Free Republic

A recorded meeting shows Russian President Vladimir Putin losing his temper when arguing with his deputy prime minister. In Putin's first video call meeting of the year with government ministers, he sparred with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov before humiliating him by asking why he was "fooling around" instead of securing new contracts for plane construction, a video released by RIA Novosti shows. When Manturov attempted to defend himself, Putin adopted a mocking tone before giving him one month as a deadline. The incident started with a disagreement over whether or not new contracts...

The national debt of the United States blew past $31 trillion for the first time ever Tuesday, a grim milestone that comes amid soaring interest rates that threaten to strain the government's finances. It comes just nine months after the last milestone of $30 trillion, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, and only five years after reaching $20 trillion. The unprecedented spree of government borrowing brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic, and further borrowing to stimulate the economy, has helped to contribute to the majority of this figure. SOARING INTEREST RATES MEAN DEBT RECKONING COULD COME YEARS...