Free Republic

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) requested at least 19 earmarks totaling over $60 million in the $1.7 trillion, 4,155-page omnibus bill. If the bill passes both chambers of Congress, Murkowski’s state of Alaska will be granted by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), on behalf of American taxpayers, $60,852,000 worth of pork for housing and urban development, along with infrastructure. The specifics of the many line items include: Providence Alaska-Permanent Supportive Housing for Providence Alaska Foundation ($7,500,000) Cabin Community Projects for Sitka Homeless Coalition ($1,000,000) Rehabilitation of Bering Sea Women’s Shelter for Bering Sea Women’s Group ($2,000,000) Norton Sound Health Corporation Housing for...

Ukraine is in a national struggle that will determine its geopolitical future: the country will either be a firm member of the Euro-Atlantic community or become a Russian colony. The outcome of this struggle will have long-term implications for America’s global interests, the future of the transatlantic community, and the notion of national sovereignty in the twenty-first century.Russia is a top geopolitical adversary for the United States. For Americans who believe in strong and secure national borders, the primacy of national sovereignty, and the right to self-defense, support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression is natural. Considering America’s...

Rivals Carnival Corp and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings are also trying to preserve cash in face of unexpected headwinds Royal Caribbean Group has taken out another $1bn in debt as the entire cruise sector looks to preserve liquidity, in a bid to refinance a bond series coming due. The New York-listed owner of 64 ships made a private offering of $900m senior convertible notes due 2025 on Monday. It also plans to offer another $135m in notes to principal buyers of the debt. Cruise shares ‘diverge’ from sector’s recovering booking performance Read more “The purpose of the offering is to...

I can't remember a more depressing week in Washington. The Republicans boasted a heroic accomplishment: slashing $38.5 billion from the budget, purportedly the largest cuts in history. But strip away the gimmicks and shine a light on the shadows, and it turns out the real cuts amounted to $352 million, or less than 1 percent of what was promised. America borrows $4 billion a day. So we likely borrowed more than we cut in the amount of time the GOP leadership spent bragging about its "victory." It is a dismal, dreary, mope-inducing performance that makes one wonder what the point...