Free Republic

Despite media reports that try to minimize our progress, household income in the United States has risen sharply since 2014. Back then, inflation-adjusted median household income stood at $55,913. In 2018, it was $63,179. This $7,266 increase amounts to a 13 percent hike in income over the past four years. Liberal and Democratic contentions that the Trump economy only benefits the wealthy fall flat in the face of the data. Put this increase in incomes into perspective. TRENDING: It Sounds Like Lindsey Graham Now Has Some Damning Dirt on Christopher Steele In the past 20 years, since 1999, median household...

Median income and earnings rise in 2018, while poverty rates drop, Census data shows The median household income in the United States increased less than a percent from 2017 to 2018, while the median earnings of workers in the United States rose 3.4%.The data, released by the Census Bureau Tuesday, also shows that the official poverty rate in the United States dropped to 11.8%, a 0.5 percentage point decrease from 2017.Here’s a look at the new data:Household income The [median household income] in the United States rose, from $62,626 in 2017 to $63,179 in 2018 adjusted for inflation. The Census...

Anti-Trumpers agree: The president’s trade battle with China is hurting our economy and, in particular, America’s farmers. We are told that the tariff tiffs have caused a collapse in U.S. agricultural exports to China, and consequent heartbreak in our heartland. It isn’t true. As with most criticisms lodged against the Trump White House, this oft-repeated narrative is way overblown. Turns out, far from suffering what CNBC recently described as “a devastating year for farmers” the farmers of America overall are doing quite well. The Department of Agriculture recently forecast that net farm income will rise nearly 5 percent this year,...

Free money. Sounds great, right?However just as it is as devious when you see the offer in a misspelled spam email from a supposed foreign price or elderly estate-owner so is it with public policy.Universal Basic Income (UBI) is the idea of giving out to every American a set amount of money every so often with little to no strings attached. It is meant to address the transformational economic changes that have come about as a result of technological advancements and automation across nearly every industry and which are expected to only continue.While an old idea, and with various theorists...

“A lot of the public is really alienated from a lot of the journalism that they see - they don’t find it particularly trustworthy, they don’t find it particularly relevant and they don’t find it leaves them in a better place.” While many news organizations add paywalls and some see increases in digital subscriptions, there has been little change in the proportion of people paying for online news, apart from the “Trump bump” rise in the United States in 2016/2017.

"Do you think Michael Jordan really still eats McDonald's even though he is a millionaire?" is a question thousands of kids posed to each other in the 1990s. According to Jordan, the answer is "yes," and one story about a product he refused to endorse reveals just how important it was for MJ to maintain a genuine image as he rose to fame. In May 1992, Jordan did a lengthy interview with Playboy that was later reproduced at Longform. Mark Vancil asked Jordan about products he turned down, and His Airness revealed that he rejected one substantial offer because he...

Hey Chuck,I read more and more people pushing for Universal Basic Income (UBI)? This sounds cool but so does a free condo on the beach. First, what is it? More importantly, is it really a good thing?Interested in UBIThanks for your important and timely question. UBI is being talked about heavily among Silicon Valley tech titans like Mark Zuckerberg. Recently, new presidential candidate Andrew Yang has even made it his central campaign promise.What Is UBI?On the surface, UBI does sound intriguing: everyone gets guaranteed monthly income; cash in the bank, no strings attached. This idea has been around for a...

For political observers of a certain vintage, long-shot presidential candidate Andrew Yang’s proposal to give every American adult $1,000 a month brought back a distinct memory from 1972. That year Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern also proposed writing a $1,000 check to every American — $1,000 a year, however (there’s been a lot of inflation since then). To put it mildly, it did not go over well. Even though McGovern eventually abandoned the proposal, and even though it was similar to the “negative income tax” idea crafted by famed free-market economist Milton Friedman and briefly considered by Richard Nixon, the...

Some Americans have much higher income and wealth than others. Former President Barack Obama explained, "I do think at a certain point you've made enough money." An adviser to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who has a Twitter account called "Every Billionaire Is A Policy Failure" tweeted, "My goal for this year is to get a moderator to ask 'Is it morally appropriate for anyone to be a billionaire?'" Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in calling for a wealth tax, complained, "The rich and powerful are taking so much for themselves and leaving so little for everyone else." These people would...

A young woman with no real-world experience is about to learn the hard way that her ideology is impractical.  I have to give Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez credit for sincerity in her announcement on Twitter that she plans to compress the pay scale of her staff, reallocating the budget she receives for staff, and cutting the pay at the top, while increasing the pay at the bottom. If she stays in office long enough, the consequences of implementing leftist cant will become clear to her (and us) over time, so it may be a teaching experience” (as former President Obama called...

More than four million, or 42 percent, of Texas households couldn’t afford basic needs such as housing, child care, food, transportation and technology in 2016, according to a new report released by United Ways of Texas. ALICE, or “Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed," are households that earn more than the federal poverty level (meaning they may not qualify for some help), but less than the basic cost of living in Texas. The ALICE project started as a pilot program in New Jersey and now includes 18 states... The report provides county-level information and tracks what Texas households experienced from 2007...

The Trump administration’s often overlooked list of achievements has surpassed those of former President Reagan at this time and more than doubled since the last tally of accomplishments after his first year in office, giving President Trump a solid platform to run for reelection on. As Trump nears the two-year mark of his historic election and conducts political rallies around the country during which he talks up his wins in hopes it will energize Republican voters, the administration has counted up 289 accomplishments in 18 categories, capped by the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. They include 173...

Every year, the U.S. Census Bureau releases new data on income trends in the American population that reinforce certain traditional lessons about life -- which may be why liberals do not talk about this data much. Are there any patterns in the lives of those who do -- and do not -- succeed financially in the United States? Yes. For example, people who stay in school longer and graduate tend to earn more money than people who do not. Table PINC-03, which the Census Bureau released last week, categorizes Americans 25 and older by their "educational attainment" and their "total...

As places like Stockton and Chicago begin to experiment with UBI pilot programs, the idea is finally moving from theory to practice. For seven months, starting last fall, Mia Birdsong traveled to cities across the country to find out how people struggling to make ends meet would use an unconditional cash infusion, or Universal Basic Income (UBI). Their answers, she found, were surprisingly unsurprising: A reliable car to shave 90 minutes off a daily commute; a years-overdue visit to family just across the state line; a football uniform for a child hoping to try out for the school team; a...

Democrats seem to agree: A job guarantee will be part of the 2020 election debate. What they don't yet agree on is what a "job guarantee" is. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is working on a full blown national bill to enshrine the right to a job. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) has a bill that would essentially run a test pilot of Sanders' program. The Congressional Full Employment Caucus has been pushing yet another national job guarantee bill, with some differences from Sanders' plan, for years. Finally, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) just introduced his own bill, which would subsidize more private...

During his commencement speech at Harvard, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called for exploring a system of wealth distribution known as "universal basic income." Under basic income, all citizens would receive a standard amount of money each month to cover basic expenses like food, rent, and clothes. Advocates say the system is one of the surest ways to lift people from poverty, since it would provide immediate assistance with no strings attached.

The National Rifle Association's annual convention last weekend cost Dallas police $575,000, the city manager said on Thursday. The NRA spent $150,000 on 400 off-duty officers who patrolled the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center and its perimeter starting last Thursday through Sunday. Dallas' $575,000 bill includes security and traffic control for rallies, protests and President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence's visit to Dallas to speak at the convention, City Manager T.C. Broadnax said.

inland has decided to end its experiment with a universal basic income, in which people are paid an unconditional salary by the state instead of benefits. The idea of a universal basic income has high-profile champions such as Richard Branson, Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. But the Finnish government's enthusiasm for a pilot scheme, a European first which garnered worldwide attention, is petering out. Calls for extra funding for it were rejected and the two year trial will not be extended after next year.

It's time to mount a serious campaign to end tolls in Miami-Dade County. Any time the government wants to charge people money, we should be allowed to vote on it. Florida's Turnpike Enterprise and the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) are highway robbers preying on predominantly poor motorists struggling to have a roof over their heads, put food on the table, and take care of their families. I remember the days when there was only one toll on State Road 112 when you left Miami International Airport to get to Miami Beach. Now there are tolls on virtually every major highway...

Your Paycheck Could Increase Very Soon -- Here’s How Much You Can Expect New IRS federal tax-withholding guidelines should give millions of Americans higher paychecks in 2018. Matthew Frankel Jan 12, 2018 The Treasury Department recently released new withholding tables based on the recently passed tax-reform bill. These tell employers how much to withhold from their employees' paychecks, and 90% of workers should see an increase when the new guidelines are implemented. Here's what this means, when you should expect the change to affect your paycheck, and how much of an increase you should expect. New IRS federal tax-withholding guidelines...