Free Republic

Inflation surged in March as consumer prices jumped amid the economic disruptions caused by the Iran war's impact on the energy market. The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday said that the consumer price index (CPI) – a broad measure of how much everyday goods like gasoline, groceries and rent cost – rose 0.9% from a month ago and is 3.3% higher than last year. The annual figure jumped from last month's 2.4% reading, while the monthly increase also rose markedly from last month's 0.3% reading Expectations vs. reality Both the 0.9% monthly increase and 3.3% annual rise were in...

“And notice how nonchalant it sounds. Trump didn’t go for epic, carnage-heavy branding. He branded it the way you’d casually announce National Potato Chip Day.” American Debunk on X. [Truth Social post from President Trump] Note: you are living through the FAFO of all FAFOs just now. The USA is brooking no more aspersions from whomever is still left alive to speak for the jihad posse in Iran. These are the terms: open the strait, layoff the other Gulf states, surrender those thousand pounds of enriched uranium. You can still go forward in time as a developed nation, enjoy the...

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Wednesday said Texas Republicans are “going to have a tough time” holding onto their majority in the state House this fall, the latest and perhaps most notable sign yet of GOP unease about the midterm elections. Speaking at the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s annual conference in Austin, Patrick said it is imperative for the loser of Republicans’ rancorous Senate primary runoff — whether it’s U.S. Sen. John Cornyn or Attorney General Ken Paxton — to support the winner against Democratic candidate James Talarico. The Austin state representative locked up his party’s nomination in March and...

Election integrity is not some paranoid concern.AdvertisementIt is a real, documented, ongoing challenge that persists even in jurisdictions that have made serious efforts to secure the vote. Nowhere is that reality more evident than in Florida. Over the past several years, its Republican statehouse has enacted some of the most comprehensive election integrity reforms in the country.In 2021, lawmakers passed a sweeping overhaul that tightened voter registration rules. It shortened the duration of mail ballot requests, strengthened identification requirements for absentee voting, and imposed strict controls on ballot drop boxes and third-party registration groups. These were not cosmetic changes. They...

The video discusses recent polling disasters for the Democratic Party ahead of the midterms. The host (from a conservative viewpoint) highlights how Democrats are polling poorly — even among their own voters — and argues that this is causing panic and desperation among Democratic leadership. Key Polling Points Covered: A Quinnipiac poll shows Democrats at their lowest approval rating in 15 years for handling the economy: only 18% approval, with 73% disapproval. A CNN poll (late March) reveals that 74% of all voters say congressional Democrats do not have the right priorities. Even among Democrats and Democrat-leaning voters, 55% say...

Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville condemned President Donald Trump, gloating on Tuesday that he, his children and his children’s spouses will face investigations after the midterms. Carville warned Trump that he is in for a world of hurt after the Republican Party faced what many expect to be a defeat in the upcoming midterms. Carville, in his trademark southern style, said that it would feel politically like getting "punched in the mouth by Mike Tyson." "Let’s talk about your future, your post-November future," Carville said, anticipating widespread defeat of Trump and the GOP. "The Democrats are going to investigate you...

The most recent Harvard-Harris poll had some intriguing elements, and you have to think the Democrats aren't going to like them. We've seen constant doom posting from them and from the liberal media about Operation Epic Fury. If you believed what they're spewing out, you would think that we were losing badly and President Donald Trump had given up, when the reality is that we've been having unparalleled military success. Yes, there's more than just military success involved, but they're largely ignoring that. Indeed, if Iran is influenced by what they say, they may be quite deluded and make bad...

Some interesting information to keep in mind as we head towards midterms: —Redistricting: As a result of all of the recent redistricting following the 2024 election, Republicans are set to lock in ~12 new House seats, while the Democrats are set to lock in ~6 new seats. A Democrat-led redistricting effort in Virginia could give the Democrats another +4 seats, but the referendum to do so takes place on April 21 and actually might end up failing. Regardless, the Republicans are currently up ~6 seats in the House before anyone has even voted. —Supreme Court Rulings: The Supreme Court is...

The Pentagon is sending ground forces to Iran. Trump administration officials gave a story to the Washington Post that is being repeated everywhere: The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of boots on the ground operations in Iran, a major escalation in President Trump’s goal to dismantle the remaining faction of the murderous Iranian regime, according to a report. Thousands of US Marines would be sent to the Middle East to conduct raids that include Special Operations forces and conventional infantry troops, the Washington Post reported, citing sources. Officials have been discussing plans for sending troops into Iran for weeks. ***...

On Friday, Republican Congressman Sam Graves of Missouri became the 36th Republican -- and 57th House member -- to announce plans not to seek re-election, saying it was time to "pass the torch" to a new generation. In fact, more Republicans are retiring ahead of the midterms than at any point in nearly a century, according to an ABC News tally of retirement announcements and a review of historical data since 1930 compiled by the Brookings Institution. Heading for the exitsThat's a larger cohort than the 34 Republicans who did not run to keep their seats in 2018, when Republicans...

Everywhere you look in American politics, you’ll see two things. First are polls, predictions, and posturing around the concept that MAGA is finished, the Democrats are ascendant, and the midterm elections will be an absolute wipeout. And second are concrete examples showing that the Democrat Party is a collection of unmitigated angry, malignant clowns. I’m going to trust that I don’t have to take the reader through the endless litany of examples of the first contention. You’ve surely seen enough of that. Rather, I’ll focus on the second. And then take some time to relate it to the first. And...

On Tuesday night, Democrats in Florida flipped a Republican-held seat in Senate District 14 and another in House District 87 — home to President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. The latter was an especially impressive result, as HD-87 voted for Trump by an 11-point margin in 2024. These wins brought the Democrats’ total state-legislative flips during the President’s second term up to 12. They also provide the latest evidence that a “blue wave” is building ahead of the November midterm elections. Across all special elections held since the start of 2025, the average swing has been a massive 14 points toward...

House Republicans are expecting to get a major boost from President Donald Trump on Wednesday as they build resources to defend their razor-thin congressional majority in November's midterm elections. National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) chair, Rep. Richard Hudson, is expected to announce a major haul at their annual fundraising dinner in the nation's capital, which will be headlined by Trump. The fundraising is much needed, as Republicans aim to not only defend but expand their current 218-214 House majority in the midterms. Republicans are battling stiff political headwinds as the party in power in the nation's capital traditionally loses seats...

Heading into this midterm election year, the cost of health care tops the public’s economic anxieties and more than 4 in 10 voters say the issue will have a major impact on their vote, a new KFF Health Tracking poll finds. Voters, including independents, currently trust Democrats more than Republicans to address the cost of health care and most other health care issues, though neither party has an advantage on addressing the overall cost of living, the poll finds. A majority (56%) of the public expect health care costs for their family to become less affordable in the coming year....

The numbers crunched by Derek Ryan, founder of Ryan Data and Research, show that nearly 55% of the ballots cast early and on the same day in the recent Democratic primary came from voters 50 and older. By contrast, voters 30 and under accounted for just 14% of the turnout in a primary that nominated 36-year-old James Talarico… But the age gap is even more yawning on the Republican side, according to Ryan's analysis, which uses data from the Texas Secretary of State's Office, the Texas Legislative Council and other sources. Voters 50 and older made up 78% of GOP...

So, who is Emily Gregory, and how did she win in Trump’s backyard? In a surprising result, Democrat Emily Gregory won a special election in Florida’s House District 87, flipping a seat long held by Republicans. The district notably includes Mar-a-Lago, the private residence of US President Donald Trump, making the victory symbolically significant in national politics. Running for public office for the first time, Gregory built her campaign around one central message: affordability. She addressed rising concerns among voters about housing costs, healthcare expenses, insurance premiums, and everyday necessities. Rather than making Trump the focal point of her campaign,...

Are congressional Republicans absolutely determined to forfeit this November’s midterm elections? It sure looks that way. The GOP would hardly be acting any differently if it were secretly run by its enemies. The election-security provisions of the SAVE Act enjoy overwhelming popular support. According to CBS/YouGov polling, requiring photo ID to vote is literally an 80-20 issue, commanding the support of four out of five voters. Yet the Republican Senate, with a 53-47 majority, is struggling to pass the law. Yes, the filibuster gives Chuck Schumer a powerful weapon to use against the GOP, but there are ways around that...

President Donald Trump's approval rating has sunk to the lowest ever, with voters expressing displeasure with the war with Iran and the cost of living. A new Daily Mail/JL Partners poll found that Trump's approval rating has slipped to 42 percent.That's down from the 44 percent approval he received on March 3, just days into the Iran conflict. Trump held a 48 percent approval rating as recently as late January. Trump's performance in the Middle East is partially driving the disappointment. Twenty-eight percent of respondents cited the war as the top reason they disapprove of the job the President is...

Eight months before the crucial midterm elections, the administration of President Donald Trump is battling high living costs. The strike against Iran threatens to undo the first successes achieved in the struggle against inflation via falling energy prices. Ludwig Erhard understood the formula for sustained political success. The equation was as simple as it was powerful: stable money circulating in free markets coordinates the millions of individual decisions made by households, businesses, and credit institutions -- day after day -- in the most efficient manner. Stable money requires a lean state. Public debt, meanwhile, is widely regarded as the primary...

A father accused of killing the man who allegedly raped and abducted his teenage daughter has won the Republican primary for county sheriff in Arkansas - despite him awaiting trial for murder. Aaron Spencer, 37, secured 53.5 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s Republican primary for Lonoke County sheriff, defeating longtime incumbent John Staley, who received 26.5 percent. The result puts Spencer in the unusual position of potentially becoming the top law enforcement officer in the same county that charged him with murder. Spencer has been accused of fatally shooting Michael Fosler, 67, in October 2024 after discovering the man...