Free Republic

Actor and left-wing activist Mark Ruffalo, reportedly worth around $30 million, has called for an “economic revolution” in the United States, warning that free-market capitalism is “killing us” and robbing the peace and prosperity of future generations. Ruffalo made his revolutionary call via Twitter, sharing a Time magazine article entitled “How America’s Elites Lost Their Grip.”

The American economy grew at a faster pace this summer than estimated earlier. Gross domestic product grew at a 2.1 percent annual rate for the third quarter, the Commerce Department said yesterday in its second estimate of economic growth. That is a substantial boost from the 1.9 percent in the earlier estimate. While businesses pulled back on investment in the summer, likely because of fears of sluggish global growth and uncertainty over the direction of trade and monetary policies, consumers remained confident and spending high, thanks to rising wages and extremely low unemployment.

President Trump on Tuesday painted a rosy picture of the booming US economy, but slammed the Federal Reserve in a rousing speech to the Economic Club of New York. “Today, I am proud to stand before you as president of the United States to report that we have delivered on our promises and exceeded our expectations by a very wide margin. We have ended the war on American workers, we have stopped the assault on American industry, and we have launched an economic boom the likes of which we have never seen before,” the president said at a luncheon at...

Several weeks ago, I met up with a friend in New York who suggested we grab a bite at a Scottish bar in the West Village. He had booked the table through something called Seated, a restaurant app that pays users who make reservations on the platform. We ordered two cocktails each, along with some food. And in exchange for the hard labor of drinking whiskey, the app awarded us $30 in credits redeemable at a variety of retailers.

The late Saul Alinsky, the legendary left-wing community organizer, must be looking up from wherever he is and smiling. The direction lately taken by the Democratic Party shows they’ve bought into his tactics, hook, line and sinker. In his most famous book, “Rules for Radicals,” he opens with the following observation: “What follows is for those who want to change the world from what it is to what they believe it should be. ‘The Prince’ was written by Machiavelli for the Haves on how to hold power. ‘Rules for Radicals’ is written for the Have-Nots on how to take it...

Earlier this week Sen. Elizabeth Warren said that an economic crash is right around the corner. She’s right. But it’s her own plan that would bring about the collapse she’s predicting. Warren says that she sees all the signs of a “coming economic crash” that she — and she alone, apparently — saw before the 2008 financial crisis. Let’s leave aside the dubiousness of Warren’s self-proclaimed economic forecasting abilities, and the fact that Democrats have been predicting an economic calamity since November 2016. Here’s her central point: “The country’s economic foundation is fragile. A single shock could bring it all...

USAFacts is a new data-driven portrait of the American population, our government’s finances, and government’s impact on society. We are a non-partisan, not-for-profit civic initiative and have no political agenda or commercial motive. We provide this information as a free public service and are committed to maintaining and expanding it in the future. We rely exclusively on publicly available government data sources. We don’t make judgments or prescribe specific policies. Whether government money is spent wisely or not, whether our quality of life is improving or getting worse – that’s for you to decide. We hope to spur serious, reasoned,...

ncoming New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez brings with her a massive online following, influence she says she’ll deploy only in support of candidates and politicians who support her plan for a “Green New Deal.” “The Green New Deal” is something Ocasio-Cortez invokes frequently in media appearances and rallies. So what’s actually in it? Her office recently released the text of a proposed House rules change outlining the plan. The proposed rule change for the upcoming 116th Congress would require the creation of a “Select Committee for a Green Deal” that would be responsible for creating the plan by January 1,...

Executive Order on Establishing the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council ECONOMY & JOBS Issued on: December 12, 2018 menuALL NEWS ESTABLISHING THE WHITE HOUSE OPPORTUNITY AND REVITALIZATION COUNCIL By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Purpose. Fifty-two million Americans live in economically distressed communities. Despite the growing national economy, these communities are plagued by high poverty levels, failing schools, and a scarcity of jobs. In December 2017, I signed into law a bill originally introduced as the Tax...

President Donald Trump hailed a new economic report showing the U.S. economy grew at a clip of 4.1 per cent in the second quarter, hitting a high pace not reached since 2014. 'It is indeed a big one,' Trump said. Trump said he was 'honored' by the growth figure and called it a 'great day.' The president made an unscheduled appearance on the South Lawn of the White House, flanked by his economic advisors, to tout the news. He promised the high growth rate was not a 'one-time' thing. 'As the trade deals come in one by one we're going...

The passing of Bernard Lewis last week at the age of 101 recalls to mind perhaps his most famous book title about the Muslim world, What Went Wrong? But maybe a successor of sorts has been found in Duke University economist Timur Kuran, who has a long article forthcoming in the Journal of Economic Literature that paints a pretty bleak picture of the economic and social structure of Islamic nations. Just check out the abstract of the article, which is bland in language but harsh in its conclusions:

America’s current economic situation is not one of financial security or encouraging growth. Below the surface of our 106+ month-long “recovery,” now the second longest on record, is a sense of anxious anarchy in American households. Working men and women are struggling to make ends meet and many are simply not working at all. The real story that is not being told by the mainstream media is how close we are to an epic collapse. You have to work! Not sure if you have been following this story or not, but a 30-year-old man from New York has just been...

There has been little room for optimism in recent predictions on Turkey’s economy, but even among pessimistic company, one strategist’s comments on Turkey to Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung came off as bleak. Turkey has already entered an economic crisis and can expect a “massive” fall in the value of the Turkish lira by the period after the June 24 elections “at the latest,” Turkish daily Cumhuriyet quoted economist Russell Napier as saying. After years of steady decline, the lira’s fall has accelerated sharply in recent weeks, repeatedly hitting record lows against the dollar and leading losses in emerging markets...

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to promote economic mobility, strong social networks, and accountability to American taxpayers, it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Purpose. The United States and its Constitution were founded on the principles of freedom and equal opportunity for all. To ensure that all Americans would be able to realize the benefits of those principles, especially during hard times, the Government established programs to help families with basic unmet needs. Unfortunately, many of the programs designed to help families have...

BISBEE — Over the next three years, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors will be busy trying to reach the goals of the Strategic Plan they and county staff developed. Supervisors Ann English, Pat Call and Peggy Judd have agreed to the ambitious agenda that reflects the determination to make the county government more efficient and effective, to improve the county’s economic position, and to continue to maintain and improve infrastructure. Over the past few months, the supervisors met with department heads and County Administrator Ed Gilligan to focus thoughts, determine feasibility and set timelines. They met with Facilities Director...

Turkey’s defence corporation Aselsan could be one of the first economic casualties of the ongoing Turkish military operation in northern Syria, after it was forced to cancel its planned secondary public offering to foreign investors. Aselsan is the world’s 58th largest defence company, with exports accounting for a large portion of its annual revenue of $1.7 billion. It is also a main provider of equipment and electronic defence systems for the Turkish military. The proposed secondary public offering fell through due to the lack of a suitable offer, a company representative said in a statement to the Istanbul Stock Market.

January 20, 2017 Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. Shocking the world, the former reality TV star and real estate developer defeated both a vast field of Republican candidates and the Clinton machine. Liberals have been melting down all year while the non-status quo president attempts to upend DC and make America great again by focusing on growing the economy as opposed to opening our borders, entering into ill-fated trade deals, and destructive climate pacts that merely aim to signal how enlightened we are as a nation. February 12, 2017 North Korea launches...

Now that we are a full year into President Trump’s increasingly consequential first term, it is long past time to give him complete ownership of the American economy. If it seems odd to do so after only a year, that is due to former President Barack Obama, who never stopped blaming his predecessor for a recovery that never arrived because Obama could not stop sabotaging it with his anti-growth policies and anti-free market rhetoric. Even lying conspiracy theorists in the media and Democrat Party backed by a special prosecutor, even the gale force wind of hate and lies, have not...

In a speech to the CLSA Investors’ Forum in Hong Kong on Tuesday, Breitbart Executive Chairman Steve Bannon stated that to avoid a trade war, China must cease its economic war on America. In a separate interview on Tuesday with David Martosko of The Daily Mail, Bannon mentioned President Trump’s planned visit to China in November to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and attend economic summits. Bannon said Trump will seek common ground in a new trade relationship with China because “[t]here’s too much at stake to slip into a trade war right off the bat.” “I think...

**SNIP** Democratic leaders shared few details to preserve suspense around the plan, which is scheduled to be unveiled Monday at an event in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District, where the party hopes to defeat incumbent Rep. Barbara Comstock (R). But some lawmakers, aides and outside advocates consulted on the new agenda said that it is expected to focus on new proposals to fund job-training programs, renegotiate trade deals and address soaring prescription-drug costs, as well as other issues. It is also expected to endorse long-held Democratic principles, including “a living wage” of $15 per hour and already unveiled spending plans for...