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In a post back in January, commenting on the November 2025 off-year elections, I remarked that the buzz-word of the moment for the Democrats appeared to be “affordability.” Many credited that theme as being the winning issue that took the Virginia and New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidates (Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill) over the top. And yet the policies that Spanberger and Sherrill had advocated as the centerpieces of their “affordability” agendas were taken from the playbooks of California and New York, otherwise known as the leading states for intentionally driving up costs for their residents. Anybody could see that...

".......Lisandro Barazarte, a photographer with the local newspaper, Notitarde, caught images of several of the men shooting into the crowd while steadying their firearms on their palms. "They were practiced shooters," Barazarte said. "More were armed, but didn't fire." When it was over, two La Isabelica men were dead: a 22-year-old student, Jesus Enrique Acosta, and a little league baseball coach, Guillermo Sanchez. Witnesses told the AP the first was shot in the head, the second in the back. They said neither was at the barricades when he was killed.... ....."They put a pistol in my face and said they...

Republicans on Capitol Hill are seething that Donald Trump is not more focused on the economy as this year's midterm elections approach, warning it could obliterate the narrow GOP congressional majority. Polling indicates that voters are souring on Trump and his Republican allies in Congress ahead of his November's elections that will prove fateful for the President's agenda. In addition to the lack of attention to fixing the economy, senior aides also identified the nomination of Federal Housing Finance Director Bill Pulte, a close ally of the President, to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as an...

The housing market was expected to rebound this year, but the Iran war has changed that trajectory... In early June, the average 30-year fixed-rate was 6.52%, according to Freddie Mac. Just before the war began, rates fell below 6% for the first time in years... The rate environment is typically driven by numerous economic and political events, but the war is driving the movement now, Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com, said. “Over the last couple of months, the rate market has been held hostage by this conflict in Iran,” he said. “When it looks like a ceasefire is in...

U.S. equities gained on Thursday, boosted by a rebound in chip stocks after recent pressure, after President Donald Trump said that he has called off the strikes on Iran scheduled for this evening. The S&P 500 gained 1.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 1.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 712 points, or 1.5%. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were last trading around the flatline at roughly $90 a barrel. Oil prices had risen earlier in the day after President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the U.S. will be attacking Iran “VERY HARD TONIGHT.” He...

June 11 (Reuters) - Iran's top ​joint military ‌command announced the closure ​of ​the Strait of ⁠Hormuz ​on Thursday, ​including oil tankers and commercial ​ships, ​saying any vessel ‌that ⁠will attempt passage will ​be ​shot ⁠at.

Video at link. "President Donald Trump said the U.S. would hit Iran “very hard” today."

President Trump said he is readying new strikes on Iranian infrastructure — after warning that the Islamic Republic will “have to pay the price” for taking “too long” to negotiate a peace deal. The commander-in-chief said he is “getting close to ordering new strikes against Iranian power plants and bridges” in a phone call with Fox News’ chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst on Wednesday. Trump also accused Iran in the phone call of “tapping the United States along when it comes to the negotiating process.”

President Donald Trump told the media on Wednesday, “I love the inflation” report that came out earlier in the morning, showing inflation had risen above 4% for the first time in three years. “Are you concerned, Mr. President, about the latest inflation number, which came out this morning? Could that be a–” a reporter asked Trump during an Oval Office Q&A. Trump cut in and answered, “No, I love it. The numbers were great. You know what I really love? I love the inflation.” “You know why? Because as soon as this war is over, you know, I can say...

Inflation surged in May to the highest level since early 2023, as Iran war-related fuel costs worked their way through the broader economy.

The oil industry is warning the Trump administration that a Hormuz-sized hole in the world’s petroleum market is steadily draining inventories to levels that are likely to send global energy prices surging in the next several weeks, according to four executives. Industry executives have flagged the issue to senior White House officials and Cabinet members in recent weeks as part of the Trump administration’s ongoing dialogue with the U.S. energy industry, the people said. The warnings came as recently as late last month as data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and other sources began showing that fuel makers were...

Enough already with these “negotiations” with people that have no intention of keeping their word or of negotiating in good faith about anything. These folks should not be allowed to control the passage through which roughly twenty percent of the world’s oil supply is delivered. It is in the entire world’s security interest to take control of the Strait of Hormuz from the nut jobs in Iran currently in charge. Establishment of a military presence large enough to sustain complete control of the Strait should be the immediate goal along with removal of whatever nuclear threat Iran possesses.

The price of oil rose sharply Monday, after Iranian government-aligned media reported that the country was cutting off talks with the United States to end the ongoing war. Conflicting comments from President Donald Trump hours later did little to dent oil’s jump, although prices ended the day somewhat lower than the highs of the morning. U.S. crude oil closed higher by 5.5% at $92.16 per barrel. International Brent crude closed higher by 4.5% at $94.98 per barrel. Heating oil, a proxy for jet fuel, also rose 4%, while wholesale gas prices rose 2%. As a result of of the most...

Iranian negotiators will stop exchanging messages with the U.S. through intermediaries, and Tehran will move to fully close the Strait of Hormuz, in retaliation for ongoing ceasefire violations, Iran’s state-affiliated news outlet Tasnim said Monday.

Key Points Iranian negotiators will stop exchanging messages with the U.S. through intermediaries in retaliation for ongoing ceasefire violations, Iran’s state-affiliated news outlet Tasnim said. Tehran will also move to fully block the Strait of Hormuz, Tasnim reported. Oil prices leapt more than 5% higher following Tasnim’s report. ============================================================ Iranian negotiators will stop exchanging messages with the U.S. through intermediaries, and Tehran will move to fully close the Strait of Hormuz, in retaliation for ongoing ceasefire violations, Iran’s state-affiliated news outlet Tasnim said Monday. The report, in a translated post on the social media site Telegram, homed in on Israel’s...

The world is getting more uptight about lending money to President Donald Trump’s government — causing interest rates to climb in ways that are worsening affordability pressures, hampering economic growth and creating a new risk for Republicans in November’s midterm elections. The energy price spike triggered by the Iran war has seeped into the price of bonds that help fund the U.S. government. Interest rates on a 10-year U.S. Treasury note are topping 4.44%, up from 3.95% before the war started at the end of February. Average mortgage rates have climbed to their highest levels in nine months, while auto...

President Donald Trump declared that Iran 'really wants to make a deal' early on Monday morning, just hours after the US military launched strikes against Iranian drone facilities. In a late-night Truth Social post shortly after 1am, Trump insisted diplomacy remained within reach despite the latest exchange of fire, while simultaneously lashing out at critics he said were undermining his negotiating position. 'Iran really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the USA and those that are with us,' Trump wrote. But the president also took aim at what he called 'Dumocrats' and 'seemingly...

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and proper one, not like the one made by Obama, which gave Iran massive amounts of CASH, and a clear and open path to a Nuclear Weapon. Our deal is the exact opposite, but nobody has seen it, or knows what it is. It isn’t even fully negotiated yet. So don’t listen to the losers, who are critical about something they know nothing about. Unlike those before me who should have solved this problem many years ago, I don’t make bad deals! President DJT...

Another new angle on the possible USA/Israel/Iran peace deal has come in, this time from Jerusalem, where Fox News Foreign Correspondent Trey Yingst has his ear to the ground at rather closer range than most of us. He also has a few more details on what the lifting of sanctions will be worth to Iran. Here are a couple of key points: The source added that as part of the deal Iran will receive oil sanctions waivers and also have frozen funds and assets released worth billions of dollars. On Saturday President Trump held a call that included leaders from...

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump One of the worst deals ever made by our Country was the Iran Nuclear Deal, put forth and signed into existence by Barack Hussein Obama and the rank amateurs of the Obama Administration. It was a direct path to Iran developing a Nuclear Weapon. Not so with the transaction currently being negotiated with Iran by the Trump Administration - THE EXACT OPPOSITE, in fact! The negotiations are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner, and I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side. The Blockade will...