Free Republic

WASHINGTON — President Biden wrongly claimed Tuesday that he lowered the national debt by $1.7 trillion — when in fact the debt grew by nearly $3.7 trillion during his first 23 months in office. Biden made the error while using the terms “deficit” and “debt” interchangeably during remarks touting the slight decline in the annual inflation rate to 7.1% in November. “We’ve done all of this while lowering the federal deficit in the two years we’ve been in office $1.7 trillion,” Biden said before incorrectly adding, “Let me say that again — $1.7 trillion we’ve lowered the federal debt.” The...

A leftist nonprofit group that funded the private takeover of government election offices during the 2020 presidential election just announced its new round of beneficiaries for the 2024 cycle. The Center for Tech and Civic Life — one of two groups that funneled $328 million (colloquially termed “Zuckbucks“) from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to the blue counties of swing states to mobilize potential Democratic voters and swing the race for Joe Biden — has said it will distribute $80 million in election grants in the next five years to the following counties and cities: Contra Costa County, California Shasta County,...

Joe Biden is only in second place – so far. A new report reveals that the economic decline for Americans was both huge and fast under Biden's economic strategies. But he's only in second place, with the fall in wealth faster coming just as Barack Obama, for whom Biden served as vice president for eight years, was beginning his term in the White House. The Gateway Pundit was blunt in its report, explaining, "The U.S. household wealth is down $13.5 trillion in 2022 the second fastest decline on record. Only the 2008-2009 financial crisis was worse than the Biden 2022...

Democrat President Joe Biden has caved and will visit Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to beg the kingdom to pump more oil. The move comes after the president has shut down domestic output, leading, in part, to soaring gas prices. As gas prices skyrocket to record highs across the country, Biden may view the trip as a chance to save his presidency. However, it could still backfire if Biden can’t get the Saudis to dramatically increase production Biden may have to go with his tail between his legs when he meets Prince Salman as, during his campaign,...

As The Federal Reserve continues its assault on inflation by raising their target rate, Blackstone Inc.’s $69 billion real estate fund for wealthy individuals said it will limit redemption requests, one of the most dramatic signs of a pullback at a top profit driver for the firm and a chilling indicator for the property industry. Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. has been facing withdrawal requests exceeding its quarterly limit, a major test for the one of the private equity firm’s most ambitious efforts to reach individual investors. The news, in a letter Thursday, sent Blackstone stock falling as much...

A week ago the Biden administration announced that it had approved an expansion of the license to Chevron so they could resume oil production in Venezuela. This was a surprise given the administration’s hostility to fossil fuels in general and oil from Venezuela in particular. ... That Biden would allow oil to flow from a socialist dictator like Nicolás Maduro isn’t shocking. The administration has made a nasty habit of dealing with dictators while leaving our friends high and dry. Such is the case with tiny Guyana, which was recently discovered to be sitting on an ocean of crude oil....

How’s this for irony? The biggest obstacles right now to fast-tracking the Mountain Valley Pipeline are Republicans and the biggest proponents are Democrats, one of whom has declared that “climate change is an emergency.” You’ll recall that back in July, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, shocked both parties when he announced he’d vote for his party’s climate bill – more formally but perhaps inaccurately known as the Inflation Reduction Act. Manchin is a longtime lover of fossil fuels so the notion that he’d back a bill pushed by environmental interests (among others) didn’t seem to quite fit. What we...

One way to do that would be to restructure some food companies, distribution warehouses and retailers as a public utility, like how the energy grid, sewers and water delivery are managed. If some processing plants, distribution warehouses and retailers were owned by government, they could use subsidies to buy grains, legumes like beans and meat directly from farmers, and the resulting goods could be made available free to everyone. Programs could alternatively take the form of universal school meals and open-to-all cafeterias that serve meals throughout the day.

On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) stated that Secretary of State Pete Buttigieg hasn’t had enough involvement in trying to avert a potential rail strike, which, along with rising diesel costs, “will be a one-two shot to an already struggling economy.” Waltz said that in addition to the cost of gas spiking if there’s a rail strike, “the cost of diesel is through the roof as well. You know, the average trucker used to spend 300, $400 to fill up his rig. Now, he’s spending over $1,000, and this will be...

California's Air Resources Board has laid out a plan to ban all diesel-powered trucks that would cause inflationary ripples throughout the entire economy.The plan would mandate that all new trucks operating around busy railways and ports be zero emission vehicles by 2024 - while all diesel trucks would be phased out by 2035, and eventually, banishing every truck and bus fleet from California roads by 2045, where feasible, according to SFGATE.The proposed Advance Clean Fleets regulation first targets the busiest trucking areas in the state — around warehouses, sea ports and railways. The board says the pollution in these areas...

The US economy is in “The Deep.” Deep into yield curve inversion, that is. The US Treasury 10Y-2Y yield curve swam deeper into inverse at -75 basis points. The deepest inversion since just before The Great Recession and housing market crash.

s Americans prepare to hit the road for Thanksgiving, average gas prices will be at their highest seasonal level ever, according to GasBuddy. GasBuddy says the national average is projected to stand at $3.68 on Thanksgiving Day. This is nearly 30¢ higher than last year, and over 20¢ higher than the previous record of $3.44 set in 2012. And diesel prices, the life blood of the shipping industry, relative to gasoline prices, are soaring. Highest since 2004. As we approach Thanksgiving Day, it is important to be thankful ... that things aren't even worse under Billions Biden. US CRB foodstuffs...

Truckers say the state’s lack of charging stations for big rigs is major obstacle to switching to electricAn ambitious California plan to require trucking fleets in the state to switch from diesel to electric power faces a potential backup at charging stations. The California Air Resources Board is proposing phasing out older big rigs operating in the busy corridors shuttling shipping containers between ports, rail yards and warehouses and require that all new vehicles be powered by clean fuels starting in 2024. From 2025, the state would bar trucks powered by internal combustion engines that have more than 800,000 miles...

Nationwide, truckers and trucking companies have been dealing with the rising prices of diesel since this summer. They say they are seeing no sign of these prices coming down. Chris Shelton is a driver for Lightning Logistics. He says his company added an extra charge for fuel that lowered his expenses, and it is the only thing keeping food on his family’s table. “It makes it harder and harder to budget yourself out each week,” Shelton said. […] According to AAA, one year ago a gallon of diesel fuel was $3.65, on average. Now, it is up to $5.33. Shelton...

The US is an inflation nation under Beijing Biden. Today, the PPI Final Demand YoY index printed for October was still agonizingly high at 8% YoY (The Fed likes to see 2% for inflation). True, PPI Final Demand YoY is down from its recent peak of 11.7% YoY in March. But notice that M2 Money YoY (liquidity) has collapsed following the Covid surge (green line). Then I have this update on Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX and Alameda Research notoriety. As Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire imploded last week, costing him effectively all of his $15.6 billion fortune, other digital-asset billionaires sought...

There are pledges and there are pledges. Some are realistic, others are not. Some are pure fantasy and are best left that way. Remember Joe Biden's pledge from 2019? “I want you to look at my eyes. I guarantee you, I guarantee you we’re going to end fossil fuels.” He repeated it recently "There is no more drilling. I haven't formed any new drilling," I guarantee you it won't happen. Were it possible, there would be no Christmas. Were it possible, you most likely would die and so would your kids. Facts are stubborn things. Joe Biden is determined to...

President Biden is expected to announce a proposal for stronger regulations on the oil and gas sector aimed at controlling emissions of a planet warming gas called methane. The stronger methane regulations are part of a slew of climate-related actions that Biden is expected to announce during his trip to the COP27 global climate summit in Egypt. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) projects that in 2030, the requirements would cut 87 percent of methane emissions from the pollution sources that it regulates when compared to 2005 levels. The proposal strengthens a Biden administration proposal from last year that was expected...

His Fraudulency Joe Biden is refusing to commit to a post-midterm press conference and will be fleeing the country a little over 36 hours after polls close on Election Day. Just ten days ago, and likely due to the fact that the red wave writing was clearly on the wall by then, the White House announced Biden would leave Thursday for Egypt to attend something called the COP 27, a globalist thing involving the corrupt United Nations and dedicated to furthering the Climate Change Hoax.

rices at the pump are in focus again, but this time, it’s the other pump – the diesel fuel pump. Diesel is the fuel trucks, trains and ships fill their tanks with to move goods closer to our homes and stores. While the national average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline we put in our cars has dropped about 24% from their record high in June, the price of diesel has only slipped 8%. Diesel prices used to be lower than gasoline, but that relationship has flipped over the years, and the spread between the two has widened and...

Distillate levels in the United States have plummeted to the lowest levels since 2008.. Low distillate inventories have sent diesel prices soaring. ... The primary distillates are diesel, jet fuel ,and heating oil). However, in 2008 distillate levels were low coming out of spring. Currently, they are low going into fall. That’s far worse than the situation in 2008. Distillate demand generally spikes in spring — when farmers are planting crops — and in fall, when they are harvesting those crops and people start buying fuel oil for winter. Thus, a low distillate inventory in late April 2008 isn’t quite...