their Republican congressional candidate,...

On June 15, Dr. Anthony Fauci announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19. It was a long time coming since nearly everyone around him in the White House has tested positive at least once. In fact, the number of high-profile people with repeated infections is rising — former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Prince Charles, to name a few. Of course, what they all had in common was every single COVID jab available to them.Fauci was no exception. When he provided an update on his condition during a conference call on June...