Free Republic

(CNSNews.com) - The number of beneficiaries on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, has topped 46,000,000 for 40 straight months, according to new data released by the Department of Agriculture (USDA). In December 2014, the latest month reported, there were 46,252,064 Americans on food stamps. Food stamp recipients have exceeded 46 million in each month since September 2011. The 46,252,064 on food stamps in December was down from the 46,263,096 on food stamps in November--a decline of 11,032.As of July, the national population was 318,857,056, the Census Bureau estimates. Thus, the 46,252,064 on food stamps...

“Mister President where are the jobs?” Remember when Nancy Pelosi incessantly screeched that phrase over and over during the George W. Bush administration? We haven’t heard her whining like this or using the companion phrase “hamburger flipper jobs” very much lately have we? If Pelosi said these things today she would look even dumber than she did the first time because Democrat Barack Obama’s job production numbers are embarrassingly poor compared to those of the leading Republican president of our time Ronald Reagan. Each month brings us terribly weak job production from Obama. During his first term in office Obama...

President Barack Obama will return to Wisconsin for the first time in more than a year tomorrow. Last month in his State of the Union Address, Obama highlighted Milwaukee padlock manufacturer Master Lock bringing 100 jobs back from China. The company is now preparing for the President to see its work first hand. “I'm really excited,” said John Heppner, Master Lock’s CEO. “We're all really excited. This is great for our employees and for our community.”

<p>The number is out, and it's HOT!</p> <p>PPI hs jumped 0.8%, well above the 0.2% analysts had expected.</p> <p>Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, was only up 0.2%, which is still above the 0.1% that analysts had expected.</p> <p>The culprit? Blame food and energy.</p>

When a new Bloomberg poll finds that 44% of Americans feel that the economy is "worse than when Obama was inaugurated" (versus only 34% who say it is "better"), you know the economic recovery is pretty anemic. Now the Joint Economic Committee has chronicled how weak it is compared to others since World War II. In a report entitled "Unchartered Depths," the Committee finds that "employment is now 5.0% below what it was at the start of the recession, 38 months ago. This compares to an average rise in employment of 3.7% over the same period in prior post-WWII recessions."...

President Obama's understanding of economic growth, and hence a full recovery of the economy, is lacking of insight, but most importantly honesty. If he does not correct course he will be pummeled in 2012. For dancing around the truth, and asking others to believe the spin, especially when they are living the opposite reality portends not just bad character, but a self destructive political strategy. Watching President Obama attempt to speak straight in the midst of his reelection campaign efforts has become almost amusing. "Almost amusing" because when one out of ten workers cannot find work, and one out of...

Stocks tumbled Friday afternoon, erasing most of the previous session's big gains. Financials and energy shares were among the hardest hit. The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) lost 220 points, or 2.2%, with about three hours left in the session. The Dow had lost as much as 225 points earlier. The S&P 500 (SPX) index fell 25 points, or 2.4%, and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) shed 44 points, or 2.1%. The selloff was broad based, with all 30 Dow components declining and most stock sectors sliding. Energy prices and stocks were hit hard as the dollar turned mixed; the financial...