Free Republic

Recent economic reports, including some by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), have delved into the devastating damages done to the American economy because of our sky-rocketing trade deficit. It’s no secret that the U.S. trade deficit is high. After all, our trade deficit is responsible for the transfer of over $1 billion a day to foreign countries. The EPI report took it a step further and claimed that our trade deficit increased our budget deficit by between $78.8 billion and $165.8 billion in 2012. Our trade deficit warrants attention because it is a devastating problem that is hurting not only...

Peabody businessman Bruce Lerner is joining the fast-growing list of entrepreneurs “frustrated out of business” by strict state and local regulations that small-business advocates say are choking the lifeblood of America’s economy.     “It’s the sheer plethora of regulations,” said Carolyn Logue, a state director with the National Federation of Independent Businesses. “It seems many were just drafted to give someone, somewhere a job to do. Nobody looks at the goals and whether they’re actually accomplishing anything.”     Three weeks ago, the North Shore Tobacco Control Program sent a 17-year-old decoy into Lerner’s Main Street Smoke Shop in Peabody. She made it...