Free Republic

The irony of ironies: The Biden-Ryan debate was more about foreign policy than the economy and jobs. Yet another irony: Paul Ryan, an expert on all things fiscal, disclosed a much better knowledge base of foreign policy than anyone thought existed. Shows how smart and well-rounded he really is. Mr. Ryan’s Benghazi slam, right out of the chute, won him the debate. This terrorist attack is going to be a huge presidential-race issue. Americans are furious at the Obama-Biden-Clinton stupidity and mismanagement surrounding the tragic Benghazi deaths. They are enraged at the Benghazi cover-up. Mr. Ryan accused Mr. Biden of...

Perhaps the reason for President Obama's flat and energy-less speech Thursday night -- TV cameras panning the convention floor actually showed delegates falling asleep -- was that he already knew Friday's jobs numbers were going to be a disaster. The August unemployment report completely punctured his argument that if you just give him four more years, his policies will solve the economy. Of course, reading through the speech, I didn't see the word "jobs" mentioned once. In fact, though I could be wrong, I didn't see the word "growth" mentioned once. What I did see were constant references to government....

Did Mitt Romney make the economic sale at the Republican National Convention? Did he convince people who are living at the margin or unemployed and discouraged that he has the answers to the economy? Frankly, I don’t think so.

Obama needed a filet mignon in the June employment report. But instead he got a rubber chicken. Only 80,000 new jobs were created last month, way below Wall Street expectations. It’s the fourth consecutive monthly disappointment. For a few months last winter, jobs were rising at an average of 225,000 a month. But that has sloped way down to only 75,000. The unemployment rate continues at 8.2 percent, which is the forty-first straight month above 8 percent. The U6 unemployment rate, which includes discouraged workers, is just under 15 percent. As voters finalize their election impressions this summer, all of...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Now, here's our buddy Bob Lutz. He was on with Larry Kudlow last night, the Kudlow Report on CNBC. Kudlow said, "Do you believe that business believes that Romney will be really much better for business? Business has been very profitable under Obama, some of 'em. I know they're not hiring, and I know it's an anemic economy in terms of growth rate, but business has made a lot of money under Obama, Mr. Lutz." LUTZ: All of the businessmen I talk to are worried about this administration, worried about where the country is going, and they're...

House Speaker John Boehner is playing a heroic role right now. In his efforts to prevent the Bush tax cuts from expiring, Boehner is aggressively taking on President Obama's leadership ineptitude on the economy. In essence, Boehner is pushing a Republican policy to wrap up a debt-limitation bill and extend the Bush tax cuts in one fell swoop before the election -- and before all the last-minute, crisis-oriented political machinations that would come in a lame-duck Congress, threatening another credit downgrade and leading to a business-hiring freeze and plunging stock market, all of which happened last year. Tax-cut certainty is...

Andrew Ross Sorkin is apparently not too big to tank. The same goes for “Money Honey” Maria Bartiromo. CNBC insiders tell us executives at the cable business channel are “freaking out” because viewership levels are down essentially across-the-board, particularly with its marquee shows, “Squawk Box” and “Closing Bell." “Their biggest attractions have become their biggest losers,” says one TV industry insider familar with the cable channel’s numbers. According to Nielsen ratings obtained by Gatecrasher, from April 2011 to April 2012, “Squawk Box” is down 16 percent in total viewers and 29 percent in the important 25-54 demographic bracket that advertisers...

It's about 40 minutes to his second hour. Says if Romney loses Michigan, no one gets 50% of delegates. Says Jeb Bush will be in the room when McConnell/Christie team is picked ...

Ben Bernanke’s shocking FOMC announcement on Tuesday — that its zero-interest-rate target would be extended for two more years through the middle of 2013 — drove Dow stocks up over 400 points. But this new policy had no stock market carry-over on Wednesday, when the Dow plunged over 500 points. But we have not heard the last from Ben Bernanke — not by a long shot. Buried in the last paragraph of this week’s surprise FOMC announcement was this huge statement: “The Committee discussed the range of policy tools available to promote a stronger economic recovery in a context of...

New economic stats today on retail sales from both China and the U.S. show there’s no double-dip recession out there — no matter what the bears-gone-viral may be telling you. No Armageddon. And no stock market crash either

Video at Link

Here's a question: Why is repealing the Bush tax cuts such a constant obsession for the Democratic Party? Especially the top rates for the most successful earners and small business entrepreneurs? It seems this is the Democratic answer for every single issue, every problem, every debate. This, of course, saddens me enormously. And so, always ready to help, I am recommending a 12-Step program to help them overcome their anger, resentment, and obsession over the Bush tax cuts. Democrats really need a Higher Power on this. First, when tax rates were lowered across-the-board in mid-2003, the incentive effect kicked in...

One of the most interesting facets of modern economic policy is the sheer number of numbers. There is the unemployment rate. There is the workforce participation rate. There is the debt level. There is the deficit number. There is the foreclosure rate. There is the economic confidence number. There is the interest rate, and the inflation rate, and the money-supply rate. The point is that we Americans are far too busy (and perhaps economically confused) to look at multiple numbers in order to figure out if we can afford a vacation to Disney World. In 2012 we should strongly encourage...

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor turned the policy temperature down on austerity this week by rolling out a strong economic-growth agenda. Headlined by a 25 percent top tax rate for individuals and business, the Cantor package includes regulatory relief, free trade, and patent protection for entrepreneurs. It’s job creation and the economy, stupid. Sounds Reaganesque? Well, Eric Cantor has a lot of Reagan blood in him. Back in 1980, while Cantor was still in high school, his father was the Virginia state treasurer of the Ronald Reagan presidential campaign. So the apple never falls far from the tree. In fact,...

Fed head Ben Bernanke, at his first-ever news conference on Wednesday, slammed the door shut on any new QE3 pump-priming. The $600 billion QE2 program to purchase bonds will end on target at the end of June, and that will be that. Mr. Bernanke also suggested that the Fed’s “extended period” for the near-zero federal funds target rate could end in a couple of meetings. Perhaps these announcements suggest a bit-less-easy monetary policy. Perhaps. But Mr. Bernanke had no defense of the sinking dollar, or the inflation it brings, or the drop in middle-class living standards it causes. So it’s...

A week after Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday celebration, comparisons between presidents Obama and Reagan continue. But so far, the differences between the two presidents are still huge. So far, real GDP has averaged only 3 percent annually for Obama. Employment as defined by nonfarm payrolls has increased by a paltry 121,000. On the other hand, going back to Reagan's first six recovery quarters, real GDP averaged 7.7 percent annually while nonfarm payrolls rose by 5.3 million.

Decades of autocratic government and a lack of free elections are, of course, the main drivers of the political upheaval in Egypt. But did the sinking dollar and skyrocketing food prices trigger the massive unrest now occurring in Egypt — or the greater Arab world for that matter? In addition to Egypt, the people have taken to the streets to varying degrees in Algeria, Jordan, Libya, Morocco and Yemen. Local food riots have even broken out in rural China and other Asian locales. While the mainstream media focus on the political aspects of this turmoil, they are overlooking the impact...

<p>As we know, massive popular unrest has broken out against autocratic governments in North Africa and the Arab world. Egypt is the biggest story. But to varying degrees, the people have taken to the streets in Algeria, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, and Yemen.</p>

Larry Kudlow just insisted on a rumor we've heard several times: Michael Bloomberg is going to be treasury secretary. Kudlow says he heard from "deep insiders" that the pick has been made and it's Bloomberg.

Under pressure from a barrage of bad midterm-election polls, President Obama has gone on the campaign trail to blame Pres. George W. Bush for all our economic problems, and to bash House Republican leader John Boehner as nothing more than a Bush retread. In Friday’s dreary news conference, Obama acknowledged that economic progress is “painfully slow,” and that voters may blame him for the economy. Yet he nonetheless continued to finger Bush “for policies that cut taxes, especially for millionaires and billionaires, cut regulations for corporations and for special interests, and left everyone else pretty much fending for themselves.” “Millionaires...