Free Republic

WASHINGTON — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has made at least $174,000 annually for nearly eight years as a member of Congress, but like many of her “Squad” colleagues, she has yet to put a substantial dent in her student loan debt, according to House financial disclosures. The Bronx and Queens Democrat has owed between $15,001 and $50,000 in federal student loan debt since her election to the House in 2018. That’s the same amount she owes now, according to her August disclosure, where lawmakers report ranges for debt and income. The “Tax the Rich!” pol reported less than $81,000 in...

For years, Americans have heard warnings about the national debt climbing into the tens of trillions of dollars. The numbers have become so large that they barely register anymore. Thirty trillion. Thirty-five trillion. Nearly forty trillion. But the real danger may no longer be simply how much America owes. It is how much America must now pay to keep borrowing. The U.S. Treasury is selling 30-year government bonds at yields around 5.2%, potentially the highest borrowing cost for that maturity in roughly a quarter century. That may sound like something only Wall Street investors should care about. It isn't. Because...

The world is getting more uptight about lending money to President Donald Trump’s government — causing interest rates to climb in ways that are worsening affordability pressures, hampering economic growth and creating a new risk for Republicans in November’s midterm elections. The energy price spike triggered by the Iran war has seeped into the price of bonds that help fund the U.S. government. Interest rates on a 10-year U.S. Treasury note are topping 4.44%, up from 3.95% before the war started at the end of February. Average mortgage rates have climbed to their highest levels in nine months, while auto...

For most of American history, charging someone 20% interest on a loan was illegal. Every state had usury laws capping rates at 6%, 8%, sometimes 10%. These protections dated back thousands of years — from the Code of Hammurabi to colonial America. Then in 1978, one Supreme Court ruling quietly changed everything. The case was Marquette National Bank v. First of Omaha Service Corporation, and almost nobody noticed when it was decided. But it opened a legal loophole that allowed banks to "export" interest rates from their home state to customers nationwide. What followed was a chain reaction: a desperate...

"The conservatives on here denying the affordability crisis are engaged in what I can only describe as an act of political suicide. They're also lying, which is the worst part. Grocery prices are up. Housing. Energy. Insurance. Health care. Basic living expenses. It's real. It's happening. Denying it just makes you look out of touch, deceitful, and untrustworthy. It's also a completely unnecessary and unforced error. No credible person is claiming that Trump caused these price surges. You don't have to disgrace yourself by denying the reality in front of your face just to prove your loyalty to Trump. The...

While Germany's debt spiral is accelerating ever faster, Argentine President Javier Milei is steering his country in the opposite direction. Germany's statists will soon be left looking foolish once it becomes obvious that the German model has failed. Only contrast reveals one's own mistakes. Javier Milei is the antithesis of Germany's political class, and the comparison could hardly be starker. While Germany continues to expand the state, Argentina is slashing subsidies and radically reducing the size of its public bureaucracy. While Berlin piles up enormous amounts of public debt, Buenos Aires is posting a primary budget surplus. Friedrich Merz believes...

ORLANDO, Florida, July 22 (Reuters) - As Japan's yen sinks to its lowest in 40 years, Tokyo's policy credibility in the eyes of international investors appears to be sinking too. The dollar/yen rate, the world's second most traded currency pair, is now above 163.00 for the first time since 1986. Why is Japan's currency so weak? Partly it is dollar strength. Most major ​currencies have weakened against the greenback in the last few months as a second wave of the global energy shock has reignited inflation fears, pushing up U.S. Treasury yields. While most ‌developed market government debt has come...

The past few weeks have seen the bond market start asking a question the stock market has mostly been happy to ignore: Who can actually afford the AI buildout? On July 9, S&P Global Ratings gave its answer for one of the biggest spenders. It cut Oracle Corp.'s (NYSE: ORCL) long-term credit rating to BBB-, the lowest rung of investment grade and just one notch above junk. The stock has since fallen to around $125, down nearly 30% over the past month and nearly 50% over the past year. What makes the downgrade worth more than a passing glance is...

...Professor Michael Hudson characterizes the relationship between creditors and debtors as a 5,000 year long war which in our time is being won by the creditors. Indeed, an independent oligarchy of creditors has been created and is currently buying up land that the population itself cannot afford to own. As Professor Hudson puts it, when you look at history in terms of the fight between creditors and debtors, it is a debt crisis that enslaved the Roman Empire and led to the fall of Rome. You have had the same tension in miniature in almost every subsequent economy. It is...

The Federal Budget Deficits are large by historical standards. The deficit totals $1.9 trillion in fiscal year 2026 and grows to $3.1 trillion in 2036. Relative to the size of the economy, the deficit is 5.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2026 and increases to 6.7 percent in 2036. Deficits averaged 3.8 percent of GDP over the last 50 years (see Chapter 1). Debt held by the public rises from 101 percent of GDP in 2026 to 120 percent in 2036, well above the previous record of 106 percent just after World War II. Outlays are large by...

Initiative allows newborns to be enrolled in new and streamlined processes Baltimore, MD – Today, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced it is launching processes for parents to enroll newborns in Trump Accounts. This automatic system will help ensure that every newborn has the opportunity to benefit from a Trump Account from the start of life. One year ago, on July 4, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Working Families Tax Cuts, which created Trump Accounts, a new type of individual retirement account for eligible minors under the age of 18. "Trump Accounts represent one of the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has told senators it needs roughly $80 billion, mostly to cover the cost of the U.S. war against Iran, adding to what is already a sizable military spending boost being sought by President Donald Trump. The White House Office of Management and Budget has yet to make a formal request to Congress. But Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been making the rounds on Capitol Hill, including Monday evening. A top deputy defense secretary told senators about the Iran funding request last week, according to two people familiar with the situation but not authorized to discuss...

Cost to taxpayers for Obama Center keep piling up Illinois taxpayers may be on the hook for millions in unpaid contractor fees for the Obama Presidential Center as the foundation's promised $420 million "safety net" fund to prevent a taxpayer bailout has yet to materialize and many black-owned contractors are being left unpaid. Meanwhile, multiple contractors are now saying that the Obama Center hasn't paid them for millions of dollars for their work. And some are wondering if taxpayers will be forced to pay up, according to Fox News. Some of these subcontractors say they are locked in payment disputes...

Ever gotten so deep in credit card debt that you stopped opening the bills because it felt hopeless and looking at the numbers simply stressed you out? If not, I congratulate you on your thrift and prudence. But a lot of people have reached that point, as you will discover if you spend much time on personal finance forums. If you are someone who pays off your credit card every month, it can be hard to understand why anyone would just stop opening their bills. Sure, it is hard to contemplate your financial problems. But contemplation, however unpleasant, is not...

Records show the price tag for the White House ballroom is rising to $600 million, with half of the costs funded by taxpayer dollars, according to a new report from The Washington Post. The news comes months after President Trump said private donors would pay for the $400 million initiative to construct a new ballroom in place of the East Wing. At the end of March, Trump told reporters “We’re donating a building that’s approximately $400 million.”

The U.S. national debt has crossed an ominous threshold, rising above 100 percent of national gross domestic product, or GDP. This is the first time since World War II that debt has been so high a percentage of national economic output.AdvertisementThat is a big problem because the federal debt undermines the value of the U.S. dollar and diverts investment from the wealth-creating private sector. The rising debt and its pressure on the nation’s economy will force the federal government and Federal Reserve, the latter led by newly confirmed chair Kevin Warsh, to make hard decisions they have put off for...

For decades, politicians in Washington have paid lip service to “fiscal responsibility” as they practice fiscal irresponsibility on a scale unprecedented in American history. The national debt of the United States has now climbed beyond $35 trillion, a number so large that it has ceased to register emotionally with most citizens. Yet numbers do not lose their consequences simply because they become difficult to imagine. A trillion dollars is a thousand billion dollars. Thirty-five trillion dollars represents obligations so enormous that future generations may spend much of their lives paying for promises made long before they were old enough to...

Iconic burger chain Carl’s Jr. is under increasing financial pressure from both California’s cost of doing business, $20 minimum wage rules and public safety issues that employees allege are spilling into the workplace. Carl’s Jr. has 588 stores in California as of 2025, but that number declined by 25 from 2023, when it had 613 stores in the state, according to internal franchise documents. Last month, a major franchisee filed for bankruptcy, affecting 11% of operations across the state. The doomed franchisee, Friendly Franchisees Corporation, last month explicitly blamed the state’s relatively new $20 minimum fast-food wage touted by the...

The US is heading toward a federal debt load that could reach 175% of gross domestic product over the next three decades unless Congress takes corrective action, according to a new special report from the Wells Fargo Investment Institute. But the firm's Global Fixed Income Strategy Team stopped well short of sounding an alarm for investors, arguing instead that the trajectory, while troubling, remains manageable. The report draws on Congressional Budget Office projections and Treasury Department data to paint a detailed picture of the country's fiscal position. The debt-to-GDP ratio is already expected to hit 101% in 2026, matching its...

WASHINGTON — The estimated price tag for the war in Iran so far has jumped to $29 billion, up from the $25 billion figure given at the end of April, a senior Pentagon official revealed Tuesday. Jules Hurst, acting under secretary of Defense who serves as the de facto chief financial officer at the Pentagon, told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense that the higher amount came from a further crunching of the numbers. “The Joint Staff team, with the comptroller team are constantly looking at that estimate, and so now we think it’s closer to [$]29 [billion],” Hurst said....