Free Republic

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) announced his proposed $288 billion state budget, which would cut thousands of vacant state jobs and funding to more than 200 state programs in order to close the state’s $27.6 billion deficit. Newsom revealed his budget proposal on Friday for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, which starts on July 1, citing the importance of accountability and responsibility, according to ABC7 News. This comes a month after state officials agreed to reduce California’s deficit by $17.3 billion after Newsom announced in January that the state’s deficit was $37.9 billion. The state deficit ended up being closer to $45...

Once an economic powerhouse that was the envy of much of the world, there is deep concern in Tokyo that the economies of China and Germany have already surpassed Japan's — and that India's will do so next year. The announcement that in 2025 India will overtake Japan in nominal gross domestic product in dollar terms has shocked Tokyo, which had until 2010 been the undisputed second-largest economy in the world but is now on the brink of slipping to fifth place. In estimates released in late April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicated that India's nominal GDP will reach...

Ford reported losing over $100,000 per electric vehicle sold in the first quarter of 2022, with its electric vehicle division posting a $1.3 billion loss. Electric vehicle sales volumes dropped 20% as Ford was forced to slash prices due to weak industry demand. “Americans don’t want EVs at levels Biden’s climate hysteria require,” businessman Andrew Puzder wrote on X. “Ford’s EV Q1 losses soared to $1.3 billion — a ridiculous $132,000 per EV sold. All Ford’s profits came from combustion engine vehicle sales. Collectivist policies destroy prosperity.” The company expects $5 billion in electric vehicle losses for the year, up...

NEXSTAR) – It’s been almost 20 years since we’ve seen a geomagnetic storm as strong as the one heading our way this weekend. Power operators and other groups that maintain critical infrastructure are preparing for what might happen when the coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, hit Earth. But is there anything you should be doing? A G4-level solar storm, such as the one expected to hit as soon as Friday evening, can cause issues with the power grid, radio communications and the accuracy of GPS.

Millions of middle-class California households are poised to pay an extra $24 per month for electricity, regardless of how much electricity they use. Regulators are hoping this utility billing policy will rescue their agenda to move everyone to electric cars and appliances by redistributing the massive costs of the state’s electric grid so utilities can lower their usage rates. But critics say the income-based premium will likely further hike utility costs for millions of Californians—nearly one-fifth of whom are already behind in paying their bills after household electricity rates almost doubled in the last decade—and likely won’t do much to...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Friday announced a $44.9 billion deficit in his revised proposal for the 2024-2025 state budget, while proposing a series of cuts to close the spending gap. The shortfall includes $27.6 billion detailed in his proposal, plus $17.3 billion in cuts that the State Legislature proactively instituted a few weeks ago. The governor proposed a $288.1 billion topline budget figure, down from Newsom’s initial January proposal for a $291.5 billion budget. Although the total $44.9 billion deficit is higher than the $37.9 figure projected in January, Newsom’s revision involves withdrawing $4.2 billion from the state’s...

If you’ve visited a grocery store in the last year, chances are high that you saw single-use plastic bags swapped for another reusable bag (also made with plastic, but we’ll get to that later). Or maybe your local grocery store hasn’t even made this trade-off, despite the law stating they must do so. On your walk home from that very store, you probably saw plastic bags still littered along the street. This is all part of the current problem with single-use plastic bans on bags, straws and takeout containers across the U.S. They are disjointed and, for the average person,...

White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Lael Brainard dismissed the notion that Republicans would be able to easily reverse the sustainable energy provisions passed in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) even if they win majorities in the general election this fall. By building the energy transition into the tax code and incentivizing businesses and households to change their behaviors rather than compelling them to do so with more top-down spending initiatives, the Inflation Reduction Act is insulated from any quick-and-dirty policy corrections that may be desired by a new Congress or presidential administration, Brainard argued Friday.

McDonald’s is working to introduce a value meal in U.S. stores to help offset an increasingly challenging environment for consumers, two people familiar with the matter told CNBC. The people said the $5 meal could include four items: a McChicken or McDouble, four-piece chicken nuggets, fries and a drink. The value meal was first reported by Bloomberg News. The potential new offering comes at a time when low-income consumers are beginning to pull back on spending, particularly at fast-food brands. Mentions of low-income consumers on company earnings calls are at their highest levels in nearly two years, according to data...

Target is once again in hot water over its handling of its LGBTQ+ merchandise. The company announced Thursday that it will only offer its Pride Month collection online and in select stores. The move comes after Target faced criticism and calls for boycotts from conservatives last year over its related merchandise during Pride celebrations and into the holiday season. 01:00 Target's Comment On Kourtney Kardashian Photo Sparks Uproar By Kaitlin Lewis Night Reporter FOLLOW 2 Target is once again in hot water over its handling of its LGBTQ+ merchandise. The company announced Thursday that it will only offer its Pride...

Joe Biden’s X account on Friday was seen urging Americans to “support women’s sports” even as he continues to push transgender athletes into women’s sports. Biden has been attempting to force every school in the country to allow male students who “identify” as females to play on any girl’s sports team they want, yet in his May 10 post on X, Biden claimed that he wants to “grow women’s sports.” “As a nation, we need to support women’s sports by showing up in person and watching on TV – with more sponsorships and programming,” the message on his X feed...

The Biden administration hopes to dispense thousands of ID cards to migrants in the coming weeks as part of an effort to update the documentation that US government agencies provide illegal border-crossers. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is planning on a “limited rollout” of its Secure Docket Card program this summer that would see roughly 10,000 ID cards distributed to migrants in as many as four US cities, according to Fox News. Two potential locations are Houston and Atlanta, a source told the outlet. The program aims to “modernize documentation provided to some noncitizens,” according to ICE, which notes that the...

Amid a series of layoffs, tech companies are finding it increasingly difficult to sponsor foreign workers for employment-based green cards due to stringent labor rules designed to protect U.S. workers. The process, governed by the Program Electronic Review Management system, mandates job advertising to ensure U.S. workers are not adversely affected. However, President Joe Biden's administration is considering a green card rule change that could significantly alter this landscape. The proposed exemption could be applied to a broad range of tech occupations including, notably, software engineering -- which represents about 1.8 million U.S. positions, according to U.S. labor statistics data...

The U.N. has warned the world is teetering on the edge of a climate abyss and a Guardian survey affirms hundreds of the world’s climate experts agree with the globalist body, expecting global heating to pass the international target of 1.5C. The outlet contacted what it called “a series of leading climate figures” who have reacted to the findings and nodded their heads in agreement. They recount the “deep despair voiced by the scientists must be a renewed wake-up call for urgent and radical action to stop burning fossil fuels and save millions of lives and livelihoods.”

As a Breitbart New item described it, there’s been a “narrative collapse” on the left, because the open borders mass migration scheme embraced by the globalist politicians in the West “has not actually stimulated the economy” as they promised, and has also been found to be “a major drag on public services and the housing sector.”No kidding?Here are the details, from journalist Kurt Zindulka:While globalist advocates of mass migration argue that it increases tax revenues and lifts overall GDP, thereby giving governments talking points, on an individual basis there is a different story.According to data from the Organisation for Economic...

Traffic safety advocates cheered a new law allowing the Big Apple to lower speed limits on city streets to as low as 10 miles per hour. The legislation – deemed “Sammy’s Law” in memory of 12-year-old Sammy Cohen Eckstein who was fatally struck by a van near his Park Slope home in 2013 – passed as part of the state budget last month. “This is a joyous but bittersweet moment,” Cohen Eckstein’s mother, Amy Cohen, said as she appeared at a press conference Thursday in Manhattan with Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “Sammy was fierce...

The rising problem of squatters illegally occupying people’s homes has become so obvious that even the mainstream media have recently been paying some attention to it, and lawmakers are beginning to take action.A survey by the National Rental Home Council found 1,200 homes in Atlanta alone have been taken over by squatters, News Channel 8 in Atlanta reports. Georgia enacted a law in late April to speed up evictions of squatters. “We will be watching this develop over the next year,” Atlanta’s Fox 5 TV channel stated.NBC Nightly News ran a national story on property owners’ difficulties in getting governments...

President Javier Milei entered office like Jack Nicholson breaking his way into the bathroom in "The Shining" — with an axe. Armed with emergency powers granted by the Argentine Congress, he balanced the country's out-of-control budget in one month, fired government workers by the thousands, eliminated more than 200,000 "corrupt" social welfare programs, and even cozied up to NATO. “There’s a lot more chainsaw" to come, Milei promised in March, and I momentarily almost became gay.The usual fearmongers mongered the usual fears.A few weeks ago, the New York Times ran an opinion piece — complete with a demonic-looking, high-contrast black-and-white...

Cathy R., 63, has a master's degree and has worked all her life, though she's very worried for her future. The clerical worker in Minnesota has struggled to rise up the ranks throughout her career. She said she's earning a salary similar to some entry-level positions despite nearly three decades in her current role. She's nervous that even though she's eligible for a pension in a few years, it won't supplement Social Security payments nearly enough to live comfortably. "I can't afford life while working. How can I even think of retiring?" the St. Paul, Minnesota resident said. ...Cathy grew...

President Biden claimed on Wednesday that inflation was at 9% when he entered the White House in January 2021, when, in fact, the consumer price index (CPI) was at a mere 1.4% at the time. "No president has had the run we’ve had in terms of creating jobs and bringing down inflation," Biden told CNN's Erin Burnett in an interview. "It was 9% when I came to office – 9%." It’s a notion Biden has alluded to before. In April, the president said: "Look, we have dramatically reduced inflation from 9% down to close to 3%. We’re in a situation...