Free Republic

May 16 (Reuters) - Moody's on Friday downgraded the credit rating of the United States by a notch to "Aa1" from "Aaa", citing rising debt and interest "that are significantly higher than similarly rated sovereigns". "Successive US administrations and Congress have failed to agree on measures to reverse the trend of large annual fiscal deficits and growing interest costs," Moody's said in a statement.

GOP senators have raised concerns about the deficit impact of the emerging package, as well as the cuts to Medicaid and clean energy funding. WASHINGTON — As House Republicans scramble to corral the votes to pass a massive bill for President Donald Trump's agenda, their Senate counterparts are making clear the emerging package won’t fly as written when it reaches them.Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., was categorical that the product coming out of various House committees cannot pass the Senate as it currently stands.“No. We’ll make changes,” Hoeven said. “We’ve been talking with the House and there’s a lot of things...

Thursday’s talks in Turkey between Moscow and Kyiv will serve as the latest test of whether Vladimir Putin is serious about a cease-fire deal. And if Putin fails, President Donald Trump faces a test of his own. The prez expressed optimism that “some pretty good news” will emerge from the negotiations. Yet Moscow has feigned an interest in peace before, only to show its real stripes. Remember, Putin was the one who started this war and who’s broken past cease-fire terms. As long as he believes he can gain some advantage, he’ll keep up his attacks — no matter what...

As pharmacy deserts crop up across western Washington, a large chain is biting the dust. Rite Aid CEO Matthew Schroeder briefed employees Monday that all stores would either close or be sold as the company files for bankruptcy,.. The media outlet stated funding from investors fell short, and the company faced a series of economic issues, including tariffs, more expensive supply costs, pricier landlords, and what Schroeder called a “dramatic downturn in the economy.” According to the court filing, as posted on Kroll, to support Rite Aid during bankruptcy, the company secured commitments from lenders to access nearly $2 billion...

Transcript linked to video. Covid history, lawsuit succeeded in MO, grabbing assets per judgment. Farmland bought by CCP getting seized. China refuses to honor the judgment, but plaintiff class (?) is seizing land by in rem jurisdiction! Ask lawyers. I'm done with paralegaling.

Recently, the United States has imposed tariffs on all its trading partners, including China, under various pretexts. This severely infringes upon the legitimate rights and interests of all countries, severely violates World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, severely undermines the rules-based multilateral trading system, and severely disrupts the global economic order. The Chinese government strongly condemns and resolutely opposes such move. By taking such action, the United States defies the fundamental laws of economics and market principles, disregards the balanced outcomes achieved through multilateral trade negotiations, ignores the fact that the U.S. has long benefited substantially from international trade, and weaponizes...

The electric buses in question were made by a company called Proterra, which went bankrupt two years ago.. A city in Washington is selling nearly half of its electric bus fleet following reliability issues and difficulty getting replacement parts. The Everett City Council voted earlier this week to sell nine of the electric buses, of which only four are in service right now, because of reliability issues, including critical sensors and components that have been failing since they went into service. The city is now looking to purchase retrofitted diesel buses so there are no gaps in service. According to...

Battery cell maker Northvolt has filed for bankruptcy in Sweden, the company said on Wednesday, marking one of the country's largest corporate failures and effectively ending Europe's best hope of developing a rival to challenge China. "This was a decision we did not take lightly" and it was the only "realistic path forward," Northvolt Chairman Tom Johnstone told a press conference, saying every avenue had been pursued to avoid bankruptcy for the company, which puts 5,000 jobs at risk. The EV battery maker sought U.S. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November as its cash pile dwindled and it scrambled to...

President Donald Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ missile defense project will require a whole-of-government effort on par with the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb, according to a Space Force general. "This is on the order of magnitude of Manhattan Project, and it’s going to take concerted effort from the very top of our government. It's going to take a national will to bring all this together," Gen. Michael Guetlein, vice chief of space operations of the U.S. Space Force, told a gathering of defense industry experts on Wednesday.

16 minutes explaining the obvious. Tax the rich, tax corporations, kill white people, allow electric infrastructure to get looted. Surprise! Transcript linked.

There is considerable buzz in Washington about the disclosures of Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lee Zeldin on controversial grants by the Biden Administration, including the $50 million environmental justice grant to an organization that believes “climate justice travels through a Free Palestine.” However, one item was particularly notable: $160 million to a Canadian electric bus manufacturer which later announced bankruptcy without fulfilling the contract. Both the Obama and Biden Administration wasted billions in loans and grants on green initiatives including the failed solar-panel company Solyndra and most recently the termination of the Ivanpah Solar Power Plant. These...

For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let's rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it's a penny at a time.

Big Lots, a prominent discount retailer, is facing significant struggles as nearly 500 of its store leases across 47 states are listed for sale, raising the likelihood of closures, according to 9 News. This announcement comes amid the company's turbulent financial saga, which began with a bankruptcy filing last year and culminated in its acquisition by Gordon Brothers Retail Partners.

Across the world, public finances are stretched dangerously thin. Per-person growth continues dropping while costs are climbing for pensions, education, health care and defense. These urgent priorities could easily require an additional 3%-6% of GDP. Yet green campaigners are loudly calling for governments to spend up to 25% of our GDP, choking growth in the name of climate change. If climate Armageddon were imminent, they would have a point. The truth is far more prosaic. Two major new scientific estimates of the total global cost of climate change have been published recently. These are not individual studies, which can vary...

Hope all is well and Happy New Year. Are you keeping track of this new virus going around in China? Is is apparently in the Ukraine now too? Any updates? Could this be what the 9th of January was targeting? Disease and War cycle? ANSWER: I am aware of this new virus. I went to see my doctor, who, when she asked me if I got vaccinated, I said NO! Her response was GOOD! She is actually from Sereavo, and oddly, I knew I looked familiar since I had advised the government there about the breakup of Yugoslavia. She believes...

Stubborn inflation, exorbitant borrowing costs, bankruptcy risks and a growth slowdown: the Russian economy is facing a slew of negative headlines, as the costs of the Ukraine war and Western sanctions mount. “The root cause of the economy’s problems is labor starvation and sanctions ... the symptom is an inflationary surge,” said Anton Tabakh, chief economist at the Russian ratings agency Expert RA.

Analysis In an unprecedented joint public appearance, CIA Director William Burns and MI6 Chief Richard Moore assert the enduring strength of their intelligence agencies Last week, the heads of major Western intelligence agencies made a striking public appearance, first with a provocative op-ed and then in a high-profile interview with the Financial Times editor. Although some questions remained unanswered, their statements provided critical insights into their covert and overt operations. William Joseph Burns, Director of the CIA, and Richard Peter Moore, head of MI6/SIS, both distinguished diplomats before their current roles, asserted with conviction that their organisations are more formidable...

Unsustainable. The country is going bankrupt. Trump is the only path forward. CBO: Federal Interest Payments Now Exceed Defense Spending... Federal Debt: The Ticking Bomb in Your Wallet.. Grab your pay stub .. and see how much you paid in federal income tax…over 75% of that was effectively your contribution to interest on the debt .. This is where our federal government is today. It has spent so much more than it has taken in that it has racked up a $35 trillion debt. ... over 75% of that was effectively your contribution to interest on the debt last month....

Moscow must find other ways to pay for exports or its sanctions-hit economy faces "ruination" one of President Vladimir Putin's top bankers has said, following moves by Chinese lenders to suspend transactions with Russian banks. ICBC, China CITIC Bank and most other Chinese banks have made similar moves, worried about falling foul of Western sanctions, which have been stepped up to choke off the funding for Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Earlier this month, the U.S. and other countries unveiled a new wave of sanctions that targeted Russian financial institutions and entities and individuals who do business with them. "If...

Republican lawmakers are facing an internal battle over defense spending as prominent Republicans including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, are pushing for big increases while conservatives are raising alarms over the debt. The battle within the GOP over how much to increase defense spending to deter threats from Russia, China and Iran will burst into public next month when the Senate is set to debate the annual National Defense Authorization Act. McConnell and Wicker are laying the groundwork for that debate by calling for major...