Free Republic

CBS Boston BOSTON - Gov. Maura Healey unveiled her $56 billion budget proposal on Wednesday, with plans to improve education and transportation, plus funds to tackle the ongoing migrant crisis. "So, in fact, we are tightening our belts," said Healey. The governor said the state is in a tough spot, with tax revenues flat and inflation still high.

The gubernatorial race in New York is tightening, as Rep. Lee Zeldin, the Republican nominee for governor, attempts to close the gap in his challenge of Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), a recent InsiderAdvantage/Trafalgar Group survey found. The survey asked respondents, “If the election for Governor were held today, for whom would you vote?”

Australia's dollar has blasted through parity against the US dollar after the country raised interest rates a quarter point to 4.75pc to fight inflation. The long-awaited moment of "triple parity" seems imminent. The Swiss franc is already worth more than a greenback, and the Canadian dollar is seemingly poised to break through as well. The surging "Aussie" - widely seen as a play on the China growth story and used by traders as a proxy for the Chinese yuan - captures the shift in the world's economic centre of gravity to the Pacific region. The currency was worth half a...

NEW YORK — Police have proposed placing tighter restrictions on protesters who march on sidewalks by making them obtain parade permits — a move civil libertarians say would cripple the rights of people to stage spontaneous demonstrations. The written proposal, made public on July 17, would require permits for any march on a sidewalk by 35 or more people or for street demonstrations involving 20 or more bicycles or other vehicles. It says the new rules are needed to better police “assemblies that obstruct the free passage of public streets and sidewalks.” Current regulations, which are more loosely worded, mandate...

Thousands of students took to streets again Tuesday in Western states to protest proposed toughening of immigration laws but law enforcement authorities began cracking down by rounding up demonstrators as truants and issuing citations. Small numbers of arrests were reported. "We're not going to allow lawbreaking to take on a new dimension," Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said after a second day of students roaming streets and attempting to march onto freeways - a dangerous tactic that alarmed officials. "When kids are walking on freeways, that's not free speech," said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Some 11,600 students cut...

In the fifth tightening of US monetary policy in as many meetings, Alan Greenspan and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised the Federal Funds Rate target 25 basis points to 2.25%, as expected. More...

In the fourth tightening of US monetary policy in as many meetings, Alan Greenspan and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised the Federal Funds Rate target 25 basis points to 2.00%, as expected. More...

In the second tightening of US monetary policy since May of 2000, Alan Greenspan and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised the Federal Funds Rate target 25 basis points to 1.50%, as expected. More...

In the first tightening of US monetary policy since May of 2000, Alan Greenspan and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised the Federal Funds Rate target, from its 46 year low, 25 basis points to 1.25%. More...

WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts said on Sunday the noose was tightening around both al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Roberts, who receives regular briefings on terror threats, said bin Laden apparently was hiding in a mountainous tribal region with peaks reaching 14,000 feet (4,500 meters) on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. "But that noose is tightening as well, as is the noose in regards to Saddam Hussein," said Roberts, a Kansas Republican. Roberts, speaking on CNN's Late Edition, said bin Laden was using couriers and other low-tech communications...