Free Republic

It is that time again when liberals, sensing the possibility of being in control, are revving up the debt engines. So many things need to be done in a post-COVID world, and there is so little revenue to pay for it. Debt is the way out, they claim.Now is the time to borrow a way out of the crisis. Congress has not even waited for the New Year. Bipartisan efforts are currently underway to negotiate a quick fix for the bargain price of just under a trillion dollars.Debt Addiction Affects EveryoneUnfortunately, debt addiction affects both political parties. Every administration this...

President-elect Joe Biden on Saturday pressed President Trump to immediately sign a COVID-19 relief bill that is stuck in limbo, blasting what he deemed Trump's "abdication of responsibility." Biden noted that the bill contains provisions for small businesses and extended unemployment benefits, as well as stimulus checks, and could help struggling families as they come up against the pandemic's economic fallout during the holiday season. "It is the day after Christmas, and millions of families don't know if they'll be able to make ends meet because of President Donald Trump's refusal to sign an economic relief bill approved by Congress...

Proponents have called the state’s massive new toll road project a monumental opportunity and a thoughtful plan for smart growth. The 330 miles of new highways will curb interstate congestion, bolster the economy and facilitate hurricane evacuations, they say. In short, the argument goes, the roads would be a good investment. So why is it that so many of the preliminary studies are at best lukewarm on the idea? And the latest reports only add to the list of reasons to reconsider the controversial project. The tolls roads, dubbed the Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance, were largely pushed by...

Everybody celebrates the holiday season in their own way. Each year, Senator Rand Paul invokes the spirit of the fictional grievance-airing holiday “Festivus” from Seinfeld to release an annual taxpayer waste report—and boy, is this one a doozy.The libertarian-leaning Kentucky lawmaker’s report for 2020 finds an astounding $54.7 billion wasted by the federal government this year. (That’s not even an exhaustive figure for the federal government, nor does it account for the vast levels of waste by state and local governments.)To put the nearly $55 billion wasted in context, Paul’s office explains that this is equivalent to wasting the taxes...

If the past year was dominated by the huge human costs of COVID-19, the next few years will be about its economic aftermath, including the alarming rise of US debt. What’s needed is multilateral cooperation - a new 'Grand Alliance.'On Friday, Congressional leaders failed to secure a bipartisan deal on a $900 billion pandemic relief package. A government shutdown was avoided only with a 2-day extension.A protracted shutdown would amplify the risks for pandemic escalation and economic crisis, amid the long-awaited vaccine rollout. Bipartisan tensions are compounded by the impending Georgia Senate runoff races in January that will determine control...

Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) weighed the pros and cons of the federal government spending passed by Congress a day earlier. However, Graham warned the price tag could be a lot worse if Democrats win the two U.S. Senate seats up in Georgia next month.

Late Monday night, in a huge, secretive rush, Congress passed a combined virus relief and omnibus spending bill that’s almost 6,000 pages long and, in less than a year, will spend $2.3 trillion that does not exist.The bill’s length alone is enough to justify a second American Revolution. It should have been a simple bill: Checks for Americans in need (with provisions to prevent the French Laundry and its ilk from ever receiving another penny of taxpayer money) and basic funding for basic government. I’m thinking maybe 100 pages, max.The length tells is that the bill is a long list...

WASHINGTON - The huge pandemic relief and spending bill includes billions of dollars to promote clean energy such as wind and solar power while sharply reducing over time the use of potent coolants in air conditioners and refrigerators that are considered a major driver of global warming. The energy and climate provisions, supported by lawmakers from both parties, were hailed as the most significant climate change law in at least a decade. The sprawling legislation also extends tax credits for solar and wind power that are a key part of President-elect Joe Biden’s ambitious plan to generate 100 percent “clean...

WASHINGTON — Top Capitol Hill negotiators sealed a deal on a $900 billion COVID-19 economic relief package, finally delivering long-overdue help to businesses and individuals and providing money to deliver vaccines to a nation eager for them. “More help is on the way,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in announcing the agreement for a relief bill that would total almost $900 billion. “Moments ago, in consultation with our committees, the four leaders of the Senate and House finalized an agreement for another major rescue package for the American people.”

Two months into fiscal 2021, the federal government has spent nearly twice as much money as it has taken in through revenue after posting a 14th consecutive month of deficit spending.

WASHINGTON — The architects of a newly unveiled 10-year, $600 billion climate plan to revitalize Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley region are moving forward with a difficult task of building political willpower in Washington while gaining the trust of rural communities tied to the coal and natural gas industries, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto told a group of sustainable development advocates Tuesday. That coalition-building — a communications strategy to be forged over the next six weeks among academic institutions in Pittsburgh and seven other cities — is a critical step toward executing the plan Mr. Peduto described as both idealistic...

This is why Republicans block anything goofball Nanzi Pallooka or any other worthless Democrat comes up with as a Stimulus bill. Every last Democrat politician is either a crook or thinks Coyotes at the border are the actual animal. UNFREAKIN’ BELIEVABLE…… WHAT IS IN THE DEMOCRAT’S PROPOSED VIRUS STIMULUS BILL!!??!! Now you’ll know why Republicans are blocking this 2.2 trillion dollar MASSIVE BARREL OF PORK !!! Hard to believe but look it up on the Congressional website for HR 748 from 116th Congress. Stimulus bill: $2,200,000,000,000 ($2.2 trillion) American adults: 199,000,000 Dividing the cost by every adult equals $11,055 per...

The coronavirus, like so many other social ills, real and metaphorical, incubated in major cities. New York City, with the highest population density in the country, also accounted for the highest death toll. San Francisco, the second highest among large cities, was a major incubator. Pandemic maps of the death toll show the deaths concentrating around major cities before making the slow trek from urban into suburban and eventually rural areas. The urban lockdowns didn’t stop the spread of the virus. What they really did was trap poor and middle class residents in urban areas, while the wealthy fled, and...

President Donald Trump on Tuesday pushed for a comprehensive COVID-19 relief package, saying he would accept a deal worth more than $2.2 trillion despite opposition to large spending measures among his fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate. “I want to do it even bigger than the Democrats,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News, as talks between House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin approached a Tuesday deadline for reaching a bipartisan deal that could pass Congress before Election Day on Nov. 3. The White House has proposed $1.8 trillion in coronavirus relief, while Pelosi...

Sept. 16 (UPI) — Consumer spending in the United States rose during August, which was the fourth straight month spending increased, government figures showed Wednesday. The Commerce Department said in a report that retail and food services sales were up 0.6% last month, to $537.5 billion. The August total was 5.1% higher than it was last year, and the increase from July was 2.4% higher year-to-year, the department said. Month-to-month growth in August was slower than it was In July (0.9%), signaling a slight downturn in spending.

An unrepentant old-school liberal, Joe Biden would crush the economy with three trillion dollars worth of new taxes and five trillion dollars in new spending. A new study released on Monday by the Penn Wharton Budget Model (PWBM) argues that this is a good thing. According to The Hill: “At the end of the day, they actually decrease debt because they do have significant revenue raisers,” Richard Prisinzano, director of policy analysis for PWBM, said in an interview with The Hill. “And the economy is more productive. As we put in things like education and infrastructure, workers become more productive,...

It happens every September. Inside federal office buildings, budget minions go on scandalous spending sprees using tens of billions of your tax dollars.Their departments have gotten along just fine throughout the fiscal year, but as the clock ticks down to Sept. 30, they know that any money left over in their budget will be forfeited next fiscal year, so they scramble to spend every dollar.What the heck are they buying at the last minute? The 2019 fiscal year facts, as compiled by nonpartisan watchdog group called OpenTheBooks, are mind-blowing. The group’s annual “Use-It-Or-Lose-It Spending Spree” report is a must-read for...

Last week, the U.S. passed a milestone — US federal debt in private hands exceeded 100% of GDP. But does all this debt matter, or is worrying about debt passé? This debate has been going on among economists for a while. One does not need to go to the incoherence of "modern monetary theory" to find support for the view that debt has few consequences. Olivier Blanchard, of MIT and the IMF, in his Presidential Address to the American Economic Association, (excellent summary here) declared that “there may be no fiscal costs” of additional debt. The core of his argument...

Why does the public education system continue to fail America’s children? Policy experts have pondered this question for decades. Most say the answer is complicated, requiring a nuanced, collaborative approach. But not The New York Times. It found the problem, and it’s simple: white parents. The solution? “Try, whenever possible, to suppress the power of white parents.” That quote comes from the Times’ podcast “Nice White Parents,” which chronicles the history of a single public school in New York. Specifically, the host, Chana Joffe-Walt, decides to look into the racial history of this school. Her first finding: Many parents who...

Intellectuals are supposed to speak truth to power. Unfortunately, some seem to be more interested in saying what everyone expects them to say, which only reinforces the status quo. Thankfully, a few scholars are resisting this trend, fighting for what is true rather than what is popular. Case in point: a recent Hoover Institution paper on "A Pro-Growth Fiscal Consolidation Plan for the United States" by economists John Cogan, Daniel Heil and John Taylor, which makes the case for a reduction in spending now in order to positively impact the economy. It's refreshing to see their research, considering that we...