Free Republic

Joe Biden has pulled off the incredible: inherit a booming economy and bring it to a near-standstill in just nine months. When the president took office, the country was enjoying a robust V-shaped recovery,growing at better than 6%. The Federal Reserve was puffing up the money supply by $120 billion per month, consumers were sitting atop $2.5 trillion in excess savings, prices were stable and unemployment was falling fast. On Inauguration Day 1.6 million Americans received the COVID vaccine, optimism was rising and people were flush with trillions in relief funds. To say that Biden entered the Oval Office with...

A top White House aide on Russia was reportedly escorted from the building after being placed on administrative leave during a security-related probe. Andrew Peek, the head of European and Russian affairs at the National Security Council, was escorted from the White House on Friday, Bloomberg reported on Saturday. Peek, who took the position in November, was placed on administrative leave pending the security investigation, Axios reported. He is the third person in that position to leave in the past year.

Andrew Peek, the head of European and Russian affairs at the National Security Council (NSC), has left his post three months after he started, people familiar with the situation told Bloomberg on Saturday evening. Sources told the publication that Peek was escorted from the White House on Friday. Earlier on Saturday, Axios reported that Peek had been placed on administrative leave pending a security-related investigation. Peek joined the NSC in November, coming over from the State Department, where he was a deputy assistant secretary. An NSC spokesman told The Hill, "We do not discuss personnel matters." Peek also declined requests...

Peek went on to major in international politics at Princeton, study Persian, and pursue a master's in international relations at Harvard before heading to D.C. as a foreign policy researcher for the conservative Heritage Foundation. He then became a foreign policy adviser to Oregon Senator Gordon Smith, a Republican. When Smith lost his next election, Peek went on to work for another Republican senator, Mike Johanns of Nebraska, on Syria and Lebanon policy, helping to draft a bill expanding sanctions on Hezbollah. In 2008, he enlisted as a reserve officer in the Army and spent a year in Afghanistan at...

Earlier this year, left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore begged Michelle Obama to run for president in 2020; apparently, he is not alone. Washington insiders report that Democratic Party officials are also urging the former first lady to enter the race. They see Joe Biden’s campaign in free-fall, with polling and donations dropping, and they are panicked that Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren grows more inevitable by the day. Warren, they think, is way too liberal to win a national election. (They are correct.) Hence, the overtures to Mrs. Obama, the most admired woman in the country, according to Gallup polls. And not...

Earlier this year, left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore begged Michelle Obama to run for president in 2020; apparently, he is not alone. Washington insiders report that Democratic Party officials are also urging the former first lady to enter the race. They see Joe Biden’s campaign in free-fall, with polling and donations dropping, and they are panicked that Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren grows more inevitable by the day. Warren, they think, is way too liberal to win a national election. (They are correct.) Hence, the overtures to Mrs. Obama, the most admired woman in the country, according to Gallup polls. And not...

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,...

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has a “deep sense of satisfaction” that Democrats running for president have adopted some of the radical ideas he campaigned on in 2016. Moderate Democrats can be forgiven for not sharing his enthusiasm, as they watch their candidates embrace policies that only a socialist – and not most Americans – could love. In a recent Washington Post/ABC poll, when registered voters were asked to choose between President Trump and a Democrat who they considered a socialist, Trump won 49 to 43. Note that two-thirds of those answering that question identified themselves as a Democrat or independent;...

Democrats continue to howl about Russian interference in our elections, and rightly so. But will they be quite so worked up if Putin chooses to oppose Trump in 2020, and backs their candidate instead? For many reasons, Russia’s president is likely to want a Democrat in the Oval Office. Here are ten: 1. A strong U.S. economy undermines Russia’s long-standing efforts to destabilize the U.S. The GOP tax cuts and reduced regulation have led to record-low unemployment and rising wages, not exactly fertile ground in which to sow discord. Democrats can argue otherwise, but it is a fact that President...