Free Republic

Sen. Ted Cruz insists he won’t wage “violence” on Republicans–which is part of the reason why he won’t condemn Donald Trump’s comments about immigrants and prisoners of war. The Wall Street Journal isn’t holding back, though. The paper’s conservative editorial board slammed Cruz and praised former Gov. Rick Perry for their starkly different responses to Trump’s claim that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., “is only a war hero because he got captured. I like people who weren’t captured better.” Perry, an Air Force veteran, had one of the quickest and most forceful condemnations of Trump, insisting the real estate mogul wasn’t...

Trading in all symbols was temporarily halted on the New York Stock Exchange floor Wednesday due to an apparent technical issue. "NYSE/NYSE MKT has temporarily suspended trading in all symbols. Additional information will follow as soon as possible," the NYSE said in a statement on its status page. A technical issue caused the trading halt, Reuters reported, citing a source. Trading stopped around 11:30 a.m. ET.

MADISON, Wis. – Cindy Archer was once made to beg sheriff’s deputies and FBI agents not to shoot her dogs during an early-morning raid on her Madison home. Now the former aide to Gov. Scott Walker who has never been charged with a crime in the Democrat-launched John Doe investigation is fighting back in court. In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece published Tuesday evening, Archer writes that Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and his agents ransacked her house and ruined her career. “After much soul-searching, I am filing a civil-rights lawsuit on Wednesday against Milwaukee County District Attorney...

Last September the Obama administration produced an FBI report that said mass shooting attacks and deaths were up sharply—by an average annual rate of about 16% between 2000 and 2013. Moreover, the problem was worsening. “The findings establish an increasing frequency of incidents,” said the authors. “During the first 7 years included in the study, an average of 6.4 incidents occurred annually. In the last 7 years of the study, that average increased to 16.4 incidents annually.” The White House could not possibly have been more pleased with the media reaction to these findings, which were prominently featured by the...

It’s been almost a month since the Wall Street Journal ran an editorial titled “The Menendez Indictment.” We responded in a letter to the editor that has not been published. It’s a safe bet it never will be, so we post it here. The Journal got to the point in its opening paragraph: Ill-defined federal laws now reach into virtually every sphere of human behavior, and thus prosecutors can destroy almost anyone they choose. The recent indictment of Senator Robert Menendez on 14 counts of corruption and “honest services” fraud is a troubling case in point that deserves more...

WASHINGTON—The U.S. economy slowed to a crawl at the start of the year as businesses slashed investment, exports tumbled and consumers showed signs of caution, marking a return to the uneven growth that has been a hallmark of the nearly six-year economic expansion. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, expanded at a 0.2% seasonally adjusted annual rate in the first quarter, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. The economy advanced at a 2.2% pace in the fourth quarter and 5% in the third. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected growth...

Editor’s Note: This story first appeared in the Wall Street Journal. We reprint in part here. Hillary Clinton’s State Department was part of a panel that approved the sale of one of America’s largest uranium mines at the same time a foundation controlled by the seller’s chairman was making donations to a Clinton family charity, records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show.The $610 million sale of 51% of Uranium One to a unit of Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear agency, was approved in 2010 by a U.S. federal committee that assesses the security implications of foreign investments. The State Department, which...

(Snip) The framework requires that all questions take up sweeping issues, such as “group identity,” which leaves little place for transcendent individuals. Men and women who were once studied as inspirational figures have become examples of trends, and usually not uplifting ones. The immigrant story that the exam tells is of oppressed people escaping to America only to find more oppression. That many came seeking the Promised Land—and found it here—is no longer part of the narrative. (Snip)

France on Saturday outlined one part of what the gradual ramp-up of Iran’s nuclear program could entail after the initial 10-year phase of a framework accord. Since Thursday’s deal between Tehran and a group of six world powers on the outlines of a final agreement, the U.S., the Iranians and the French have each produced their own documents outlining what they see as the highlights of the deal. That has led to squabbling between U.S. and Iranian officials over differences in their versions. According to a French fact sheet, Iran would be able to carry out a “gradual, clearly defined...

Google has a staggering 90% dominance of all search in the EU, making it much more influential than it is in the U.S., where it currently holds 75% dominance, says Business Insider). Experts told The Wall Street Journal that it is easier to bring an antitrust lawsuit to the EU commission than to a U.S. court: Unlike in the U.S., where antitrust investigators must prove their case to a judge, the EU Commission acts as prosecutor, judge, and jury in competition cases... If convicted, Google could be forced to pay as much as 10% of its annual revenue, which amounted...

At least 2,000 jobs will likely be lost in New Mexico’s oil and gas industry in the coming months because of sharp declines in the price of crude oil, according to estimates by the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department.

As a long-term strategy for defeating jihadists, Americans blaming George W. Bush ad infinitum is sure to be a winner -- for jihadists. It's right up there with American retreat from leadership in the world as high on their list of goals. And sure enough, former congressman Barney Frank heartily endorses both. Frank was among the guests on last night's Real Time with Bill Maher, brimming with his usual persnickety bluster. At one point he tangled with conservative columnist S.E. Cupp on the subject of the abrupt US military withdrawal from Yemen. This led to a pair of candid admissions...

According to Lisa Wade, a professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles, if you have an understandings of Economics, you are likely a bad person. That was her finding in an article she published this week, titled "ARE ECONOMICS MAJORS ANTI-SOCIAL?" The first word in the piece was simply, "Yep." Dr. Wade writes that if you have taken classes on Economics, you "are less likely to share, less generous to the needy, and more likely to cheat, lie, and steal." She largely bases her belief on a study from 2010. In the study, students were asked if they would like...

Eighteen-year-old Alicia Donaldson works at a busy McDonald's in East Oakland. Her job is more complicated than anyone might think. "When you do the grill and the chicken by yourself, it's not easy," she admits. "You have to put down the meat on the grill, and then put chicken in the grease. People get burned a lot." That's a lot of pain for only $9 an hour. Today it's still hard work, but now Alicia is making $12.25 instead. "When I worked 56 hours my check was about $480," she remembers. This month the highest minimum wage in the nation...

Of S&P 500 companies providing first-quarter outlooks, MarketWatch reports 84% have been negative as Profit Warnings Pile Up.Ahead of the start of earnings reporting season, which unofficially kicks off when Alcoa Inc., reports results on April 8, about 84% of the companies that have provided first-quarter outlooks gave negative outlooks. That’s above the 81% that warned Q1 2014, and the five-year average of 68%.< I believe that yellow highlight I added should say Q3. More importantly, it would have been nice for MarketWatch to actually link to FactSet because it contains some interesting charts and analysis.Earnings Insight Let's dive into...

Where should we learn how to handle money? School. But we don’t. Instead, what you know — or don’t know — about finances stems from a number of factors: how you were raised and what you learned from friends, financial advisors, a spouse, random Internet searches, and so on. Which leads to money habits that aren’t ideal. So we talked to the pros to find out what you should have learned in school. Here’s what they said.

Have you ever visited your favorite fast-food restaurant and, as you grab that sack of burgers or chicken, wondered how much money that restaurant makes? Well, restaurant trade magazines track those stats for the big fast-food chains. And the answers can be surprising. It turns out that only seven of the top 50 quick-serve brands in the country pull in more than $2 million per store. For perspective on that, for a full-service restaurant to be a profitable enterprise, it needs to pull in $1 million a year — that’s the rule of thumb I learned in my years as...

One Nevada senator wants to cut the state’s minimum wage by $2 an hour. Another wants to raise it by $8 an hour. Guess which senator is a Democrat and which is a Republican. That is an easy one. But this is tougher. Guess which party is also pushing to raise the state’s minimum wage by 75 cents. Nevada Republican Sen. Joe Hardy wants to scrap the state’s constitutional amendment that provides a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour with health insurance coverage — same amount as the federal minimum wage — and $8.25 an hour if the employer does...

Two days ago I ordered online a used copy of Milton & Rose Friedman's classic "Free to Choose," hoping a liberal loved one would be willing to read it. That doesn't look like it's going to happen, so now I'm tempted to send the book to Barney Frank—since it's apparent that, like many liberals, he doesn't understand the most basic notions of how free markets work. On Steve Kornacki's MSNBC show today, Frank described business creators as being "given privileges." Barney then added this mind-boggler: "there's only a limited amount of space, there's only a limited amount of businesses. Your...