Free Republic

Like a precision-engineered machine running low on fuel, Germany’s economic engine is sputtering. The one-time manufacturing powerhouse, which once dominated European growth, now faces an existential crisis as its export-driven model encounters headwinds. Industrial output has plummeted 15% since 2018, marking the steepest decline in the country’s post-war history.Germany’s GDP has flatlined since 2019 — the longest period of stagnation since World War II — while manufacturing employment has fallen by 3%.The metal and electrical industry could shed 300K jobs over the next five years while German automakers like Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz struggle to keep up with Chinese competitors.The perfect...

While we’re on the subject of school daze, our friend John Mauldin of Mauldineconomics.com wonders whether the news of China’s Deepseek AI breakthroughs means America may be facing another “Sputnik Moment.” America has completely dominated the global tech sector for fifty years, but U.S. tech leadership now may be hard to maintain in the years ahead. This chart showing that China graduates more than five times as many iSTEM students each year is certainly worrisome. The silver lining is that if OUR kids aren’t learning math and science skills, we can always hand out visas to the brainiacs of the...

President Trump has signed settlement papers that will require Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta to pay roughly $25 million to resolve a 2021 lawsuit Trump filed after the company suspended his accounts on Facebook and Instagram.

At long last, President Trump is poised to slash government spending and aggressive regulations — and advance his first-term health-spending policies that were obstructed by Congress or overturned by the Biden administration. That’s a big reason why Trump created the now-famous Department of Government Efficiency. The goal: identify and weed out inefficient and counterproductive government spending. Reform could not come soon enough. Health-care costs, in particular, are ballooning the federal deficit and hindering economic growth. DOGE won’t make much progress without lowering the rampant costs of the US health-care system, because an astounding 48% of federal expenditures are devoted to...

I am thinking of changing cell phone plans, and have been looking at Pure Talk. I make very few calls on my cell phone, and maybe a couple of texts a week, both usually from home. I need to have some data, in case I’m out and need to call someone, or a cab, road service, find a map, etc. – but I have almost never used that. I do NO business on the cell phone, and most of our telephone use is VOIP from home. Frankly, the main thing I use a cell phone for is listening to the...

The top three states based on the median-sized worker paycheck are: Washington, DC: $100,800 Massachusetts: $75,700 Alaska: $70,000 DC residents also earn twice as much as the median earner in 13 states. New Mexico’s workers can’t be too happy. DC workers now make nearly two and a half times as much as the average New Mexico resident. And for what? Washington, D.C. produces almost nothing. There are no farms, no factories, no distribution centers, no manufacturing. The swamp does produce lawyers, lobbyists, regulations, rules, politicians, politicians’ minions, special interest groups, journalists, and bureaucrats. You’ve heard us say it many times:...

Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson 🚨BREAKING: President Trump officially announces 25% tariffs on both Mexico and Canada. From Aaron Rupar 3:26 PM · Jan 30, 2025

Indiana legislators would like to redraw the Indiana-Illinois border to absorb parts of Illinois, but the proposed action would face roadblocks on the Illinois side, which would prevent a border shift, political officials and experts said. Indiana House Bill 1008, authored by the Republican Speaker Todd Huston, would establish an Indiana-Illinois boundary adjustment commission to research the possibility of adjusting the boundaries between the two states. The commission would include five members appointed by the Indiana governor and five members appointed under Illinois law. Huston said he decided to draft the bill after he learned that in November seven Illinois...

Governor Gavin Newsom has issued a new executive order to expedite recovery efforts for survivors of the devastating Los Angeles-area firestorms. The order suspends permitting requirements under the California Coastal Act, further streamlining rebuilding efforts. It also temporarily relaxes rules to expand access to hotels and short-term rentals for displaced residents. The executive order clarifies that the Coastal Act’s permitting requirements, suspended under earlier orders, remain unenforceable. It also directs the California Coastal Commission to cease issuing guidance or taking actions that could delay rebuilding. “As the state helps the Los Angeles area rebuild and recover, we will continue to...

A Georgia health care worker was arrested for allegedly dancing suggestively on disabled patients’ head in two viral TikTok videos — and seen smirking in her mug shot photo. One of the alleged videos shows Lucrecia Kormassa Koiyan, 19, of Loganville, grinding on the head of a shirtless man sitting in a bathtub, before she reaches into her pocket for a pill box and pops one in his mouth. Koiyan allegedly recorded another nauseating video — reposted on Instagram — in which the scrubs-clad in-home adult day care employee danced suggestively over a different disabled man, who sat in a...

Watch out, Nancy. Accountability is coming! Senator Ted Cruz questioned Kash Patel on Thursday during his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Nancy Pelosi’s refusal to protect the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Finally, the truth is coming out! Senator Ted Cruz: What were you doing on that day? Kash Patel: On that day, specifically, responding to, preparing to mobilize and employ the National Guard once we got the lawful request from the local governing authority, which was the mayor of DC and the speaker of the House. Senator Ted Cruz: Now, how many days...

Wow, that was quick. The Washington Post has already taken to blaming President Donald Trump for America’s economic woes, except the new data they’re using as the basis of their argument reflected the disastrous Biden economy, not Trump’s. GDP growth slowed in the fourth quarter of 2024 to 2.3 percent, which was noticeably slower than expected and put a dent into a lot of the media brouhaha surrounding how turbo-tastic Bidenomics supposedly was. But Post economic reporter Abha Bhattarai, desperate to spin this as somehow Trump’s fault, blamed the quirk on the economy getting the heebie-jeebies over his policies, before...

@SenRandPaul Today, at @RobertKennedyJr 's HELP hearing, I made it clear that we need medical freedom. There's such a belief in submission. "Submit to the government. Do what you're told." There is no discussion. There ought to be a debate. RFK Jr. has my vote. MAHA!

Hamas has been involved in a prolonged firefight with bandits trying to loot aid trucks, as the terror organisation struggles to assert control over Gaza. | The incident, which took place near Rafah, began after a large aid-delivering vehicle broke down in open ground and was set upon by armed robbers. | Another stopped nearby, and graphic footage shows the bandits then turning their weapons on a force of Hamas fighters, who style themselves as police, as they approached.It comes as the terror group faces the challenge of providing basic security and services to the people of Gaza, since last...

[Video] Robert F. Kennedy Jr. denied Gov. Josh Green’s allegation that he caused many deaths in Samoa by discouraging the measles vaccine. HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -- Gov. Josh Green was in the U.S. Capitol hearing room Wednesday while Robert F. Kennedy Jr. denied Green’s allegation that he caused many deaths in Samoa by discouraging the measles vaccine. Green responded with profanity on national television. Speaking on CNN and MSNBC cable outlets after the hearing, the governor was clearly angry. It was understandable because during his confirmation hearing, RFK Jr. basically called Green a liar. Kennedy, who was nominated by President Donald...

Robert F Kennedy Jr and Sen Bernie Sanders had an explosive clash over the senator's links to Big Pharma as Trump's health nominee came out swinging in the second day of his confirmation hearing. The spat started when RFK Jr, who has been tapped to be head of the Health and Human Services (HHS), promised he would 'make America healthier than other countries in the world.' Sen Sanders questioned how RFK Jr could do so without guaranteeing free healthcare to every American, which appeared to set the nominee off. Referring to an earlier point in the hearing about corruption in...

Fox News obtained exclusive information regarding the crew members aboard the Army helicopter at the time of the accident. The instructor pilot commanding the Black Hawk boasted 1,000 flying hours. Meanwhile, his co-pilot was a woman with 500 flying hours, considered to be a standard level of experience in aviation circles. The revelation that the co-pilot was a woman has reignited ongoing debates about gender roles within military operations. Fox News reported:

Inspiring heroes: Agam, a young IDF lookout refused to break Shabbat during her captivity in Gaza tunnels, mirroring her mother's commitment to keeping the Mitzvah of Shabbat. Gila Isaacson.

President Trump recently attended the traditional church service at the National Cathedral after he was inaugurated. What should've been an inspiring and encouraging message from God's Holy Word was instead a scolding lecture from a woke female bishop with an agenda. Hear what advice Pastor Jack would give to Trump regarding that "church service" and how he should navigate the next four years when it comes to churches and surrounding himself with Christians. Video is 32:24 minutes long

The State Department is no longer issuing U.S. passports with “X” gender markers and has suspended processing all applications from Americans seeking to update their passports with a new gender marker. This suspension, made in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order signaling his administration’s opposition to gender diversity, affects all transgender and nonbinary Americans, including those currently traveling or overseas. ... Trump’s executive order directed federal agencies to require that government-issued identification documents, including passports and visas, reflect sex assigned at birth. Since this order states that it is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes,...