Free Republic

It is interesting to note that in January 2016 prices for gasoline on an inflation adjusted basis are actually much lower than they were during the depression.

The speculators are at it again in the oil market, pushing up prices beyond the fundamentals.

By effectively deeming the internet a utility, former chairman Tom Wheeler turned the FCC into a political gatekeeper. The rules prohibited broadband providers from blocking, throttling and favoring content, which Mr. Wheeler ostensibly intended to help large content providers like Google and Netflix gain leverage against cable companies.

Regulations: When FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced plans to repeal the Obama administration's heavy-handed "net neutrality" regulations, critics acted as if the world were coming to an end. Actual consumers, however, aren't likely to notice any difference, because the "problem" those rules were supposed to solve has always been wildly exaggerated.

"The vote is widely seen as an indication of how Chinese companies that are building or buying factories in the United States might handle the delicate subject of labor relations. Unions in China are strictly controlled by the Communist Party. Unauthorized strikes or demonstrations are often quickly shut down."

Kushner almost never speaks publicly--his chats with FORBES mark the first time he has talked about the Trump campaign or his role in it--but interviews with him and a dozen people around him and the Trump camp lead to an inescapable fact: The quiet, enigmatic young mogul delivered the presidency to the most fame-hungry, bombastic candidate in American history. "It's hard to overstate and hard to summarize Jared's role in the campaign," says billionaire Peter Thiel, the only significant Silicon Valley figure to publicly back Trump. "If Trump was the CEO, Jared was effectively the chief operating officer." "Jared Kushner...

"It's a combination. There's no question a lot of them are retirees," Boockvar said. "No one wants to say, 'I want to get fired and sit on my butt.' But when people do lose their jobs, they're not being incentivized enough to go back to work compared to the benefits they get by not being at work."

BEIJING, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. would be the main victim if Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump were elected and then backed out of a global climate accord, a Chinese official said

It’s time to send the sniffer dogs into the rubble of America’s 2016 presidential election to see if there’s anything worth saving. We’ve learned some important things. We have learned that at the lower end of the income scale, the white vote is broken, or more accurately, brokenhearted. Many middle-class white voters are angry over a system they say has failed them. They aren’t the only ones. America’s inner cities, its poorest...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) released the following statement in response to reports that Boeing has reached a multibillion-dollar deal to sell commercial passenger planes to Iran. Boeing is one of the largest beneficiaries of the Export-Import (Ex-Im) bank which perpetuates corporate welfare to mega corporations by handing out taxpayer-backed loans. "This agreement between Boeing and the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism is extremely troubling and shows that crony capitalism remains alive and well in Washington. Not only has Boeing lobbied for years to keep the taxpayer-backed Export Import bank alive, it now has also used its...

"The U.S. Senate approved a bill May 12 that would overhaul the process for businesses requesting tariff suspensions and reductions." "The miscellaneous tariff bill (MTB) establishes a new process for manufacturers to avoid having to pay tariffs on imported raw materials and intermediate products for which there are no suitable U.S.-based suppliers."

On Thursday, while Bill Clinton was giving a speech to a crowd of Hillary Clinton supporters, he was repeatedly interrupted by Black Lives Matter protesters. He responded to them, saying, "you are defending the people who killed the lives you say matter. Tell the truth."

The ability of the US manufacturing sector to produce increasing amounts of output with fewer and fewer workers should be recognized as a sign of economic strength and vitality, not economic weakness. Thanks to advances in technology, the factory floor today is one with modern, advanced, state-of-the-art equipment that requires fewer employees, but with greater skills and training than in the past. The trend in US manufacturing over the last 30 years – more and more output with fewer and fewer workers – is exactly like the transformation that revolutionized US farming over the last 100 years or more. With...

“The most-important thing for this legislature to think about: Put yourself in somebody else’s shoes. Put yourself in the shoes of a mother and a father of an adult child that is struggling. Walk in somebody else’s moccasins. Understand that poverty is real.” Kasich continued: “I had a conversation with one of the members of the legislature the other day. I said, ‘I respect the fact that you believe in small government. I do, too. I also know that you’re a person of faith. ‘Now, when you die and get to the meeting with St. Peter, he’s probably not going...

MIAMI TWP., Ohio -- Police say a shopper with a conceal-carry license killed a teenager outside of the Dayton Mall Saturday in an act of self defense. Jawad Jabbar, 16, of Middletown and two other juveniles attempted to rob two men at gunpoint outside the mall around 10 a.m., the Miami Twp. police department told WCPO news partner, WHIO-TV in Dayton. One of the men produced a firearm and shot Jabbar after the three Middletown teens demanded the adults hand over merchandise. Jabbar died a short time later.

"Officially, the People's Republic of China is an atheist country but that is changing fast as many of its 1.3 billion citizens seek meaning and spiritual comfort that neither communism nor capitalism seem to have supplied. "Christian congregations in particular have skyrocketed since churches began reopening when Chairman Mao's death in 1976 signalled the end of the Cultural Revolution. "Less than four decades later, some believe China is now poised to become not just the world's number one economy but also its most numerous Christian nation."

On any day of the week you can hear someone declaring the injustice of insufficient government spending on this or that deserving group: the ill, the old, the unemployed, university students, filmmakers, rail passengers, you name it. Yet they rarely explain why it is unfair. They speak as if the injustice of it ought to be obvious to any decent person. Perhaps it is obvious to most people, and especially to members of the allegedly mistreated groups. Nevertheless, it isn't true. They want the money, of course, but they have no proper claim on it. This is easier to see...

Link only. Can't copy with my phone.

DENVER (AP) — Charles Palmer is a hardy 71-year-old former Marine and Vietnam veteran who trains cockatiels to say "Semper Fi" and "Whatcha doin', man?" He also loves fruit — and especially melon for lunch. "He's never one to get sick," said his wife, Tammie. The Colorado Springs man ate a cantaloupe that was purchased in mid-August, his wife said. Within several days, he was overcome by an excruciating headache. The next morning he was extremely weak and gripped by dry heaves, his wife recalled. "I started slapping his face and saying, 'You've got to talk to me,' but he...

At first blush, the mercantilists' call for "free trade but fair trade" sounds reasonable. After all, who can be against fairness? Giving the idea just a bit of thought suggests that fairness as a guide for public policy lays the groundwork for tyranny. You say, "Williams, I've never heard anything so farfetched! Explain yourself." ___________ Mercantilists have absolutely no argument when we recognize that trade is mostly between individuals. Mercantilists pretend that trade occurs between nations such as U.S. trading with England or Japan to appeal to our jingoism. First, does the U.S. trade with Japan and England? In other...