Free Republic

Seemingly wounded by Mitt Romney's critiques of his business acumen, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump put some of his Trump products on display for a national TV audience in what was supposed to be a victory press conference. Trump spoke from the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida after he was projected to win primaries in Michigan and Mississippi on Tuesday. Romney questioned the success of Trump's businesses in a speech last week. But Trump rejected that notion, bringing his own steaks, water, and wine to his press conference in an attempt to prove himself. "I have very successful...

Donald Trump’s meat was the topic of social media chatter on Tuesday after his overwhelming victory in the Michigan and Mississippi primaries.During a press conference held at his Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla., the GOP front-runner spent time touting what he said were his his name-brand line of Trump Steaks. The billionaire started the gourmet steak line in 2007 and sold it through Sharper Image.But as some observers pointed out on Twitter, the filets Trump was serving up at the event came wrapped in packaging from a company not affiliated with the his business empire.“Trump steaks. Where are...

Amid the sparring and free-flying insults of Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate, Donald J. Trump said he wanted to expand the number of visas available for highly skilled immigrants. His remarks caused shock among some supporters who have seen Mr. Trump as a bulwark against an influx of foreigners taking American jobs. In an immigration blueprint he released in August, in the early days of his surprising charge toward the Republican nomination, Mr. Trump said the visas for highly skilled workers were part of what he called “disastrous” immigration policies that had “destroyed our middle class.” He gave detailed proposals...

Donald Trump struck back at 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney Thursday, blasting the former Massachusetts governor for "begging" for his endorsement four years ago only to sharply criticize him now. "I don't know what happened to him," Trump said during a rally in Portland, Maine. "You can see how loyal he is. He was begging for my endorsement. I could have said, 'Mitt, drop to your knees.' He would have dropped to his knees." "Mitt is indeed a choke artist," Trump said. "He choked like I've never seen anyone choke. Other than Rubio." Trump also said that his net...

Super Tuesday has gotten off to a not-so-super start for Donald Trump - a state appeals court has denied his bid to toss out a lawsuit that charges his Trump University was a fraud. In a unanimous ruling, a four judge panel of the state Appellate Division said the state Attorney General's office is "authorized to bring a cause of action for fraud" - despite the billionaire's claims to the contrary. Lawyers for Trump and his now-defunct school had contended that Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's suit should be tossed because the statute of limitations on the case had expired. Schneiderman...

-- snip -- If his appeal was based on his language and bluster, America would have elevated someone like Howard Stern or Ann Coulter long ago. If his appeal was based on foreign policy concerns, why isn't a military general leading the charge? It's the economy, stupid! And the fact is that real, median household income peaked at nearly $58,000 back in 1999 and has been sliding ever since, standing now at just $53,657. This can all be summarized in two charts: The relationship between corporate profitability and labor's share of income shown above. Cheap laborers (both undocumented unskilled and...

Lerach, who recently emerged from an almost two-year stretch in prison, is greatly responsible for this rigged game. As an attorney who filed hundreds of class-action suits against corporations, he became a bigger fraudster than a lot of the companies he was pursuing. First, he filed many dubious suits, rejoicing when 90 percent of the companies decided to settle for millions of dollars rather than spend the time and money fighting. That stratagem wasn’t illegal, but it was grossly unethical — the classic shakedown. Companies called it getting “Lerached.” Second, Lerach and his firms paid fat kickbacks to shifty characters...

Donald Trump claims he can't release his tax returns until he's done being audited by the IRS. But the federal agency on Friday said that's not true. "Federal privacy rules prohibit the IRS from discussing individual tax matters. Nothing prevents individuals from sharing their own tax information," a spokesperson for the IRS said in a statement. The Republican presidential front-runner's refusal to release his tax documents came up repeatedly during Thursday's GOP debate, hours after former Republican nominee Mitt Romney suggested that Trump's reluctance stems from the possibility there might be a "bombshell" in his taxes. "I want to [release...