Free Republic

It’s becoming tougher and tougher for Americans to carry on with their spending spree. Years of elevated inflation and the highest interest rates in almost a quarter century are wearing out the US consumer. Savings accumulated during the Covid-19 pandemic are drying up, borrowers continue to rack up debt and delinquencies are marching higher. Retailers say shoppers are fed up with rising prices and are changing their purchasing behavior.

Blexit activist Madeline Brame shredded President Joe Biden’s “black this, black that” rhetoric Wednesday on Fox News, warning it won’t “play” well for the president come this November. Brame appeared on “Jesse Watters Primetime” to discuss Biden’s recent speech at Morehouse College and her appearance at Trump’s Bronx rally last week. Following a clip played back of Biden’s speech addressing HBCU graduates, Fox host Jesse Watters asked Brame whether Biden’s speech tactics, regarding the alleged attacks on black voters, sink in with the Democratic key voting bloc. “Just sitting here listening to that, I feel like vomiting,” Brame stated. “For...

The prices are just too damn high.Earlier this month, McDonald’s made a reassuring announcement — the return of its $5 value meal. This pocket-friendly deal includes a choice of sandwiches, a four-piece order of McNuggets, medium fries, and a drink. Not to be outdone, Burger King is also stepping up with its own $5 Your Way Meal, featuring a sandwich, chicken nuggets, fries, and a drink. And of course, Wendy’s weighed in first with its $3 breakfast meals, then with its 1-cent bacon cheeseburgers. These affordable options are a welcome respite for consumers amidst the rising fast food prices. Although...

For the better part of two decades, a small group of us fiscally prudent types have been relegated to the wilderness for having the temerity to sound the alarm. Our warnings were bordering on heresy to many on Wall Street and in DC. But lately, more and more voices are joining the chorus that we are heading headlong toward a fiscal and monetary cliff. When the day of reckoning arrives, most people will be unprepared. That is a fact that has been proven throughout history. Just as fortune favours the prepared, financial ruin will befall the unprepared. Before you roll...

MESQUITE, Texas — In a warehouse off Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway in an industrial area outside Dallas, the future of American military ammunition production is coming online. Here, in the Pentagon’s first new major arms plant built since Russia invaded Ukraine, Turkish workers in orange hard hats are busy unpacking wood crates stenciled with the name Repkon, a defense company based in Istanbul, and assembling computer-controlled robots and lathes. The factory will soon turn out about 30,000 steel shells every month for the 155 mm howitzers that have become crucial to Ukraine’s war effort. Ukraine fired 4,000 to 7,000 such...

Annual growth of the U.S. money supply in April advanced into positive territory for the first time since November 2022, pushing against the effects of elevated interest rates as inflation hovers above 3 percent. The comprehensive money supply, known as M2, rose by 0.59 percent annually in April to hit $20.8 trillion after contracting by as much as 4.5 percent a year ago, the Federal Reserve reported Tuesday. The program of dramatic quantitative easing in response to the pandemic — consisting of dropping interest rates to zero and boosting the money supply — likely staved off a serious depression as...

On Saturday, President Joe Biden gave the commencement address to graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point. In his speech, Biden once again lied about receiving an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. Biden claimed he “was one of 10” appointed by Senator Boggs, who he later defeated in his 1972 Senate race. Biden said, “I’d found out two days earlier they had a quarterback named Roger Staubach and a halfback named Joe Bellino. I said, ‘I’m not going there.’ I went to Delaware. Not a joke.”

President Biden is facing an American public that trusts his top political rival far more on inflation and economic matters, issues that are likely to loom large in voters’ minds at the ballot booth in November. A poll released last week from the Cook Political Report, conducted with Democratic and Republican strategy firms, showed that likely voters across seven “swing states” overwhelmingly disapprove of the job Biden is doing on the economy.

This Memorial Day Weekend, it seems like every news outlet from YouTube to the New York Times is talking about President Trump’s rally in the Bronx. No Republican has won there in over 100 years. It’s deep deep blue territory. Still, he’s not looking to be President of the red hat people. He was President of the United States before, and despite being undermined by his opponents to the maximum levels, he still worked to Make America Great Again for all Americans. By every statistic, he did more than President Biden. Oh, there’s no shortage of people who will debate...

Your host welcoming you to another attempt at media excellence last a "stream of consciousness" where I defined Anti-Semitism based on my own very personal experience. I was sexually mistreated in my youth and as I reflect on Candace Owens... This week more dramatic accusations of Anti-Semitism surrounding the International Court of Justice arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel... Newsdump Alert: Latest Polling From Israel Shows Upward Trend For Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party... Politics Here In The USA: 'Dictator' Vs. 'Dementia'... The Ukraine War Update and Shelia Walsh sings... Joe Biden making that ominous kind of speech...

On Friday’s edition of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) argued against cuts to SNAP benefits because “people are aching” due to inflation, but argued that’s not Joe Biden’s fault and there were supply chain issues. After discussing crop insurance, Jackson said, [relevant remarks begin around 1:05:50] “I’ve come to look at SNAP as food insurance and family insurance that the government uses. So, when people cannot do for themselves, I think the government should help them. When the people can do for themselves, the government needs to step back. Right now, people are aching. There’s been auto...

Your Memorial Day barbecue will cost upward of 10 percent more than it did this time last year according to Datasembly. Datasembly follows the cost of groceries across the country every week. Its recently released data points to this year's Memorial Day festivities costing the average American family about $30.18 or 10.19% more than 2023. Here is a breakdown of Memorial Day cookout costs, according to Datasembly: Burgers jumped from $7.04 in 2023 to $8.07 in 2024, or a change of 14.63% in cost. Hamburger buns cost two cents more, from $3.04 on average to $3.06. Ketchup costs 10 cents...

We are living through the most destructive bout of inflation in 45 years, one that threatens to become worse and perhaps just as ruinous in the long run as the last one.And yet daily and for years, we’ve been told it’s not so bad and that it’s nearly over anyway.How can we reconcile these two realities? They cannot both be true.An image of verified accuracy has been circulating all over social media lately: A list showing the price increases from the end of 2019 to now at major fast-food outlets. It fits with your own experience. It indicates that in...

Is the economy booming or busting? Depends on whom you ask. The official data is buoyant — economic growth is solid, the job market is strong, and stocks keep hitting record highs. Yet many Americans think the economy stinks. The latest gloomy indicator is a Guardian-Harris survey in which 55% of respondents said they think the economy is shrinking and 56% think we’re in the midst of a recession. Economic output, adjusted for inflation, grew by a solid 3% during the most recent 12-month period. The unemployment rate is 3.9%. And the US economy created over 3.5 million jobs in...

MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle called upon the president of Chicago’s Federal Reserve to tell viewers that they are economically far better off than they think. "We need an economic explainer," the MSNBC host said. "People are confused, they’re exhausted, but they’re also doing quite well." Ruhle, who hosts MSNBC’s "The Eleventh Hour," had been discussing a recent Federal Reserve report that "shows people are still struggling to cover day-to-day expenses, even as inflation has slowed." She noted how some major brands are responding by enticing consumers with slashed prices, "Target says it is cutting prices on 5,000 essential items, things...

An independent group of McDonald's franchise owners have spoken out about the the chain's $5 meal bundle planned for this summer. The US's biggest fast food chain is trying to lure back customers fed up with its price hikes. Customers will get a total of four items - either a McDouble or McChicken sandwich, small fries, small soft drink and four McNuggets - for $5. 'The fact remains that in order to provide the consumer with more affordable options, they must be affordable for the owner/operators. 'McDonald's vast resources and financial investment are essential to any sustainable affordable strategy,' the...

The United States has long had the world’s biggest defense budget, with spending this year set to approach $900 billion. Yet this spending is rapidly being eclipsed by the fastest-growing portion of federal outflows: interest payments on the national debt. For the first seven months of fiscal year 2024, which began last October, net interest payments totaled $514 billion, outpacing defense by $20 billion. Budget analysts think that trend will continue, making 2024 the first year ever that the United States will spend more on interest payments than on national defense. ... Just two years ago, interest payments were the...

A cruise line has offered the adventure of a lifetime for retirees to explore the world in luxury and give them a chance to beat inflation. Villa Vie Residences has launched their Endless Horizons program, which allows passengers to set sail on the Villa Vie Odyssey ship and take off on a seven-continent adventure on May 30. The luxury cruise liner requires a one time payment of $299,999 for a single room and $499,999 for a double occupancy cabin. 'One aspect most people nearing retirement age are concerned about is ongoing living expenses and the possibility of outliving their savings,'...

It's crazy to think how much better we had it just five short years ago. You could get a $1.29 McChicken, a $1.69 5-layer burrito from Taco Bell, 8 nuggets at Chick-fil-A for $3.05. We had it made! Since 2019, however, those prices have essentially doubled, and that's not only outrageous, it's depressing. Let's check on the numbers, shall we? So here's what inflation looked like overall during that period: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' inflation calculator, prices in general went up by around 21.5% between December 2019 (prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and economic...

“Corporate price gouging” is the Biden administration’s latest narrative to displace the responsibility of soaring costs. President Joe Biden, who falsely claimed twice in two weeks that inflation was at nine percent when he assumed office, is transitioning to another tack, albeit a strategy he has used before. “President Biden’s top economic priorities are fighting inflation and lowering costs for the American people,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates claimed. “Standing up to corporate price gouging is at the core of that fight.”