Free Republic

When House Speaker Mike Johnson (R–La.) lashed out at last weekend's "No Kings" rallies soon to arrive on Washington's National Mall, he reached for an old conservative refrain: "They hate capitalism. They hate our free enterprise system." I am sure he's correct about some of the protesters. But the message rings hollow coming from a party leader that stands by as President Donald Trump does precisely what Johnson rightly decries: substituting political control for market choice and ruling by executive order. Indeed, what began as a populist revolt against so-called elites has become a program of state ownership, price fixing...

Washington — American farmers are having a tough year, in no small part because of President Donald Trump’s trade war. Now, the White House is gearing up to extend them a multi-billion-dollar bailout, sources tell CNN. Surging costs and foreign retaliation from tariffs have hurt the US agriculture industry — as have immigration-related labor shortages and plummeting commodity prices. Farm production expenses are estimated to reach $467.4 billion in 2025, according to the Agriculture Department, up $12 billion from last year. Farm bankruptcies rose in the first half of the year to the highest level since 2021, according to US...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) joined MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle this week to discuss President Donald Trump’s plan to create TrumpRX, a government-run website offering discounts on select prescription drugs. Paul, a libertarian leaning Republican, pulled no punches in criticizing Trump’s willingness to intervene in the free market and even went so far as to compare the Trump administration to self-identified socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. Paul shared his interview on X and wrote, “If you’re going to criticize the socialist Mamdani for wanting to own grocery stores, you better criticize Republicans who want a share of Intel, of...

The Biden administration reportedly spoke to journalists and producers from major news outlets during the last week to influence reporting on the nation's economic woes in the Biden administration's favor. CNN Chief Media Correspondent Oliver Darcy said Monday in "Reliable Sources" that a source told him that the Biden White House "has been working behind the scenes" to "reshape coverage" on the economy "in its favor," according to a transcript of the show's December 6 episode. Throughout the past week, senior White House and Biden administration officials reportedly held briefings "discussing with newsrooms trends pertaining to job creation, economic growth,...

The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services rose to a record high in August, largely on the back of a rise in imports as businesses continued to build up inventories in response to strong consumer demand. The Commerce Department said in an Oct. 5 statement (pdf) that the trade deficit—the difference between exports and imports of goods and services—rose by 4.2 percent in August, hitting an all-time high of $73.3 billion. Imports rose 1.4 percent to $287 billion, while exports edged up 0.5 percent to $213.7 billion. Consumer goods imports saw a relatively sharp rise of $2.7 billion in...

Aria Neukam says she loves that Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has lots of plans. She knows the senator has an education plan, a Medicare for All plan, an environmental plan. Ms. Neukam says she doesn’t know exactly what is in those documents, but that isn’t the point. She says she thinks President Trump’s governing style is ad hoc and unorthodox, and she prefers a leader who has spelled out what they are going to do and how to do it. “In truth, when she says ‘I have a plan,’ I trust that there is some well-researched plan out there,”...

Ambassador John Bolton, the President's national security adviser, unveiled the strategy in remarks delivered at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. "Under our new Africa strategy, we will target U.S. funding toward key countries and particular strategic objectives," Bolton said. "We will make certain that all aid to the region—whether for security, humanitarian, or development needs—advances U.S. interests," Bolton said. Currently, the U.S. sends more than $8 billion annually to African countries, though Bolton, citing a "longstanding pattern of aid without effect," indicated that amount may soon be slashed. "Unfortunately, billions upon billions of U.S. taxpayer...

When President Obama signed a law yesterday funding federal transportation projects for the next three months, he lamented that the United States did not have a five-year federal plan for transportation—and warned Congress that “big, powerful countries” like the Peoples Republic of China did not do it the way the U.S. is doing it now. “I guarantee you this is not how China, Germany, other countries around the world—other big, powerful countries around the world—handle their infrastructure,” Obama said. …

FULL TITLE: Islamic State (IS) map of the world: Militants outline chilling five-year plan for global domination as they declare formation of caliphate//// The Obama administration and his seditious party has made this all possible. These savages would have had no shot with an American muscular policy. Atlas readers have long known that this was the goal and that the enemy would be vicious in their pursuit. -SNIP- The ISIS map of the world: Militants outline chilling five-year plan for global domination as they declare formation of caliphate – and change their name to the Islamic State,” Daily Mail, June...

Microphones in lamp posts to catch noisy neighbours By Mark Prigg, Science Correspondent, Evening Standard 3 May 2005 Noisy neighbours have become a scourge of modern life, resulting in stress, sleepless nights and even violence. Now Westminster Council hopes a new wireless microphone could help tackle the problem. It plans to attach the device to lamp posts outside houses, allowing inspectors to monitor sound levels. If neighbours make too much noise, council officials will “This could make a really big difference to cutting down on noise,” said Steve Harrison of Westminster Council. “At the moment the problem is that by...