Free Republic

New Yorkers would be forced to pay 2.5 times the market rate for electricity generated by the Empire Wind One offshore wind farm if the deal goes through, according to an independent financial analysis. The Trump Administration paused construction of the controversial project — 54 turbines in the Atlantic Ocean some 14 miles south of Long Island — last week, saying it needs further review. The project has seen strong backing from Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams. Trump’s move was welcomed by those who claim the project is going to overcharge taxpayers. “New Yorkers are entitled to clean,...

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher said that while President Donald Trump is going about it the wrong way, he’s correct that “Europe should pay for their own defense.” Maher said, “[T]here are some things I don’t like altogether, but there are some things, — I think you and I both agree, I don’t know if you do on all of these — but some of the things that Trump has ideas for, like, Europe should pay for their own defense. Yeah, they should. They’re rich. Border security, equity completely replacing the idea of equality. Some...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has long been considered one of the Senate’s budget hawks, recently gave advice that when the stock market tumbles, “it pays to listen.” “The stock market is comprised of millions of people who are simultaneously trading. The market indexes are a distillation of sentiment,” Paul posted Monday on social platform X. “When the markets tumble like this in response to tariffs, it pays to listen.” His remarks come as markets began to dip after President Trump declined to rule out the U.S. economy from sliding into a recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 890...

On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Last Word,” host Lawrence O’Donnell stated that “Elon Musk himself, personally, could pay for the entire budget of USAID, the entire budget, by himself, without missing that money at all, and easily, easily pay for all of the life-saving work that USAID does.” And “He says USAID isn’t doing it right, but why doesn’t he just step forward and show us how to do it right with his own billions? That, of course, will never happen.” O’Donnell said, “So, one of the ugly truths of this is that, unlike anyone else in the history...

Air traffic controllers are set to receive a 30% pay hike as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to boost recruitment Thursday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy made the announcement during a press conference at the air traffic controller’s academy in Oklahoma on Thursday. He argued that the pay structure and the technology air traffic controllers are forced to use are outdated. “Currently, students are paid $17.61 an hour. By the way, you might be able to go to Walgreens and make that, right? So we’re going to bump it up to $22.84 an hour,” Duffy said. “And again, I think making...

On Jan. 21, 2025, one X user wrote (archived): "75% of immigrant farm workers didn't show up yesterday in Bakersfield because of fears of ICE raids under the new presidency. America's rural and agricultural regions will be the hardest hit from Trump's immigration policies. Food prices are going to skyrocket." Though the raids took place during the Biden administration in the week starting Jan. 6, according to Californian news media outlets, posts like the one above continued to circulate after Jan. 20, when President Donald Trump was inaugurated, and incorrectly attributed the raids and the resulting alleged worker absences to...

Outgoing left-wing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned Thursday that American consumers will pay more if and when President Donald Trump moves to apply sweeping tariffs on products from north of the border. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office earlier in the day he still plans to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico at 25 percent rates starting as soon as Feb. 1. Trump previously threatened to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as soon as he took office but the tariffs weren’t applied on day one, as Breitbart News reported. The president is seeking assurances...

Massachusetts must give $2.1 billion to the federal government due to an apparent mix up with federal pandemic funds. Officials said the state will be required to pay the sum over the next ten years after former Gov. Charlie Baker’s (R) administration “mistakenly” used the money to cover unemployment benefits, WHDH reported Monday. Baker was succeeded by Gov. Maura Healey (D) in 2023 “and her deputies unveiled details of a settlement they reached with the outgoing Biden administration Friday in which the Bay State will repay most but not all of the amount it owed due to the error committed...

As deadly wildfires continue scorching their way through Los Angeles and the surrounding area for the second straight week, homeowners are worried about the prospect of defaulting on their mortgages in the wake of the unprecedented disaster were offered some reprieve from the nation’s major lenders. On Monday, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unveiled mortgage assistance and relief options for customers reeling from the historic Southern California fires. Both government-backed corporations are offering 12-month forbearance plans, meaning that struggling homeowners could either reduce or suspend their mortgage payments for up to a year without incurring late fees, foreclosure, or other...

MSNBC’s Joy Reid and Stephanie Ruhle will reportedly need to take a pay cut if they want to remain in their anchor chairs as the struggling cable network continues to cut costs. The left-leaning news channel — which recently gave star anchor Rachel Maddow a $5 million-a-year haircut from her annual $30 million haul — has been negotiating with Reid and Ruhle on new deals at reduced salaries, according to the Ankler newsletter. The controversial Reid is believed to be earning $3 million a year to host her nightly 8 p.m. show, “The ReidOut,” according to the Washington Free Beacon....

Walt Disney reached an agreement to pay $43.3 million to resolve a lawsuit claiming its California female employees earned $150 million less than their male colleagues over an eight-year period, the plaintiffs’ attorneys confirmed on Monday. A motion has been filed to seek approval of the settlement, which would cover a broad range of salaried Disney employees in California, Variety reports. If the petition is granted, thousands of women who have worked for Disney since April 1, 2015, will receive checks to compensate for the wage disparity.

How Much Does Each American Pay? I am curious how much the cost per taxpayer is each time I hear that the administration is sending more money to Ukraine or reducing student debt or such other unconstitutional nonsense. The number of tax returns in 2021 was 153.6 million In 2021, more than 54 million taxpayers chose to file "married filing jointly," while roughly 3.9 million opted for "married filing separately." 100 million single returns mean 100 million individuals. 54 million joint returns mean 108 million individuals. 208 million individuals file tax returns. What is the cost per taxpayer when the...

In another sign of cracks forming in the U.S. labor market, a New York Federal Reserve survey Monday showed a slide in people reporting they are employed, a surge in those looking for work and growing dissatisfaction with pay. The thrice-yearly measure of labor activity, confidence and satisfaction reflected growing concern in July about job security and in increase in those expecting to work past typical retirement age. Workers are still looking for higher starting salaries but are getting lower offers. The results come with the unemployment rate ticking higher and Wall Street and Fed policymakers watching the developments closely...

Leading populist lawmakers in Germany, from both the left and right, have demanded consequences for Kyiv over Ukraine’s alleged involvement in the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines, including reparations and the cessation of arms deliveries. Last week, it was reported that German authorities had issued an arrest warrant against a Ukrainian citizen for alleged involvement in the 2022 sabotage against the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines owned jointly by Russia and Germany. This was followed by a report from the Wall Street Journal, which claimed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had initially approved the plot to attack the...

For decades now, I’ve been conducting my own informal survey of American views about CEO pay. Whenever family, friends, or random strangers ask about my job, I tell them it involves research on executive compensation. Last year, for example, I found that CEOs of America’s 100 largest low-wage employers made, on average, over 600 times what their median workers made — and often thousands of times more. Invariably, people see red when I share these numbers. And they often have choice words about the unfairness of it all. A new poll reinforces my informal findings: Americans across the political spectrum...

Columbia University and other private colleges should cough up and help foot the bill for the NYPD having to swarm the Ivy League campus and crackdown on pro-terror protests, Mayor Eric Adams said Thursday. Hizzoner addressed the cost to Big Apple taxpayers after cops were finally called in to help oust a destructive mob that had illegally taken over Columbia’s Hamilton Hall academic building late Tuesday and to clear out an encampment on the school’s iconic lawn. “We believe that they, too, should contribute to the cost,” the mayor told FOX5 when asked whether the Ivy League school should have...

Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) took a shot at former President Donald Trump on Tuesday. The Utah Republican Senator said of Trump’s character during an interview that aired on CNN’s “News Central” that you don’t pay someone not to have sex with you. On the steps of Capitol Hill, speaking to CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju, Romney said, “I think everybody has made their own assessment of President Trump’s character. And so far as I know, you don’t pay someone $130,000 not to have sex with you.”

It’s practically an international article of faith: Countries may not default on their sovereign debt. Yet China has done just that on $1 trillion it owes to U.S. bondholders. Is there nothing we can do about it? Finding members of Congress willing to talk tough isn’t hard. Many resolutions and joint letters over decades have called for China to honor its debt to U.S. citizens. But too many members, their election coffers lined by Wall Street and other financial and business interests heavily exposed to China, leave it at that. OPINION>FINANCE THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND...

The ridiculous “equal pay” debate about the WNBA coming from some Democrats raises an awkward question when it comes to their view of transgenderism: If men and women are indistinguishable and the WNBA doesn’t pay enough, why don’t women’s basketball players join the NBA instead? ..... The issue here, of course, is that neither Biden, members of his Cabinet, nor his judicial nominees can answer what they think a woman is. In the view of Biden and Democratic politicians, there are no differences between men and women, and men can be women or women can be men just by saying...

Des Moines, Iowa — The Iowa House has voted to set limits for the pay of temporary nursing staff working in Iowa hospitals and nursing homes. A traveling nurse could be paid no more than 150 percent of the statewide average wage being paid to full-time healthcare staff who provide nursing services. The bill is a priority for House Republicans, who contend temp agencies are reaping too much of the extra money the legislature has provided nursing homes. Representative Timi Brown-Powers, a Democrat from Waterloo, is a therapist at Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo, She says the bill addresses a...