Free Republic

U.S. services companies in October grew at the best rate in more than a dozen years. The Institute for Supply Management said Friday that its services index rose last month to 60.1 from 59.8 in September. Any reading above 50 signals expansion. The October reading was the biggest since August 2005. The services sector has reported growth for 94 consecutive months. The strength in the services sector is emblematic of a U.S. economy that looks increasingly healthy. Employers added a robust 261,000 jobs in October, the Labor Department said Friday. Economic growth climbed above an annualized level of 3 percent...

House Republicans will propose limiting the deductions for mortgage interest and state and local taxes in the tax bill they are releasing on Thursday, according to a summary of the legislation obtained by The Hill. The bill, called the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” largely follows the parameters that GOP leaders and the White House outlined in September. It would reduce the number of individual tax brackets, slash rates for businesses and eliminate a number of tax breaks. In order to offset the costs of the legislation, Republicans are putting forward some proposals that are sure to be controversial. The...

Just about all the associations the Democrats counted on to burnish their appeal to the public are in the process of discrediting themselves. The theory of branding tells us that associating one brand with another desirable brand helps it take on some of the luster. That’s why you see so many product endorsements, for instance.For decades we have seen images of prominent Dems and Hollywood icons together, so much so that the brands are somewhat intertwined, meaning people feel sort of the same way about one as about the other. Somewhat glamorous, or at least familiar. People we enjoy. Sometimes,...

Nancy Pelosi is running away from impeachment. And the fact that she’s doing so speaks volumes about where her party is in the Trump era. Let’s start with the inconvenient fact—inconvenient for Democrats—that President Trump hasn’t committed anything close to an impeachable offense. Critics can skewer him over his policies and persona, or speculate about what the Russia investigation might find, but mostly they just wish that somehow he could be magically removed from the White House. That, however, is not the view of much of the liberal base that can provide the energy and the money as Pelosi’s party...

<p>Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who will accompany President Trump on his trip to Asia, didn’t exactly get a ringing endorsement from the commander in chief – who said “we’ll see” if the top diplomat serves out the duration term.</p>

President Trump doubled down on his call for the Justice Department to investigate Democrats on Friday after a former Democratic National Committee chair acknowledged the party tipped the scales in Hilary Clinton's favor during last year's primary. Trump told reporters outside the White House that he is “disappointed” in the Justice Department for not investigating Clinton, reiterating that he believes the agency should do something. “I’m really not involved with the Justice Department. I’d like to let it run itself, but honestly, they should be looking at the Democrats," he said. “They should be looking at Podesta and all of...

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed the repeal of a banking rule that would have allowed consumers to join together to sue their bank or credit card company to resolve financial disputes. The president signed the measure at the White House in private. Journalists were not present to witness the signing.The Republican-led Senate narrowly voted to repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s regulation, which the banking industry had been seeking to roll back. The Trump administration and Republicans have pushed to undo regulations they say harm the free market and lead to frivolous lawsuits. …

Hillary Clinton fell a shocking 63 spots to 65 on the Forbes list of the world's most powerful women just a year after her US presidential election loss to Donald Trump. Newcomer to the list UK Prime Minister Theresa May took Clinton’s spot at No 2 on the list, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel remained at No 1 on the Forbes list for another year. Clinton's election loss in 2016 left the United States one of the world's few leading democracies to yet see a female leader. The former First Lady and former Secretary of State may sit 65 on...

The terrorist came into our country through what is called the "Diversity Visa Lottery Program," a Chuck Schumer beauty. I want merit based. 7:24 AM - 1 Nov 2017

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday he intends to replace the outside experts that advise him on science and public health issues with new board members holding more diverse views. In announcing the changes, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt suggested many previously appointed to the panels were potentially biased because they had received federal research grants. The 22 boards advise EPA on a wide range of issues, including drinking water standards and pesticide safety. “Whatever science comes out of EPA shouldn’t be political science,” said Pruitt, a Republican lawyer who previously served as the attorney general of Oklahoma....

Consumers were even more optimistic in October than economists polled by Reuters expected. Consumer confidence rose to 125.9 in October, according to the Conference Board. The index "increased to its highest level in almost 17 years," Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, said in a statement. That was in December 2000, when the index hit 128.6. The economic weight of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma pulled down the spirits of U.S. consumers in September, when the index was relatively flat. In October, "consumers' assessment of current conditions improved," Franco said. "[This was] boosted by the job market...

As many as 200 North Korean labourers have been killed after a mine shaft being dug at the regime's nuclear test site collapsed, according to Japan's Asahi TV. Sources in North Korea told the news channel that a tunnel being excavated by around 100 workers at the Punggye-ri test site collapsed earlier this month. An additional 100 labourers sent to rescue their colleagues were reportedly killed when the tunnel suffered a second collapse. An exact date for the disaster has not been provided, but it comes shortly after North Korea conducted its sixth - and most powerful - underground nuclear...

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump got into the Halloween holiday spirit Monday when they hosted a trick-or-treat event at the White House. The first couple greeted, shook hands with, and gave candy to a procession of youngsters on the South Lawn — including one child dressed up as Melania Trump herself. The girl donned a black cap with "FLOTUS" emblazoned on it like the one the real first lady wore to visit hurricane-stricken Texas in August. She also wore a white shirt, black pants, and sneakers, like the ones the first lady changed into after catching snark for...

Republicans are digging in ahead of a looming battle over President Trump's judicial nominees. Senate GOP leadership wants to clear four picks this week for the circuit courts—which are second in line to the Supreme Court—amid pressure from conservatives to pick up the pace. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned that Republicans would confirm all of the nominees, even if it meant keeping lawmakers in town through a rare weekend session. “We'll confirm all of them this week no matter how long it takes,” McConnell said from the Senate floor. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the No. 2 Senate Republican,...

Whether it’s writing or doing radio, one thing you could always count on was the occasional slow news day or week. A couple of times per year, usually in August or around the holidays, Congress would go on recess and everyone’s attention would shift to more personal matters, such as spending time with family. Since November 2016, that concept has gone the way of the Dodo. There’s barely been a day, let alone a week, where someone in politics or the media weren’t declaring the end of something – be it civility, the Republic, or anything in between. The moment...

Honor the best of the best POTUS is presenting the Medal of Honor to a Vietnam medic Capt Mike Rose(10-23-17) Lunch with Senate Republicans(10-24-17) Welcome all you deplorables to this week's edition of the Dose! This is EVERYTHING TRUMP. Administration, family, frustrations, joys, winning! We welcome your research, your commentary, your personal OT sharing and your presence. Even if you do not share a lot, just check in and say hi. Lurkers are welcome. Cretin of the week (above)– Chuck Schumer(actually a cretin every day/every week but will hilight him this week) 10-24-17 Covfefe baby Covfefe!Melania Trump with the...

The most recent cover of Time Magazine — or I should say.., given its parent company's recent decision "reducing ... circulation and frequency" of the formerly iconic publication — calls President Donald Trump's cabinet "The Wrecking Crew" on a mission of "dismantling government as we know it."  Separate reports singled out EPA Director Scott Pruitt, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and HUD Secretary Ben Carson for scrutiny.The cover's word selection is obviously out of line, as none of the three is proposing to "dismantle" — meaning to "take (something) apart" (and not put it back together) — the agencies under their charge....

In a stunning turn of doubled-down delusion, Hillary Clinton, the twice-failed presidential candidate; the non-entity US Senator from New York; the failed First Lady whose health care proposal gave Republicans consummate control over Congress for the first time in 40 years; this Hillary Clinton said: “The Republican Party is imploding.”Really. (Stop laughing).Seriously, the GOP is going through Grand Old Growing pains, as President Trump made the signature issue, illegal immigration, a national concern for all, taking it out of the media spin which framed the issue as merely narrow-minded fearmongering of radical right-wing extremists. Big Business, Cheap Labor Republicans are...

America is at war. Not with a particular country, in spite of our endless entanglements in the Middle East. Instead the war is against a more nebulous enemy. One that goes by many names. The status quo. The deep state. The establishment. The elites. The enemy is everywhere. Media, entertainment, sports, academia, and among the ruling class in Washington, DC. A ruthless enemy, barbarians, willing to keep fighting despite setbacks and defeat. Singleminded in focus, the enemy wants to “fundamentally transform America”, creating a “new world order,” to borrow phrases from both sides of the political aisle. Who are the...

Donald Trump’s grip on the Republican Party is so secure that his enemies draw a warm bath and open their veins rather than face the violent death that awaits them in their primaries. That’s the real meaning of Jeff Flake’s act of political seppuku this week. His speech from the Senate floor about the need to defend democratic norms is not the beginning of some heroic Republican resistance, the opening salvo of a civil war—because Flake has no army. Bob Corker has no army. John McCain and Mitt Romney and George W. Bush have no armies. It can’t be a...