Free Republic

The U.S. national average price of diesel on Thursday surpassed $6 a gallon for the first time , according to price tracker GasBuddy, as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s refineries have squeezed supply. Diesel fuels trucks, trains, ships and heavy equipment that keep global supply chains moving. It is also crucial to running farm equipment. The latest surge in fuel costs is adding to inflationary pressures that have already strained consumers and businesses this year, creating a political headache for President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers as they seek to defend thin congressional majorities in...

President Trump’s pledge to distribute $5,000 to every U.S. adult if Republicans win the midterms is drawing backlash from Republicans and Democrats as the president’s allies are forced to explain and defend the proposition. Fiscal hawks, including Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), openly questioned how the government would be able to afford to pay 270 million Americans that much money, while others have likened Trump’s proposal to bribery. “Maybe some of us think dependency is evil & soul-sucking in all its forms,” Roy wrote in a post on the social platform X, referring to Trump’s idea. Former Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.),...

The Iran War, the Epstein files and even the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool have prompted fierce debate on Capitol Hill since Donald Trump’s return to the White House. But there was one topic that even Washington’s political class probably didn’t expect to cause a storm among Republicans this week: the humble burrito. It began on Tuesday with a post on X from Andrew Kolvet, a spokesman for Turning Point USA. Recounting a recent conversation with one of the conservative group’s student supporters, he wrote: “One of our TPUSA college students gave me his take on affordability. A burrito shouldn’t cost...