Free Republic

On Friday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Jared Bernstein stated that the Biden administration has “many” policies that are designed to provide stimulus “as the fiscal stimulus from the pandemic-era responses fades.” And the Inflation Reduction Act is one of those policies. Bernstein said, “I can tell you that, from the White House perspective, we’re doing all we can to…maintain the gains that we’ve had while continuing to make progress against inflation. And, look, you mentioned fiscal, many of our policies are geared towards kind of coming up and making sure that we...

COVID passports are reportedly set to be scrapped this month in Britain amid waning cases of the Chinese coronavirus. At present, England is under ‘Plan B’ restrictions, meaning that masks are required for indoor public spaces and health passes are required to enter large events.

NEW YORK – Investors doused a two-week-old stock rally Thursday as concerns emerged that the Federal Reserve's new bond-buying campaign could wind up hurting the dollar and causing inflation. ... The retreat came a day after stocks surged in reaction to the Fed's aggressive plans to pump more than $1 trillion into the financial system by buying Treasury bonds and stepping up its purchases of other debt securities. The aim is to lower borrowing rates and stimulate lending. On Thursday, investors began to digest the possible downsides of the Fed's program such as a potentially weaker dollar. That can lead...

Is North Carolina reverting back to form? After a month of leading most N.C. polls, Barack Obama finds himself in a dead heat today with John McCain. Raleigh's Public Policy Polling has Obama leading McCain, 49-48, in a survey released Monday. Obama led by seven in PPP's poll one week ago. Rasmussen, in a poll released Monday evening, has McCain on top by the same 49-48 margin. McCain led by two in a Rasmussen poll Friday. N.C. hasn't awarded its 15 electoral votes to a Democrat since 1976. PPP's Tom Jensen says McCain gained significantly among Democrats and whites in...

In Nazi Germany, the first step in Hitler’s effort to eliminate opposition was to undermine the influence of churches and people of faith. Since the church in Nazi Germany was receiving state subsidies, it wasn’t too hard to get compliance, but the consequences of that compliance was devastating. In his book, The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer describes the effects of Hitler’s policies on the church, and how that ultimately led to the collapse of the moral fabric of the nation. We all know what occurred after that. There are several linchpins of liberty. The first is property rights. If...

Freedom is a fragile thing. A candlelight in a windstorm, if you will, requiring constant vigilance to preserve. It is never safe, as the old saying goes, as long as the California Legislature (or Congress, for that matter) is in session. That is because the ruling class, that is, elected officials, bureaucrats, and their allies in the private sector, get money, power and prestige from bigger government, and bigger government is an anathema to freedom. Therefore, those who are in charge of protecting our freedom, (i.e. government officials) have a vested interest in taking it away. Human nature being what...

DONGGUAN, China — Thousands of foreign businesspeople, primarily Taiwanese, helped turn this southern Chinese city into one of the world's busiest export manufacturing centers. Now, amid rising wage and pension costs, energy shortages, tighter government regulation, traffic bottlenecks and other concerns, some of them are starting to look elsewhere. Their restlessness reflects a dark side to China's economic boom, as growth pains and other issues prompt companies to reconsider starting up or expanding in China. Chang Han Wen is having second thoughts. He came here from Taiwan in early 1991 when the area was still largely farmland, launching a shoe...

SACRAMENTO — Republican hopes that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's popularity would help the party win more seats in the Legislature have faded in the final days before Tuesday's election as Democrats enjoyed a boost from the presidential campaign. Just weeks ago, Republican officials spoke optimistically about the potential impact of hearty campaigns by Schwarzenegger in behalf of Assembly and Senate candidates. Now, however, even some sources close to the governor concede that the outlook has darkened for Republican candidates and that Democrats could gain a seat. --snip-- Months ago, GOP strategists had said they looked forward to vigorous support from Schwarzenegger...