Free Republic

KEY POINTS Gross domestic product, a broad measure of goods and services produced in the January-through-March period, increased at a 1.6% annualized pace, below the 2.4% estimate. The personal consumption expenditures price index, a key inflation variable for the Federal Reserve, rose at a 3.4% annualized pace for the quarter, its biggest gain in a year. Consumer spending increased 2.5% in the period, down from a 3.3% gain in the fourth quarter and below the 3% Wall Street estimate. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ U.S. economic growth was much weaker than expected to start the year, and prices rose at a faster pace, the...

Another Joe Biden foreign policy disaster is in the works. Joe Biden already turned over the Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan to Taliban terrorists in September 2021. Biden abandoned Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield after nearly 20 years in July by shutting off the electricity and slipping away in the night without notifying the base’s Afghan commander, who discovered the Americans’ secret departure more than two hours after they left. The Taliban quickly took control of Bagram Air Base, which is only 30 miles north of Kabul, on August 15th and released thousands of terrorists held at its prison. The Americans and Afghans...

Betsy DeVos said the Biden administration's finalized Title IX rule change has "gutted" five decades of protections for women and girls and replaced it with "radical gender theory." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (The Center Square) - Former secretary of education Betsy DeVos said Friday that the Biden administration's finalized Title IX rule change has "gutted" five decades of protections for women and girls and replaced it with "radical gender theory." "The Biden administration’s radical rewrite of Title IX guts the half century of protections and opportunities for women and callously replaces them with radical gender theory, as Biden’s far-left political base demanded," DeVos...

Almost 700 migrants from China have been apprehended for illegally crossing the California border from Mexico, according to new reports. The number only includes those caught in the San Diego region during the third week of April.

We’re coming up on three and a half years into the Biden presidency — a presidency which from the outset promised an “all of government” regulatory onslaught to force a transition away from fossil fuels and to “green” energy. And the regulatory onslaught has indeed come forth. But how about the actual transition in energy use? Not so much. Let’s have a round-up of some recent data points. On the regulatory onslaught front, on March 7, 2024 Thomas Pyle of the Institute for Energy Research put out a list of “200 Ways the Biden Administration and Democrats Have Made it...

Energy prices, particularly the cost of electricity, have skyrocketed since President Biden took office, outpacing inflation and putting a dent in Americans’ wallets. Since January 2021, electricity prices have soared 29.4% — 50% more than overall inflation — rising 13 times faster than the previous seven years, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Meanwhile, in those seven years before Biden took office, electricity prices rose just 5%. News of the astronomical increase in electricity came in the wake of March’s Consumer Price Index, which showed US inflation rose 3.5% in March. Wednesday’s data...

Layoffs continue across the freight and logistics industry, with companies in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan and Texas announcing job reductions and facility closures over the past two weeks. Universal Logistics Warren, Michigian-based Universal Logistics is permanently shuttering two of its subsidiaries and laying off a total of 677 employees, according to notices recently filed with the state. The layoffs are related to Universal-operated entities Logistics Insights Corp. and Universal Dedicated of Detroit, an auto parts warehousing and logistics facility. Both operations were in Detroit. Universal Dedicated of Detroit’s closure will affect 230 truck drivers who worked from the facility. Logistics...

What we know Iran has launched more than 100 drones toward Israel, military officials said, beginning its retaliatory attack weeks after a suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian consular building in Syria killed two of Tehran’s top commanders. The Biden administration expects Iran will also launch dozens of cruise missiles and ballistic missiles targeting Israeli government sites, not civilians or religious sites, a U.S. official said. It will be hours before the drones arrive and Israel will aim to intercept them, Israeli military officials said. The U.S. and Israel have coordinated on a defense plan, including the USS Carney and...

World leaders were quick to condemn the “reckless” attacks on Israel by the Islamist regime in Iran, which they said “crossed a new line” in launching dozens of drone and missile strikes against the Jewish state on Saturday. The international community, including leaders in Britain and the European Union, swiftly condemned the strikes on Israel by the Revolutionary Guard Corps of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which marked a dramatic escalation in the conflict between Tehran and Jerusalem from previous attacks carried out by Iran’s terrorist proxies in the region to direct strikes.

BREAKING: Iran launches attack against Israel using dozens of drones, four U.S. and Israeli officials told me

EXCLUSIVE: Biden administration officials successfully pressured fact-checking website Snopes to alter its rating on a fact check it conducted regarding a potential federal ban on gas stoves, according to internal communications. In early January 2023, Snopes issued a "mixture" rating on the claim that the Biden administration was considering a ban on gas-powered stovetops, citing comments made by a senior official overseeing product regulations. Shortly before the fact check, Richard Trumka Jr., a member of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), said such a ban was "on the table." "This is a hidden hazard," Trumka told Bloomberg at the time....

Funky cold Joe Biden is his reaction to inflation caused by his outragous spending. His legion of sycophants are now saying inflation is a good thing or don’t notice it. But Biden will never stop spending . Coming into today’s CPI number, which followed three previous red-hot inflation prints, we said that it’s time for a “miss” (the first of 2024) not because the data demands it – on the contrary, prices continue to rise at a frightening pace – but because a dovish CPI print today would be the last opportunity for the Fed to set a timetable for...

KEY POINTS * The consumer price index, a key inflation gage, rose 3.5% in March, higher than expectations and marking an acceleration for inflation. * Shelter and energy costs drove the increase on the all-items index. Energy rose 1.1% after increasing 2.3% in February, while shelter costs were higher by 0.4% on the month and up 5.7% from a year ago. * Following the report, traders pushed the first expected rate cut out to September, according to CME Group calculations. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The consumer price index accelerated at a faster than expected pace in March, pushing inflation higher and likely dashing...

All of the more than 300 99 Cents Only stores across the country are closing down. This doesn't just affect the shoppers who depend on low prices but it will be a loss of jobs for the workers in the stores. Right now everything is 30% off and business is brisk in the California-based chain. Shoppers are stocking up and many are waiting in line to get inside a store. Economists say this is a scary sight."Sad. I can't buy my apples and bananas anymore," said one man walking into the store."I think people are going to miss it," said...

Former ESPN anchor Sage Steele revealed that her interview with President Joe Biden shortly after he took office in March 2021 was “scripted” by executives at the Disney-owned network. Steele — who was “sidelined” by ESPN later that year after she criticized the company’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate and made controversial comments about former President Barack Obama — told Fox News that she was beholden to a “structured” interview. “It was very much ‘This is what you will ask. This is how you will say it. No follow-ups, no follow-ups. Next,'” Steele told Fox, adding that each question was “gone over...

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador warned on Sunday during an interview with "60 Minutes" that unless the United States complies with Latin America’s requests for aid, the tide of migrants will continue. In January, Obrador issued a series of demands for what the U.S. must do to stop the flow of migrants to the border, ranging from sending Latin American countries $20 billion in aid a year to granting some level of amnesty to illegal immigrant workers in the U.S.

The Consumer Price Index has increased 18.6% from 261.582 in January of 2021 when Biden took office to 310.326 in February 2024. Has your income gone up 18.6%, or did Biden make you POORER?

The U.S. began adding $1 trillion worth of debt about every three months beginning last June, a Bank of America investment strategist Michael Hartnett first pointed out in an investment note published last week. The national debt is currently $34.48 trillion and rising. It surpassed $34 trillion for the first time in U.S. history on Jan. 4. Three months prior, the debt first reached $33 trillion on Sept. 15, 2023. Three months prior to that, it first reached $32 trillion on June 15, 2023. “The national debt is the amount of money the federal government has borrowed to cover the...

(The Center Square) - The monthly costs for the thrifty plan for a family of four participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is increasing by 31% over the last three years. The United States Department of Agriculture stated the food stamp benefit amounts are based every year upon the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan. The thrifty plan is considered the cost of groceries needed to provide a healthy, cost-friendly diet for families to prepare at home. The foods include dark green vegetables, poultry, and whole fruit, according to the USDA website. These meals serve as a model...

'This may end up one of the greatest tragedies to come from the chaos they have created at the border' Newly two-dozen Republican attorneys general are imploring the Biden administration to act following "grim" reports that 85,000 migrant children are missing...