Free Republic

Putting partisan politics far above patriotism (if he has any), top Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin is outright threatening vengeance on foreign leaders who work with the Trump administration. Yes, he washes it through rhetoric about fighting “authoritarianism in our country,” but that’s simply cover for goonish threats. Raskin (D-Md.) issued it on the “Pod Save America” podcast, after progressive host Tommy Vietor cited (surely left-wing) Latin America experts as urging Democrats to warn off “any foreign government that participates in the extraordinary rendition of American citizens.” Reality check: No one is proposing any “extraordinary rendition of American citizens.”

U.S. consumer confidence slid sharply in February, posting its steepest decline since August 2021, as Americans grew increasingly concerned about rising prices, weakening job prospects, and the broader economic outlook. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index fell 7 points to 98.3, marking its third consecutive monthly decline and falling below economists’ expectations. More troubling, the Expectations Index—a measure of consumers’ short-term outlook—dropped 9.3 points to 72.9, falling below the level historically associated with a looming recession for the first time since June 2024.

President Donald Trump is waging war against former President Joe Biden’s green energy regulations on Americans’ household appliances.Trump made the announcement in a social media post at 5:57 a.m. on Tuesday and said he was instructing Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Secretary Lee Zeldin to oversee the matter, Fox News reported.The president wrote in his post:I am hereby instructing Secretary Lee Zeldin to immediately go back to my Environmental Orders, which were terminated by Crooked Joe Biden, on Water Standards and Flow pertaining to SINKS, SHOWERS, TOILETS, WASHING MACHINES, DISHWASHERS, etc., and to likewise go back to the common sense standards...

"Today, as a result of a storm in the Black Sea, two tankers, Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239, sank," Russia's federal sea and inland water transport agency, Rosmorrechflot, wrote in a statement.

The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average headed toward one of its worst days of the year Wednesday, after the latest inflation reading failed to support investors’ most optimistic hopes for the Federal Reserve to boost valuations with interest rate cuts. The Dow fell as much as 740 points, or nearly 2%, by mid morning, touching its lowest price since Aug. 14 and pacing toward its second-worst daily loss of 2024 on point and percentage bases, trailing only the Aug. 5 mini crash which wiped out nearly 3% from the index; losses moderated to a 1.3%, or 530-point, dip by...

The Iranian Students' News Agency, citing "Defense Press" reports that the Iranian Navy's Sahand frigate was involved in an accident t in the area of ​​Bandar Abbas, a port city in the south of the country. Several reports say the warship capsized...

President Joe Biden’s approval rating is now underwater by double digits, over 10 months into his presidency, Friday’s RealClearPolitics’ average shows. RCP’s average of polls, which includes Rasmussen Reports, Economist/YouGov, NPR/PBS/Marist, Reuters/Ipsos, Fox News, Politico/Morning Consult, Quinnipiac, ABC News/Washington Post, Gallup, Monmouth, Federalist/Susquehanna, USA Today/Suffolk, Emerson, and CNN, currently shows Biden’s approval rating sitting at 41.6 percent. A majority, 53.1 percent disapprove of Biden’s job performance, giving him a net negative of 11.5 percent.

Stocks cratered Monday as investors grappled with the sinking price of oil and the spread of the coronavirus.The Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked 2,043 points, or 7.9%, on pace for its worst day since December 2008. The S&P 500 plunged 7.5%. The massive sell-off triggered a key market circuit breaker minutes after the opening bell. Trading was halted for 15 minutes until reopening at 9:49 a.m. ET.  The sharp declines followed a roller-coaster week that saw the S&P 500 swing up or down more than 2.5% for four days straight. While Monday’s drop was significant, it still didn’t crack the 20 worst days for the S&P...

In the 14 years I've been with my boyfriend, Nick, we've weathered a lot of storms — from my parents' divorce to paying off $50,000 of debt. Nick and I started dating in 1999 as poor 19-year-old college students. We didn't know anything about managing money at the time, but we learned together. After graduation, we both found full-time jobs, in finance for me and in IT for Nick. Living off two full-time incomes was a huge change from being broke undergrads. We opened a joint bank account and finally started to live comfortably. I came home from work that...

Consider the lame-duck descent confirmed. A day after the Washington Post/ABC poll showed disapproval for Barack Obama and ObamaCare reaching new highs, the new CBS News poll shows his approval plummeting nine points in a month to 37%. Support for the Affordable Care Act managed to drop even faster:

President Obama often blames Republicans for taking America from crisis to crisis. Fiscal cliff! Government shutdown! Near default! But self-inflicted wounds can be the most painful of all. And in the spirit of President Harry “Buck Stops Here” Truman, Mr. Obama may have no one but himself to blame for the botched rollout of HealthCare.gov, the website whose proper functioning is key to the success of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the signature initiative of Obama’s presidency. Presidential scholars are baffled that someone whose legacy rests on the success of the ACA – reinforced by a nickname, "Obamacare," that includes...

Ecosystems haven’t maxed out ability to absorb fossil fuel emissions Earth’s ecosystems keep soaking up more carbon as greenhouse gases accumulate in the atmosphere, new measurements find. The research contradicts several recent studies suggesting that “carbon sinks” have reached or passed their capacity. By looking at global measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the new work calculates instead that total sinks have increased roughly in line with rising emissions. “The sinks have been more than able to keep up with emissions,” said Pieter Tans, an atmospheric scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo....

President Barack Obama’s job approval rating sunk below 40 percent for the first time, according to Gallup’s daily tracking poll. Data posted Sunday showed just 39 percent of Americans said they approve of Obama’s performance as president, while 54 percent said they disapprove. His approval ratings have been in the 40 percent range for much of the year, ticking up to the low 50s in May when Osama bin Laden was killed. At two and a half years into his presidency, Obama‘s approval ratings are lower than former President Bill Clinton’s were in August 1995. Former President George W. Bush’s...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Oil prices plunged more than 8% Thursday as weak economic data and a strengthening dollar drove crude to its biggest one-day drop since April 2009. The main U.S. oil contract for June delivery settled down $9.44, or 8.6%, to $99.80 a barrel. That's its lowest level since mid-March and marks its biggest one-day percentage drop in two years. Brent crude, the European benchmark, fell $10.73 to $110.46 a barrel. The broad underlying fear is that the U.S. economy is slowing down, and traders have a slew of data to back that theory. On Thursday, a government...

NEW YORK (AFP) - Wall Street blue-chip stocks suffered their worst single-day point decline Monday as markets went into convulsions after US lawmakers rejected a massive rescue of the financial system. The plunge came with investors already fretting over a deepening of banking sector problems in Europe and the United States, with at least three banks saved with government aid. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 777.68 points (6.98) percent to close at 10,365.45 in its biggest single-day point decline ever. The slide eclipsed a 684-point drop on September 17, 2001, when the markets reopened following the September 11 terror...

SAO PAULO, Brazil - Antique store owners in lower Manhattan, ticket vendors at India's Taj Mahal and Brazilian business executives heading to China all have one thing in common these days: They don't want U.S. dollars. Hit by a free fall with no end in sight, the once mighty U.S. dollar is no longer just crashing on currency markets and making life more expensive for American tourists and business people abroad; its clout is evaporating worldwide as foreign businesses and individuals turn to other currencies. Experts say the bleak U.S. economic forecast means it will take years for the greenback...

CAIRO, Egypt - A ferry carrying a wedding party sank in the Nile south of Cairo on Friday and raised fears of casualties, but police later said they believed all passengers were accounted for. Hundreds of people were attending the late-night party on the Princess Hidy ferry when it began sinking in the river off Beni Sweif, a town some 125 miles south of Cairo, officials said. The boat, which was near the shore, went down around midnight as people were singing and dancing, said police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to...

The notion that one must be anti-immigrant to oppose illegal immigration has endured for too long. Numerous readers have suggested that because I call for steps to reduce illegal immigration I must bear animus toward foreigners, especially Latinos. In fact I've long supported high levels of legal immigration to the United States and potential citizenship for all who arrive here. That position seems to me incompatible with racism and xenophobia. Another faction of my readers objects that large scale legal immigration itself is harmful to America. Their arguments aren't without merit. Legal immigration does hurt some native workers economically. A...

Chirac's influence sinks to new low By Henry Samuel in Paris (Filed: 28/11/2005) Jacques Chirac's presidency hit a new low yesterday when a poll revealed that most voters think he now has little or no influence over events at home or abroad. Of those polled, 72 per cent regarded the influence of their president - who turns 73 tomorrow - over what happens in France as "weak". Jacques Chirac: perceived as a lame duck Two thirds said his clout on the world stage was feeble, while only 36 per cent thought he held any significant sway over European politics. Condemnation...