Free Republic

Consumer confidence took a turn for the worse in February with a sharp rise in pessimism about economic conditions in the months ahead. The Conference Board said its index of consumer sentiment fell to 102.9 in February from a downwardly revised January reading of 106.0, Economists had forecast an increase to 108.5 after the initial January reading of 107.1. The measure of consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions actually improved to 152.8 from 151.1 last month as a rising share who said jobs were plentiful offset a deteriorating view of current business conditions.

The wannabe House Speaker's office wheeled in a dolly cart full of pizzas last night.It was a long, rough day for California Republican Kevin McCarthy as he repeatedly failed to secure the votes to become Speaker of the House amid a far-right mutiny. Holed up in his office (or not his office), he did what anyone would in a moment of crisis: he ordered pizza. Reporters captured a dolly cart wheeling in boxes upon boxes of carby cargo. A dolly cart! Internet sleuths quickly identified the logo as belonging to Wiseguy Pizza, a mere mile away. As a food editor,...

Things just might happen. https://twitter.com/CCryptonaire/status/1487978770757664778

Labour MPs have been told to prepare for Jeremy Corbyn to table a dramatic and immediate vote of no confidence in Theresa May’s government as early as Tuesday evening in an attempt to force a general election if – as expected – she suffers a heavy defeat this week on her Brexit deal. Messages have been sent to Labour MPs, even those who are unwell, to ensure their presence both for the “meaningful vote” on the prime minister’s Brexit blueprint on Tuesday and the following day. Labour whips have told MPs the no-confidence vote is likely to be tabled within...

EMMANUEL Macron's government faces a vote of no confidence in parliament on Thursday amid nationwide anger at the French president which has seen violent riots across the country. Mr Macron's leadership is hanging by a thread after the Yellow Vest protests posed the most formidable challenge yet to his presidency. Leftist MEPs said Thursday's vote is the result of 18 months of fiscal injustice and called on the French president to "radically change direction". The Paris protests which erupted on November 17, were focused on denouncing a squeeze on household spending brought about by Mr Macron's taxes on diesel, which...

WASHINGTON - The liberal national news media have been predicting for months that Republicans will likely lose their Senate majority in this year’s midterm elections, and suffer losses in the House, too. But it’s a bit premature to place your bets on the 2018 congressional sweepstakes, for several reasons: forecasts that the economy will take off later this year as a result of the GOP’s massive tax cuts, increasing incomes and jobs, not to mention that the Democrats are having problems of their own. The Democrats voted overwhelmingly against the tax cut plan in December, predicting it will add over...

House Speaker Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) had been planning to call up on the House floor last week a measure from Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) that would have removed him as Speaker of the House if it succeeded—intending to embarrass Meadows—but abandoned the plan after his entire leadership structure learned that they did not have the votes to re-elect him as Speaker before the August recess. “[House Majority Leader Kevin] McCarthy was making phone calls—he was whipping it—and so was [House Majority Whip] Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA),” a senior conservative movement leader who’s had many personal and direct discussions with...

It is admittedly difficult to bear the obsequious servility that punctuates The New York Times editorial board’s latest gentle attempt to convince Hillary Clinton that she has a serious problem on her hands. Viewed, however, as a window into the thinking of the Democratic Party’s terrified pragmatists who are slowly coming to the realization that they backed the wrong horse, The Times’ latest is clarifying. It is a desperate and helpless demand that Clinton somehow stop the bleeding. “Nothing illegal has been alleged about the foundation, the global philanthropic initiative founded by former President Bill Clinton,” The Times editorial averred....

Senator Ted Cruz (R., Texas) and a group of House lawmakers are building a case for impeaching Attorney General Eric Holder. “Impeding justice is intolerable and he should not be permitted to refuse the American people a true investigation into the actions of those who used the machinery of government to target, intimate, and silence them for politically driven reasons,” Cruz said during a June 26 floor speech. Cruz had made such comments before, but this speech was different. He spent 40 minutes laying out the case for Holder’s impeachment — spending the bulk of that time on the IRS...

1 in 20 says it works well and needs no changes. ... 70 percent lack confidence in the government’s ability “to make progress on the important problems and issues facing the country in 2014.

<p>What with our president having received the Nobel Peace Prize and leading us in a pivot to Asia, I guess the White House wants to pretend that the humiliating debacle America is suffering —in front of the world —isn’t happening....</p>

Arutz Sheva has received an unconfirmed report that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu plans to announce a plan to uproot communities and carry out mass evictions in Judea and Samaria. Due to the political impasse between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Netanyahu is expected to propose a final status solution that would leave Israel with only the major settlement blocs and eastern Jerusalem. All Jewish communities outside the major settlement blocs would reportedly face destruction under the plan. The report follows a report Monday morning in the Hebrew-language Ma'ariv newspaper claiming that Netanyahu has agreed to relinquish sovereignty over the Jordan...

Republicans in Congress appear to be increasingly committed to the idea that Attorney General Eric Holder should resign because of the part he played — or didn’t play — in Fast and Furious. Late yesterday afternoon, Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona — who, you’ll recall, said Holder and other top Justice officials could conceivably be cast as “accessories to murder” — filed a resolution in the House of Representatives to call for a vote of “no confidence” in the AG. The Daily Caller reports: The resolution, introduced Monday afternoon, is a formal way to exhibit congressional disdain for Holder...

In what is arguably one of the worst political events in US history, the election of Obama, we are forced to stand by and watch the piecemeal destruction of our very nation, the very political, economic dismantling of this great country of ours, the greatest country in history, by what is the greatest, most insidious nemesis America has ever known or faced. The wisdom and sagacity of our forefathers providing for the all-encompassing political contingencies as law of the land having stood the test of time, yet not having foreseen, imagined the nightmare scenario which we are in midst of...

In recent months, labor organizations representing federal immigration agents have been among the most outspoken challengers of Obama’s enforcement campaign. In June, the American Federation of Government Employees’ National Council 118, which represents Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, issued a no-confidence vote for ICE Director John Morton, claiming he is promoting amnesty instead of enforcement because most ICE officers are unable to make immigration-related arrests on the streets, leading to “amnesty by policy.” The National Border Patrol Council adopted a similar no-confidence resolution targeting Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar. Brandon Judd, union vice president and president of Local 2544 in...

The letter they wrote PDF File

It’s a process normally found in Parliamentary governments such as England, Canada or Australia. But given the actions of the Obama administration over the past year and a half (as well as some of the decisions made in previous administrations), one could make a good argument that it’s time we amend our Constitution to add a Recall provision or ”Vote of No Confidence.” Sure, our democracy has the rules of impeachment. But, as we’ve seen in the not-too-distant past, a sitting President can take sexual liberties with a female intern young enough to be his daughter, lie about it to...

A recent Rasmussen poll taken after the passage of the economic stimulus bill found that consumer confidence has fallen to another record low. The Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures consumer confidence on a daily basis, fell two points on Sunday and another point yesterday to 55.7. This is the third time in February that the daily Consumer Index has fallen to a record low. Confidence is down a point from a week ago, down six points from a month ago and 31 points since the financial industry meltdown began in mid-September. The poll is derived from nightly telephone interviews and...

Auto Loan Agreement Reached?

DETROIT - The Detroit City Council on Tuesday called for the resignation of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who is being investigated over an alleged affair he swore under oath he did not have. He quickly rejected the request. The resolution, passed 7-1, amounted to a "no-confidence" vote because the council lacks the power to force Kilpatrick to step down. Mayoral spokeswoman Denise Tolliver said Kilpatrick has no intention of quitting. "City Council, according to the charter, is free to pass nonbinding resolutions. However while certain members have been playing judge and jury in the court of public opinion, Mayor Kilpatrick has...