Author name: Jean Lee

“This place is a pressure cooker.” –Speaker Mike Johnson After a relatively quiet holiday recess, Washington must rev up quickly.  The pace of the presidential campaign is accelerating, and Congress has reconvened only to face several imminent funding deadlines.  As the narrator used to say in television commercials for sports cars, we are about to […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, the Smith-Free Group’s Chairman, Jim Free, received the J. William Denny Award in recognition of his work and contributions to the Country Music Association (CMA) Board of Directors. Free co-founded the Smith-Free Group in 1995 and has served on the CMA Board of Directors since 1997. Upon learning of this

It is Election Day in Kentucky, Virginia, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and approximately one year until Election Day 2024. But before everyone begins over-analyzing results from these contests, we’d like to share our latest thoughts and analysis on the current state of politics and policy. Political Environment Washington, of course, has focused its attention on the

“Indeed, it has been said Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” –Winston Churchill “No man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” –Gideon Tucker We all often like to think we are living in historic

Smith-Free Group would like to congratulate our friend and colleague, John Christie, and his bride, Paloma Perez, on their recent nuptials.  John, a valued member of our team, exchanged vows and tied the knot with Paloma in a beautiful, intimate ceremony on October 7.  Smith-Free is thrilled to share in the happiness of John and

“I don’t know what to say to my fellow Republicans other than you are gonna eat a shit sandwich, and you probably deserve to eat it.” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) in a recent FOX News interview “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” Haruki Marukami Welcome to the end of the 2023 fiscal year and a

Congress returns from its annual August break this week, and we expect lawmakers to focus sharply on budget matters as the September 30th deadline for FY24 spending measures approaches. Below is our assessment of the current state of political play as well as a handful of policy measures. Political Overview By definition, each election cycle

“The largest single-employer strike in American history now appears inevitable.”       –Sean O’Brien, Teamsters General President, June 28, 2023 Political Environment Despite increasing speculation in the press about the president’s age and capacity to mount another presidential campaign, a serious intra-party threat has yet to emerge.  Ironically, the son of the last man (Robert F.

Smith-Free applauds Kroger‘s recent announcement to donate 10 BILLION meals 2030! For perspective, that’s enough food to feed every individual in Seattle, Denver, Chicago, and Boston for every meal, every day for almost two years!!! Smith-Free is proud of the work Kroger will do to help communities in need across our country. June 22, 2023 Kroger to Donate

“Public sentiment is everything.  With it, nothing can fail, without it, nothing can succeed.”             –Abraham Lincoln Political Overview As presidential campaign efforts intensify, the Biden campaign has done a fine job at leveraging the power of incumbency to ward off potential primary challengers.  The party apparatus is as united as it can be behind