Free Republic

Game of Thrones actor Joseph Gatt has been arrested after allegedly engaging in sexually explicit online communication with a minor in another state. The LAPD served a search warrant at Gatt's home in Los Angeles on April 6 after they received information that he had been engaged in online sexually explicit communication with a minor across state lines. Gatt was taken into custody on Wednesday after authorities served a search warrant at his home in Los Angeles. The LAPD's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force began investigating Gatt after they received a tip that he was engaged in sexually explicit...

The United States is not doing enough to promote free trade and the elimination of trade barriers around the world. In fact, it’s doing just the opposite and imposing barriers on billions of dollars’ worth of imports. As a result, new trade restrictions implemented by World Trade Organization member countries have reached historic highs. Over the last two review periods, new trade restrictions totaled $588.3 billion and $339.5 billion, respectively. For the previous two periods, new trade restrictions totaled roughly $100 billion or less. The latest figures present a worrisome and unpredictable climate that is harming the overall health of...

The great engine of American capitalism is once again firing on all cylinders, as shown by the 4.1 percent annualized growth of America’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the second quarter of this year. Most Americans (with the exception of Democrats in Congress) are celebrating the good economic news. There is quiet rejoicing in many European and Asian capitals as well, since their mostly sluggish economies will now be drawn along in America’s powerful wake. But there is one capital where the American economic renaissance is definitely not welcome news. Consternation reigns in China, where President Xi Jinping is nervously...

The Democrats Don’t Have a Foreign Policy, They Have A Trump Policy Not just treasonous, stupid. May 10, 2018 Daniel Greenfield Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical left and Islamic terrorism. Quick, what’s the Dem position on Syria? What about China? Don’t bother. There was once a time when Democrats could discuss Syria, North Korea, the South China Sea, economic tensions in the European Union and the future of Africa. But that was before Trump. Democrats don’t have a foreign policy anymore. They have a Trump...

Much to the shock of liberals, being tough on trade works better for American exports than being nice and hoping other nations will be “fair” to us in return. That works in kindergarten where a teacher is present to enforce the triumph of being nice. But in the real world, where politicians respond to domestic interests, it takes more than flowery rhetoric to get action. When President Trump threatened to slap heavy tariffs on European auto exports to the US unless they brought their tariffs down to equal our tariffs on them, he was lectured that this was “no...

I looked it up. The EU puts a 10% tariff on American cars. The United States puts a 2.5% tariff on EU cars. In what universe is that fair? Trump should address the nation, and hold up a poster with that data on it. People would come over to his side hugely. Why doesn't he do that? (And no, tweets don't count. The average American voter doesn't read political tweets.)

A leading German think tank says Donald Trump is right that tariffs between the United States and Europe are asymmetrical, but urges negotiations to lower import taxes across the board. US President Donald Trump may actually have a point when it comes to unfair taxes on US goods coming into Europe. That is the finding of a new study by a leading German think tank. Where they differ is how to deal with it: The group urges new talks to lower tariffs across the board, instead of engaging in a tit-for-tat escalation in new taxes. “The EU is by no...

President Trump is right. Our trading partners—particularly China, Japan, and Mexico—are taking America to the woodshed. Consider that China steals more than half a trillion dollars in American intellectual property every single year. This is one of the reasons America’s trade deficit with China is so massive. For example, in 2010 Chinese companies stole high-speed rail designs from American firms, thereby depriving them of hundreds of billions in potential revenues. Such theft occurs in nearly every industry, whether it’s software programs or branded consumer goods. And the worst part? We let it happen. The globalist GOP refuses to punish China...

I am frustrated to still hear the silliness about how President Donald Trump is soft on Russia.  It continues to be a mainstream talking point, repeated by congresspeople pushing impeachment and pundits like Max "I would rather vote for Stalin than Trump" Boot.  Our friends the Germans even made this disgusting parade float of a Russian bear sodomizing Trump. Their argument is insane.  Not tethered to reality.  A supreme attempt to gaslight normal people. Below is a list of all the ways that Trump's policies are anathema to Moscow.  They are coordinated and deliberate, to help America and undermine Russia.  Trump may not be saying...

The leaking of hundreds of pages of negotiating texts for an ambitious U.S.-European Union free-trade agreement is continuing to make waves in France and elsewhere in Europe, just days after President Obama expressed confidence that a deal – a key goal of his administration – is within reach. Already skeptical politicians and others see the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) documents leaked by the environmental group Greenpeace as confirming fears that the agreement would not be good for Europe. French President Francois Hollande responded to the leaks by saying he would not support the TTIP as it stands. The...

The left-leaning Huffington Post published an article which seems concerned that Donald Trump could defeat Hillary Clinton in a general election contest due to his strong position on trade. In a Friday piece entitled, “Hillary Must Toughen Up On Trade In Case She Is Nominee Against Trump,” Dave Johnson, a fellow at Campaign for America’s Future, writes: If Hillary Clinton is going to be the Democratic nominee she had better get tough on trade – and mean it. One of Donald Trump’ main elements of appeal to his voters – if not the main appeal – is his stance on...

President Obama on Wednesday called on U.S. business, labor and political leaders to “refashion the social compact” and strengthen union powers across the country, arguing that the troubling trend of declining middle-class wages can be turned around by redefining the basic principles of workers’ rights. During a speech at a White House summit on working Americans, the president drew a direct link between drops in union membership and the stagnation of most workers’ wages. Mr. Obama also said that workers’ anxiety about their job security and whether they’ll be afford to feed their families contributes to “anti-immigration sentiment” and other...

President Barack Obama says labor laws should be strengthened and it should be easier for workers to join unions. Obama made the comments at a White House workers’ summit on Wednesday—just as there’s a rift with labor over a Pacific Rim trade agreement. …

The powerful Globalist players at the Council on Foreign Relations, the Bilderberg Group, and the Trilateral Commission are certainly watching the presidential campaign of Donald Trump. Trump has already made statements about immigration they find troubling. They may or may not be taking Trump’s presidential run seriously. They may or may not view him as an inconsequential blowhard, a shoot-from-the-hip cowboy who forgets today what he said yesterday—but today the New York Times has made reference to Trump in a way that will make these Globalist heavy hitters pause and blink while drinking their morning coffee (Here in “As Stock...

When the proceeds of growth are not widely shared, the consensus in favor of pro-growth measures cracks. A decade and a half ago, I filled my days writing speeches urging Congress to grant President George W. Bush fast-track trade authority. If memory serves, I wrote more speeches on that one subject than on any other. Obviously, I didn’t earn my pay: Despite Republican majorities in both Houses, Congress balked. This past year, President Obama has worked as hard for fast-track authority as President Bush ever did. It now seems that his efforts will prove as unavailing. This time, if anything,...

I'm sure this will go over like a fart in church, but what the heck, video at link: No to Fast Track, No to Trade Treachery,

RUSH: A new Gallup poll out. Headline: "Americans Continue to Shift Left on Key Moral Issues." Now, before you go off getting depressed about this, let me tell you what the reason for this is, after we give you the details. "Americans are more likely now than in the early 2000s to find a variety of behaviors morally acceptable, including gay and lesbian relations, having a baby outside of marriage and sex between an unmarried man and woman. Moral acceptability of many of these issues is now at a record-high level." It's a subtle message to the Republican Party, and...

Foreign policy should work to advance a constructive agenda—something that’s been largely lacking in the Obama era. Hopefully, the next president will come up with appropriate actions to fill that void. As a cornerstone of that effort, I would suggest a commitment to promoting free trade and more liberal markets worldwide. I’ve written before that the next president will need a “kick starter” agenda—one that demonstrates that the United States is back in the business of protecting its own interests. But Washington will need to go beyond that. The static defense of interests is a sterile and ultimately, unsatisfactory role...

Thousands of jobs would “disappear pretty quickly” if the Export-Import Bank were to expire abruptly when its charter runs out at the end of June, House Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday. The Ohio Republican has asked Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, to come up with a plan to overhaul or wind down the operations of the bank, which helps finance exports of U.S. products such as jetliners and wind turbines. […] Many conservative Republicans want to kill the bank outright, saying it finances too many questionable projects and favors some businesses over others. But the bank enjoys sweeping...

House Speaker John Boehner said Sunday that Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential frontrunner, needs to support the trade legislation that President Obama wants to help get enough Democratic votes for passage. The Ohio Republican, in a wide-ranging interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said the GOP indeed controls the House and Senate but that he and Obama “needs her help” to give the president negotiating authority to complete an Asia-Pacific trade deal. “We can't do this by ourselves,” Boehner said. “Every president over the last 50 years has had this (authority.) There is no reason why President Obama shouldn't...