Free Republic

Imagine that a progressive American city creates a financial incentive for residents to “transition” from man to woman or from woman to man.That’s exactly what San Francisco has just done with a program called Guaranteed Income for Transgender People, or GIFT.This is like using a fire hose to spray a burning skyscraper with gasoline. Talk about perverse incentives.Anyone want to bet that, if this program expands, the number of San Francisco’s poor who say they identify as transgender also will expand?Of course, San Francisco already is a lab for bad policy ideas. But giving guaranteed income to low-income residents who...

The average American has lost $4,200 in income due to soaring inflation and rising interest rates, according to an analysis by the Heritage Foundation. Experts at the right-leaning think tank analyzed consumer prices data and the Federal Reserve's interest rates. Consumer prices have risen 12.7 percent since 2021, far outpacing wages and Heritage experts believe this has cost Americans about $3,000 each in purchasing power. As the Fed pushes interest rates to a range of 3-3.25 percent, higher borrowing costs are squeezing Americans on mortgages, vehicle loans and credit cards, costing another $1,200 per year.

It’s likely going to be the biggest benefit hike in decades, but it might not mean what you think.Nothing’s been finalized yet, but 2023 seems poised to bring Social Security’s biggest increase in over 40 years. This is a big deal for the millions of Americans who count upon Social Security to help them cover their expenses. But there are still a lot of misconceptions about this impending benefit boost. Here are three things all Social Security recipients ought to know about it.1. You don’t have to do anything to claim it Social Security checks are projected to go up...

As this Census Bureau information from 2020 shows in stark terms, quite a few ethnic groups in this country do better than the average American, and of those non-Whites, many are far above the average. If racist practices were the predominant factor determining success or failure in this country, the truth of the data in this graph would be inconceivable. Note also the statistics in the chart insert that many ethnic minorities (non-Caucasians) do far better on higher level education than the US average. Again, if America was systemically racist, those people would be at the bottom, not at the...

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden made a combined income of $610,702 last year while Vice President Harris and her husband made more than $1.65 million, according to documents published by the White House on Friday based on the couples’ 2021 tax returns. The president and his wife paid an effective federal income tax rate of 24.6 percent, the documents showed. Those figures are comparable to 2020, when the Bidens earned $607,336 with an effective federal income tax rate of 25.9 percent before taking office.

A California city is planning to give universal basic income (UBI) to transgender and nonbinary residents regardless of their earnings level. Transgender residents in Palm Springs, California are eligible to receive a UBI of up to $900 per month solely for identifying as transgender or nonbinary — no strings attached. The new pilot program will have $200,000 set aside for allocation after a unanimous vote by the Palm Springs City Council last week.

New Yorker Shakeya Hudson, 33, is one of 100 moms who are receiving the cash as part of the Bridge Project scheme. The scheme provides support to moms and their babies and aims to reduce child poverty across New York City.

It has been 14 years since The Federal Reserve under Ben Bernanke unleashed zero interest rate policies (ZIRP) and quantitative easing (QE) in late 2008. And Fed monetary stimulypto is still running strong after almost 14 year of monetary mismanagement and asset bubble stimulation. The Federal Reserve under Bernanke and Yellen raised their target rate exactly once under President Obama before the election of Donald Trump. After Trump was elected, The Fed raised their target rate 8 times, lowered it 5 times. There have been no rate hikes under Biden. There seemingly never-ending Fed monetary stimulus has resulted in the...

The percentage of wealth owned by the top 1% keeps rising over time. Who's to credit or blame?Data Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Fed), Chart by MishThis data series compiled by the Fed started in the third quarter of 1989. The most recent data is from the third quarter of 2021.If you have not seen charts of this series before, the numbers may seem shocking. 1989 Q3 vs 2021 Q3 PercentagesTop 1% Then 23.6%, Now 32.1%90th to 99th Percentile Then 37.3%, Now 37.5%50th to 90th Percentile Then 35.6%, Now 27.9%Bottom 50% Then 3.7%, Now 2.5%Gains or...

YouTube took action against conservative commentator Dan Bongino’s channel Friday, suspending it for violating the platform’s COVID-19 misinformation policy and demonetizing it for at least 30 days. The weeklong posting suspension stems from a video where Bongino said that masks are “useless” in stopping the spread of the disease. YouTube’s COVID-19 policy specifically prohibits content denying the effectiveness of wearing masks, which the vast majority of the scientific community agrees reduces the risk of infection. The video was Bongino’s first “strike” under the policy, resulting in a one-week suspension from posting.

I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is you probably put a little more money in your pocket in November. The bad news is inflation ate up all your income gains and then some. Real personal incomes fell 0.2% in November despite a healthy gain in nominal income. Personal income from all sources, including wages, salaries, interest dividends, rental income, unemployment, Social Security, etc. rose by 0.4% in November. Year on year, personal income is up a healthy 7.4%, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis today. (Keep in mind a chunk of...

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced back in July that it had achieved a complete “moderately prosperous society” and eliminated “absolute poverty” in China.However, recent research shows that the number of individuals from households with less than 500 yuan ($80) per capita monthly disposable income has exceeded 220 million in China, a sharp contrast to the statements proclaimed by CCP leader Xi Jinping in remarks for the Party’s 100th anniversary.In the “China Statistical Yearbook 2021” published by the National Bureau of Statistics, 20 percent of all households in China have a per capita monthly disposable income of 656 yuan (US$103),...

Headline inflation, including food and energy, rose at a 4.4% annual rate in September, the fastest since 1991. Core inflation, which is the Fed’s preferred gauge, increased 3.6% for the 12 months, the same as in August but still also the fastest pace in 30 years. Personal income declined at a faster pace than expected while consumer spending increased and was in line with forecasts. Employment costs rose more than expected and at the fastest annual pace in 19 years.

In some ways, we sympathize with Neel Kashkari's fake "concern" about the unprecedented wealth inequality that has emerged in the US in recent years and which has resulted in a slow, methodical and relentless destruction of the US middle class ... or rather make that precedented because there was another time when the top 0.1% had amassed as much wealth and it was just before the Great Depression.After all, who hasn't seen charts such as these showing the tremendous divergence in income earned by America's Top 1% at the expense of the middle and lower classes:Or that the top 10%...

President Biden on Thursday repeated his call for Congress to hike taxes to finance a $3.5 trillion social spending bill, saying it would “restore some sanity in fairness to our tax code.” Biden didn’t offer new policy proposals but repeated his long-standing preferences to raise taxes on corporations and incomes over $400,000 — after House Democrats on Monday unfurled a plan to raise taxes on higher incomes, certain businesses and tobacco products. “We’re making sure the corporations and wealthy Americans pay their fair share,” Biden said.

So-called “Squad” member Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) reportedly shows thousands of dollars in rental income with her husband in her financial disclosure forms, despite being a cosponsor of the “cancel rent” bill. Pressley’s annual financial disclosure, which every member files, shows she and her husband made up to $15,000 from rent, according to a report from Fox News. Her disclosure is from last year as the Chinese coronavirus was sweeping through the country.

New York prosecutors on Thursday unveiled the first charges in their grand jury investigation into the Trump Organization, charging the former president’s company and its chief financial officer (CFO), Allen Weisselberg, with tax-related crimes. Prosecutors allege a 15-year scheme in which the Trump Organization compensated Weisselberg in a manner that allowed the company and the executive to evade taxes. The defendants deny any wrongdoing and argue that the charges are politically motivated. The allegations stem from a years-long investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office that has involved prosecutors obtaining former President Trump’s tax returns. Thursday’s indictment doesn’t charge the...

ProPublica has obtained a vast cache of IRS information showing how billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett pay little in income tax compared to their massive wealth — sometimes, even nothing.

Biden's American Family Plan would dole out free college, free child care, free meals, and more. But does the math add up? Nope.President Biden released the provisions of his American Family Plan last week, and just like with his American Jobs Plan, the details are scant and the price tag is high.Even given the limited details, the plans ought to give everyone pause — and by “everyone” I don’t just mean conservatives who oppose massive welfare state expansions, but also those who agree with the objective of an increase in the social insurance system in America. There are some serious...

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is set to propose a “universal basic income” pilot program for some residents of his city when he unveils his new budget on Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles Times. A year ago, the cash-strapped city was sending workers on furloughs due to anticipated budget shortfalls.