Free Republic

Crude oil prices jumped 3% on Wednesday as fighting between the U.S. and Iran escalates in the Persian Gulf, raising investors fears that energy exports through the Strait of Hormuz will fall. Brent futures were up 3% at $100.86 a barrel by 8:29 a.m. ET. It is the first time the international benchmark has crossed the $100 threshold since July. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures traded 3% higher to $95.84. The U.S. military destroyed five Iranian crude oil tankers Tuesday in retaliation for attempted attacks on an American warship. The U.S. warship successfully evaded Iranian attack and no American personnel...

Buying a house, raising a family, spending Saturdays at kids’ sporting events – every aspect of normal life is touched by private equity.Your local doughnut shop got taken over by private equity and, like everything else private equity touches, things got worse. Gone is the experience of watching the conveyor belt fry doughnuts in front of you. No more biting into a freshly made pastry that melts in your mouth. Bad for you? Sure. Delicious? Yes.Now, it is just bad for you. Private equity stepped in and doughnuts are now shipped to nearly every location from a corporate shop. Krispy...

Retaliatory tariffs issued by Canada are set to hit some imports from the United States soon after midnight on Tuesday, intensifying a trade war between the longtime allies and risking an escalation from President Donald Trump.Levies as high as 50% will be applied to hundreds of U.S. products, ranging from aluminum foil to raincoats to cheese. U.S. elected officials in states bordering Canada, including Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, have warned the trade dispute will hurt local businesses and consumers.

DALLAS — Motorists are expected to encounter the highest average Labor Day gasoline price on record in nominal terms, according to a forecast released Tuesday by fuel-savings platform GasBuddy. The company projects the national average will reach $4.03 per gallon during the holiday weekend, 87 cents higher than the $3.16 average recorded in 2025. The forecast would surpass the previous nominal Labor Day record of $3.83 per gallon, set in 2012.

Housing in New York City has become painfully unaffordable. In June 2026, renters paid an average of $5,408 for a one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan, while even the average studio reached $4,014. It isn't difficult to understand why young New Yorkers are frustrated, or why socialism is starting to sound appealing. Underneath that anger is a very real problem. Young New Yorkers aren't wrong for being frustrated. Housing has become unaffordable, and they are right to demand better solutions. But is socialism the answer? The Marxist Lens: Tenant vs. Landlord Before asking whether socialism can solve New York’s housing crisis, we...

The Democratic nominee for Colorado's Third Congressional District, Dwayne Romero, has made housing affordability a tent-pole issue for his campaign, accusing "Wall Street behemoths" of "buying up homes and driving up rents." Yet, for years, his real estate firm has made big money selling multimillion-dollar luxury homes in Aspen, where residential property is so expensive that even the city's doctors and lawyers can't afford to live. Romero also holds stakes in BlackRock, Blackstone, and Airbnb, his personal financial disclosure shows. Romero told a Grand Junction news outlet that his top priority is "affordability" and that "prices and housing costs" is...

The federal deficit will be $2.1 trillion when fiscal year 2026 ends on Sept. 30, the Congressional Budget Office projected in its monthly budget review.The deficit - the gap between what the government spends and what it collects from taxes and other revenue - has never surpassed $1.8 trillion, except during the Covid-19 pandemic.Key facts: Federal revenues are up 3% in 2026 compared to last year. Even though corporate income tax revenue has declined, income and payroll tax collections increased.But federal spending is up 5%, according to the CBO. Interest on the national debt increased 14% compared to last year....

US President Donald Trump urges Americans to accept slightly higher gasoline prices as the cost of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and said he would soon declare the Strait of Hormuz a US territory. The comments underscore the growing political risk for Trump as higher fuel prices collide with his campaign promise to lower energy costs, with Democrats already seeking to make the economic fallout from the Iran war an issue heading into the November midterm elections. In a speech in Garden City, Trump says Americans who had to “pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline”...

Yikes U.S. Rent Prices vs Income

"The conservatives on here denying the affordability crisis are engaged in what I can only describe as an act of political suicide. They're also lying, which is the worst part. Grocery prices are up. Housing. Energy. Insurance. Health care. Basic living expenses. It's real. It's happening. Denying it just makes you look out of touch, deceitful, and untrustworthy. It's also a completely unnecessary and unforced error. No credible person is claiming that Trump caused these price surges. You don't have to disgrace yourself by denying the reality in front of your face just to prove your loyalty to Trump. The...

California, the most populous U.S. state and the one with the largest economy, ranked as the 35th best state in a new ranking published by U.S. News on July 28.South Orange County communities near Laguna Beach, Calif., on Oct. 15, 2020. John Fredricks/The Epoch TimesUtah ranked as the best state, followed by South Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Nebraska.The ranking was based on scores in eight categories such as education, healthcare, economy, and fiscal stability, and it was weighted by survey opinions.Despite a median income of more than $100,000 compared to the national average of $81,600, California ranked last in...

A report from the Institute for Family Studies warns that the United States is approaching a demographic turning point, with fertility rates continuing to fall well below replacement levels and population declines increasingly likely in the coming decades unless current trends change. The report, titled ”The Demographic Dead End: 2026 State of Fertility Report,” presents estimates of fertility trends for every state dating back to 1917. As part of the nation’s 250th anniversary, researchers also reconstructed birth rates in Massachusetts dating to 1660, offering one of the longest historical views of American fertility ever compiled. According to the report, the...

For millions of Americans, the weekly grocery trip has become one of the biggest strains on the household budget. Even as overall inflation has cooled, food prices remain stubbornly high, forcing shoppers to compare prices more closely than ever before.Now, a new study suggests one of the country’s largest supermarket chains may be offering the best value on everyday essentials.Kroger topped a comparison of four major grocery retailers, beating Walmart, Aldi, and Albertsons on the total cost of a basket of common store-brand staples.Kroger Comes Out on TopThe price comparison, conducted by Restaurant Furniture Plus and reported by Southern Living,...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday imposed 50% tariffs on most Canadian goods, declaring that Canada has unfairly discriminated against American autos, alcohol and dairy products.The move could unleash a new wave of economic chaos, with risks of higher inflation and further fraying of relations between two nations that had been closely woven together before Trump’s return to the White House. The administration official previewing the action said that Canada was one of the only nations other than China that retaliated against Trump’s previous tariffs and must be held accountable.The official insisted on anonymity on a call with...

The doom feed says home affordability locked a generation out. The math on the payment you actually write says something the headlines won’t.Here are the “facts” that the media tells you about home affordability.Let’s start with a recent survey. Two out of three Americans now say it’s a bad time to buy a house, the most negative reading Gallup has ever recorded. Another study showed that a record 25.2 million adults under 35 are living with their parents. Scroll any feed, and you’ll hear that home affordability has priced an entire generation out for good. Those are the “facts” according...

U.S. home prices surged to an all-time high in June according to a National Association of Realtors (NAR) report released last Thursday. The report found that the median existing home price in June reached $440,660, an increase of 1.8 percent year-over-year and a new high according to the NAR’s chief economist Lawrence Yun. Housing sales declined to 2.4 percent month-over-month in June and 2.8 percent, seasonally adjusted, since June 2025. The NAR’s Housing Affordability Index is up 6.8 points since June 2025 at 102.3, signaling that home prices are more affordable relative to the median family income. Yet the index...

A recent article from The Cut received a huge amount of attention: ‘It’s Hard to See My Parents Live So Lavishly While We’re Struggling’. The piece includes vignettes of Millenial hardship:…his dad, Steve, sold his company to a private equity firm about five years ago, which enabled him to retire comfortably in his mid-60s…Two years ago, Joe asked his dad for a loan. He wanted to start a lawn-care business and needed capital for commercial-grade equipment and a trailer, at least $15,000. He presented Steve with his business plan, which included a schedule to pay back the money. Still, Steve...

Republicans returned to Washington on Monday night in an increasingly dour mood about the state of their party: Growing fears of a November wipeout. A Middle East war with no end in sight. A feeling of loss after the sudden death of their longtime colleague Lindsey Graham. Now, with President Donald Trump’s attention focused on Capitol Hill for what could be the party’s final legislative sprint before the midterms, a restless House Speaker Mike Johnson is racing to reverse Republicans’ political fortunes. Johnson is privately pushing a major legislative push centered on Pentagon funding, cutting government fraud and a new...

There’s a new agency in California that promises to “protect consumers, support honest businesses, and advance affordability for Californians.” If Vegas were to give odds, they would be heavily against any of those ever occurring. It’s called the California Business and Consumer Services Agency, and it’s a cabinet-level department headed by Rohit Chopra, who was sworn in on July 1. It already has a bureaucratic acronym: BCSA. Catchy, isn’t it? Chopra promises his office “will sharpen and accelerate work to promote economic growth and protect the public from abuses.” Let us translate that from California-government-speak. What it really means...

In Mayor Karen Bass’s Los Angeles, the rule of law is separate and not equal when it comes to street food — with illegal immigrants and rogue vendors getting a free pass on violations while citizen restaurateurs and licensed food stands are subjected to fines, high costs, burdensome regulations, and even closures. In short, L.A. and the surrounding counties have two sets of rules. Other progressively-run cities like New York and Minneapolis also are catering to “vulnerable” and undocumented immigrant street vendors. But California is leading the way in sanctuary food practices. The Los Angeles County Health Department, citing immigration...