Free Republic

The sudden collapse last fall of a string of American companies backed by private credit has thrust a fast-growing and opaque corner of Wall Street lending into the spotlight. Private credit, also known as direct lending, is a catch-all term for lending done by nonbank institutions. The practice has been around for decades but surged in popularity after post-2008 financial crisis regulations discouraged banks from serving riskier borrowers. That growth — from $3.4 trillion in 2025 to an estimated $4.9 trillion by 2029 — and the September bankruptcies of auto-industry firms Tricolor and First Brands have emboldened some prominent Wall...

U.S. senators have left town for a week-long recess, leaving themselves only five days to pass the six remaining federal government funding bills. Four of those massive bills, which are also the thorniest, have not even passed the lower chamber, though House leaders hope to advance them in a package next week while the Senate is off. If Congress fails to meet the deadline – which many, including the National Governors Association, anticipate – they face a partial government shutdown. In that instance, the only way lawmakers could prevent a shutdown would be by punting the deadline via a Continuing...

JPMorgan Chase Bank is suing former Chicago Democrat Mayor Lori Lightfoot for letting her $11K credit card bill go unpaid for 17 months.The media has learned that Lightfoot, who became the first Democrat Chicago Mayor not reelected to city hall in about 40 years, was served with a subpoena at her $900,000 Chicago home in October, the Chicago Tribune reports.Chase ultimately decided in March that her $11,000 bill would be a charge-off, but her last payment of $5,000 on the debt was made on August 7, 2024, according to the bank’s records.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order that aims to block the seizure of Venezuelan oil revenue held in U.S. Treasury accounts. The executive order states that the revenue, which is held in foreign government deposit funds, are “held solely for sovereign purposes” and that any court attempt to seize the funds will “materially harm the national security and foreign policy” of the U.S. The order, which declared a national emergency, said the funds are the sovereign property of Venezuela held in U.S. custody for governmental and diplomatic means, and are not assets subject to private claims....

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina has repaid the funds it drew from a $20 billion credit line with the Trump administration, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Friday, in a crucial step for Argentine President Javier Milei to restore confidence in his chronically distressed economy. In addition to making payments to bondholders, Milei’s radical libertarian administration had “quickly and fully repaid its limited draw,” Bessent said, without specifying the amount. The Treasury’s latest report on the status of the credit line said that Argentina’s central bank had traded pesos for $2.5 billion through the swap as of the end...

Those who have stolen billions of dollars from American taxpayers attach little value to what is has been so easily obtained. Further, their thefts have weakened the American government, which tips the odds that the American government will collapse, and their trade of dollars for gold will be a winning one.However, if the massive thefts can be halted, then the number of market participants who have billions in cash to which they attach little value will shrink drastically.Recall that price is determined at the margin. It only requires a few market participants (technically only one), who are willing to pay...

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a remarkable rebuke of Republican leadership, the House passed legislation Thursday, 230-196, that would extend expired health care subsidies for those who get coverage through the Affordable Care Act as renegade GOP lawmakers joined essentially all Democrats in voting for the measure.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for a staggering 50% increase to the previously proposed military budget to bring the total up to $1.5 trillion. In the Wednesday afternoon Truth Social post, Trump claimed the budget increase was “for the good of our country,” citing “very troubled and dangerous times”: After long and difficult negotiations with Senators, Congressmen, Secretaries, and other Political Representatives, I have determined that, for the Good of our Country, especially in these very troubled and dangerous times, our Military Budget for the year 2027 should not be $1 Trillion Dollars, but rather $1.5 Trillion Dollars. This...

In 2026, debt is no longer just a personal finance issue—it’s a defining force shaping household stability, career choices, and even mental health. After years of economic uncertainty, fluctuating interest rates, and the normalization of “buy now, pay later,” many people have grown accustomed to carrying debt as a permanent feature of life. You can even finance Taco Bell. But that acceptance comes at a cost. Paying off debt in 2026 isn’t about perfection or deprivation; it’s about reclaiming freedom in a world that increasingly profits from keeping people financially stretched. Debt comes in all shapes and sizes. Medical debt,...

President Donald Trump says he believes the 2026 midterm elections will center on “pricing” as Republicans head into a critical period with control of Congress on the line. Trump’s comments follow a string of favorable economic reports over the last two weeks showing inflation is cooling and the economy is hotter than expected. The White House is keen to tout the latest data as it confronts cost-of-living concerns that have underpinned a string of Democratic overperformances across the country. Still, polls show Americans are struggling. Nearly half of respondents said they find groceries, utility bills, health care, housing and transportation...

NOTE: This post is very long, and the videos included are even longer. If you choose to watch only one, I would suggest the third one that specifically covers the Trump class. A lot of people instantly hated the new Trump-class Battleship because it has the name "Trump" attached to it, and especially hated it because Trump wants to have a hand in the design for "aesthetic" reasons. After all, if Trump likes something, it must be a bad idea. But of course, that's a terrible reason to have an opinion about whether a weapons system, which would likely be...

Geopolitics, diversification, and Fed easing contribute to the U.S. dollar’s downward pressures.While the so-called Santa Claus rally delivered year-end gains for stocks and precious metals, the U.S. dollar received a lump of coal to finish a not particularly strong 2025. The U.S. dollar index, a measure of the greenback against a weighted basket of currencies, is on track for its largest annual decline since 2003. This year, the index has dropped 10 percent, with nearly all of the damage occurring in the first half of 2025, when it tanked almost 11 percent. The alternative trade-weighted dollar index—a measure created by...

WASHINGTON — The Democratic Party’s principal fundraising committee saw donations slump in the second-to-last month of the year, recording just a $12 million campaign war chest and almost $16 million still in debt due to a loan taken out the previous month, Federal Election Commission filings show. The fundraising doldrums come amid party infighting over whether to release a 2024 autopsy report on the failed Biden-Harris campaign and pressure ahead of the critical 2026 midterms, in which Democrats want to retake Congress. The Democratic National Committee listed a little more than $12.6 million cash on hand, $10.7 million raised, and...

The Trump administration will start garnishing the wages of student loan borrowers in default in early January, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education confirmed to CNBC on Tuesday. More than 5 million student loan borrowers are currently in default, and that total could swell to roughly 10 million borrowers soon, the Education Department said earlier this year.

Key Points * The Trump administration will start garnishing the wages of student loan borrowers in default in early January, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education confirmed to CNBC on Tuesday. * More than 5 million student loan borrowers are currently in default, and that total could swell to roughly 10 million borrowers soon, the Education Department said earlier this year. ============================================================== The Trump administration will start garnishing the wages of student loan borrowers in default in early January, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Education confirmed to CNBC on Tuesday. It will be the first time...

President Donald Trump announced a new fleet of ships Monday, known as the "Golden Fleet," as he revealed he approved plans for two new "very large battleships." "As you know, we're desperately in need of ships. Our ships are some of them have gotten old and tired and obsolete," Trump said, flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan. Trump said the new ships would be "100 times more powerful than any battleship ever built," in an address from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. Renderings behind the president showed the...

America’s “deaths of despair” - fatalities from drug overdoses, alcohol abuse, and suicide - have climbed for more than two decades, reaching levels unseen in modern times. The long-run trend is stark. After mid-century stability, the curve bends sharply upward after 2000, driven first by drugs and later joined by alcohol and suicide. The data, drawn from the Senate Joint Economic Committee’s “Long-Term Trends in Deaths of Despair” report shown below, are clear. The deeper question is why. COVID made a bad situation worse. Lockdowns and restrictions stripped away social contact, church gatherings, family support, and purpose. Economic uncertainty due...

What can Donald Trump do to stop morphing into Joe Biden? The two presidents could hardly be more different in most ways—but in the one that counts most with voters, Trump is in danger of resembling his predecessor. Americans rejected Biden and the Democrats last year because they were incensed at the lousy state of the economy. Right now, they’re not much happier with Trump’s economy. Inflation was the No. 1 concern on voters’ minds last year, and it’s still a top concern today. Trump’s team say they plan to tout “affordability” as a theme Republicans can win on in...

Donald Trump is backing a GOP proposal depositing $1,500 checks into the health care accounts of millions of Americans. The legislation, which is being led by Republican Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy and Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, gives qualifying Affordable Care Act (ACA) enrollees a $1,000 deposit for those aged 18 to 49, as well as recipients aged 50 to 64 for $1,500. While speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Tuesday, the president

The Trump administration on Monday unveiled a new initiative dubbed the “U.S. Tech Force,” comprising about 1,000 engineers and other specialists who will work on artificial intelligence infrastructure and other technology projects throughout the federal government. Participants will commit to a two-year employment program working with teams that report directly to agency leaders in “collaboration with leading technology companies,” according to an official government website. Those “private sector partners” include Amazon Web Services , Apple , Google Public Sector, Dell Technologies , Microsoft , Nvidia , OpenAI, Oracle , Palantir , Salesforce and numerous others, the website says. The Tech...