Free Republic

President Donald Trump says he believes the 2026 midterm elections will center on “pricing” as Republicans head into a critical period with control of Congress on the line. Trump’s comments follow a string of favorable economic reports over the last two weeks showing inflation is cooling and the economy is hotter than expected. The White House is keen to tout the latest data as it confronts cost-of-living concerns that have underpinned a string of Democratic overperformances across the country. Still, polls show Americans are struggling. Nearly half of respondents said they find groceries, utility bills, health care, housing and transportation...

Widening demonstrations sparked by Iran’s ailing economy spread Thursday into the Islamic Republic’s rural provinces, with at least seven people being killed in the first fatalities reported among security forces and protesters, authorities said. The deaths may mark the start of a heavier-handed response by Iran’s theocracy over the demonstrations, which have slowed in the capital, Tehran, but expanded elsewhere. The fatalities, two on Wednesday and five on Thursday, occurred in four cities, largely home to Iran’s Lur ethnic group. The protests have become the biggest in Iran since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody...

SLOP, PARASOCIAL and rage bait were contenders for word of the year in 2025. In 2026 an early favourite for that title, at least among pollsters and election strategists, is “affordability”, often paired with the word “crisis”. Having at last found a slogan that seems to work against the spell of Trumpism, Democrats will talk of little else between now and the midterms in November. In Europe, which is better at reposting American memes than coming up with fresh ones, there is talk of a cost-of-living crisis. A transatlantic consensus is forming that prices are out of whack. But are...

BREAKING: In an enormous development, HUD Sec. Scott Turner CONFIRMS President Trump has called a meeting of his top economic advisors in Florida to draw up the most AGGRESSIVE housing affordability plan in US history This is HUGE! GREAT news for the midterms. 🔥 "He has been working 24/7! We will be meeting together in Florida to talk about housing affordability ideas. This is top of mind and top priority for the president."

Data this week showed that the American economy is growing at its fastest pace in two years — and yet polling shows the mood on Main Street is grim. It’s almost hard to believe we’re talking about the same economy. But the metrics offer another reminder that two seemingly diverging trends can simultaneously be true. An economy that’s growing rapidly doesn’t necessarily mean everyone is feeling it. Yes, gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the US economy, heated up this summer to a sizzling annualized pace of 4.3%, far outpacing economists’ expectations. But the booming GDP did not...

PHOENIX—All eyes were on Gen Z this weekend as more than 10,000 students gathered at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, where speakers and panels discussed the issues motivating Gen Z heading into a pivotal election year. After making impressive inroads with young voters in the 2024 presidential election, the conservative movement is vigorously debating how to address young voters’ concerns heading into the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election. From the main stage to The Daily Signal’s interviews with students in attendance, one issue rose above the rest: affordability. Affordability Is Everything “Probably the most important economic issue of our...

The “economy” symbolizes survival at its most basic level. It is through an economic system that we gather items for our continued existence and, more importantly, for continued survival of our loved ones. So yes, it’s always the economy (affordability).Since the economy is so important to our basic survival, what economic philosophy best promotes and protects that system? Is it more government? Or more private enterprise? We need to answer this basic question before promoting another “solution.”Politicians would have you believe that another law or rule or some grand federal program will solve all our problems. They would have us...

The recent Democratic cry of “affordability” is ironic in many ways. The left-wing narrative of Trump hyperinflation was one of desperation and came only after previous memes had failed to resonate. The 2025 generic “dictator,” “fascist,” and “Nazi” smear points never helped the left much. Nor did the nihilist government shutdown over the “Obamacare crisis” work other than perhaps to depress fourth-quarter GDP. Nor did the earlier spring 2025 melodramatic predictions of an impending “Trade War,” “Recession,” and stock-market “Meltdown resonate.” Nor did the “Gestapo,” “SS,” and “Nazi” ICE smears become effective talking points. The “illegal orders” and “unconstitutional use...

Congresswoman Elise Stefanik says she is dropping out of the New York governor’s race and will not run for reelection to the House after finishing her term in office.

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A Republican push to make drilling cheaper on federal land is creating new fiscal pressure for states that depend on oil and gas revenue, most notably in New Mexico as it expands early childhood education and saves for the future. The shift stems from the sweeping law President Donald Trump signed in July that rolls back the minimum federal royalty rate to 12.5%. That rate — the share of production value companies must pay to the government — held steady for a century under the 1920 Mineral Leasing Act. It was raised to 16.7% under...

Once the darling of American transplants, Florida’s appeal seems to have dimmed. Just three years ago, Florida ranked among the nation’s top destinations for people making a move. But that momentum seems to have faded. Florida still offers the warm climate and favorable tax structure that remain major draws, but it’s lost ground on the crucial affordability factor. In the year through November, just over half of global moving company Atlas Van Lines’ Florida-related moves were inbound, the firm said in its annual Migration Patterns Study — a near-even split between people moving in and moving out that marks a...

After the 2024 humiliation, the left is back. It could hurt the party in 2026. Kim Strassel speaks with law professor Jonathan Turley about why the charges were dismissed against James Comey and Letitia James and how Donald Trump is separately using the legal system to the executive branch’s benefit. What could get in the way of a coming 2026 Democratic wave, given history and the current public mood? Nothing but the Democratic Party itself, which is sitting placidly by as the progressives who lost them last year’s election mobilize to take over even more of the party. Bernie Sanders...

The current political buzz term is affordability crisis. Every day, political pundits and politicians talk about the affordability crisis because they know it represents an existential threat to the American dream.The affordability crisis faced by tens of millions of Americans is more than a political slogan; it is a visceral struggle that causes chronic stress and anxiety, breeds hopelessness and apathy, begets envy and rage, and sows disillusionment and nihilism.In other words, the affordability crisis that is making it impossible for hard-working Americans to get ahead is untenable. If it is not solved holistically, it will likely foster social chaos...

My guest today is Andrew Kolvet, who was Kirk’s close confidant. Since the assassination, he’s taken on many of Kirk’s responsibilities, including hosting “The Charlie Kirk Show.” Andrew Kolvet: …“Now, Charlie’s mission was to say: Hey, before us are two roads. You can either go grievance politics, socialism, free stuff populism, Mangione-ism, Mamdani-ism, or you can go MAGA.“ …“I think this is the through line for Israel — is you do not have to support Israel to belong to the team, at least in a traditional historical sense…I’m an American. I’m born in this country. My kids are going to...

President Trump will head to Pennsylvania on Tuesday for his first rally in five months amid signs of growing anger among his supporters at a failure to bring down the cost of living. Trump has touted the falling cost of petrol and eggs as evidence that his economic strategy is working and blames Democrats for talking about the “hoax” and “con job” of an affordability crisis. Inflation remains at 3 per cent, however, the same as when he took office, and some staples such as beef and coffee are up much more than that. Polling for Politico suggests that 37...

Disapproval of the state of the economy is widespread today, despite many indicators improving since the start of the year. The reality is that most Americans’ financial situation deteriorated so much under the Biden administration that there’s a long way to go before this affordability crisis is resolved. Fortunately, there are ways to speed up the process. Perhaps the best illustration of where most Americans are economically today, and where they’ve been, is to look at real, meaning inflation-adjusted, average weekly earnings. This tells us not only how much the average American makes each week, but what those weekly paychecks...

Owning a home is a cornerstone of the American Dream. But with the recent rise in home prices and mortgage rates, homeownership feels like a far-off dream for an increasing share of Americans, especially those in their 20s and 30s. In 2019, the median first-time homebuyer was 33 years old. Today, the typical first-time homebuyer is 40 years old. That shift didn’t happen on its own. It’s an unintended consequence of the federal government’s COVID-era policies that included pumping trillions of dollars into the economy and driving short-term borrowing costs down to near zero. These policies briefly led to a...

Hispanic voters — crucial to Trump’s 2024 victory — are abandoning him in significant numbers. Sure, the Hispanic flight from the Trump camp is slower among Cuban Americans and Venezuelan Americans in Florida, but the cracks are already visible. In New Jersey, Trump won 46% of the Latino vote in 2024. But this time, Trump-backed Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli got only 31% of the Hispanic vote in the Nov. 4 election, CNN exit polls show. The Democratic winner, Mikie Sherrill, won by a landslide, thanks in part to the Latino vote. In heavily Hispanic Passaic County, where Trump won...

We hear it everywhere: housing affordability crisis, health care affordability crisis, childcare affordability crisis. The language is so common that we don’t stop to ask what it actually means — or what it conceals.Here’s the problem: “affordability” isn’t a real thing you can fix. It’s a word that makes concrete problems disappear into fog.The Language TrickCompare these two statements: “I can’t pay my rent because my wages haven’t kept up with costs.” “There is an affordability crisis.”The first one is clear. You know what’s happening and why. The second one? All the critical details vanish. Who raised the costs? Why...