Free Republic

The Trump administration doesn't have the authority to divert Pentagon funds to construct additional barriers on the US-Mexico border, a federal appeals court ruled Friday, days after President Donald Trump's visit to a section of the wall in Arizona. In a 2-1 ruling, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals said that the transfer of $2.5 billion circumvented Congress, which holds the authority to appropriate money.

Governors across the nation have issued stay-at-home orders. Many have extended them once or twice. Some have even gone so far as to threaten to slap residents with fines. But what these governors are counting on is local police departments and sheriffs to enforce their orders. Sheriffs from around the country are standing up and refusing to enforce the orders because they believe them to be unconstitutional. Two Arizona Sheriffs – Doug Schuster of Mohave County and Mark Lamb of Pinal County – said they will not enforce Gov. Doug Ducey's (R) stay-at-home order. Both Schuster and Lamb agreed to...

It may not be a plank in the official Democratic Party platform, but it's clear that Democrats and their supporters want to eliminate state and local police. The radical left, which now controls the Democratic Party, is making a frontal assault on the police with their calls to defund and dismantle police departments. Democratic members of Congress are fighting a rearguard action through their dangerous Jerry Nadler-Nancy Pelosi anti-policing bill. During the hearing on the Nadler-Pelosi monstrosity, Democrats rejected every amendment offered by Republicans, even when Democrats agreed with the substance of the amendment. Included in the Nadler-Pelosi bill was...

U.S. President Donald Trump praised what he described as a “powerful and comprehensive” wall along the nation’s southern border Tuesday, highlighting one of the key promises from his successful election campaign four years ago to secure the U.S. borders. A day after ordering tighter restrictions on a variety of visa categories, Trump visited a new section of the border wall in the southwestern U.S. state of Arizona. After signing a plaque on the imposing slatted black wall at San Luis, the president, in response to a question from VOA described the new construction as “really foolproof.”  “You have everything you...

Coronavirus hospitalizations in Arizona and Texas have hit record numbers as cases continue to surge in states in the South and the West, overwhelming medical professionals. Arizona reported a record high of 3,591 new cases Tuesday, with nearly 60,000 known cases in the state overall. The swell in cases came as President Donald Trump held a rally at a Phoenix megachurch Tuesday. There was a surge in the number of inpatient beds occupied by positive or suspected COVID-19 patients, with 2,136 beds occupied, compared to 1,992 Sunday, according to data from the state's Department of Health Services. Meanwhile, 84 percent...

A pro-Trump super PAC is asking voters in a new television to consider whether former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, is suffering from dementia. The Committee to Defend the President said it has invested $400,000 in the “Lost His Mind” ad that started airing Wednesday in Arizona and across social media. “Does Joe Biden have the mental capacity to keep America safe?” the narrator says in the ad, which features footage of Mr. Biden making meandering comments and stumbling through worlds. “Is Joe Biden making any sense? Does Joe Biden have dementia?” Mr. Biden, 77,...

We were told that the governmental interest in ensuring that hospitals aren’t overrun with too many COVID-19 patients was so strong that it superseded the Bill of Rights. All businesses had to be shut, masks must be worn, church services had to be canceled. As Chief Justice John Roberts said in upholding California’s ban on church services, “When those officials ‘undertake to act in areas fraught with medical and scientific uncertainties,’ their latitude ‘must be especially broad.’” The very first action one would expect a government to undertake to stem the tide of a virus is to not purposely admit...

President Donald Trump rocked a packed house of young supporters at a church in Phoenix, Arizona, on Tuesday, condemning the rise of the radical left. “I’m thrilled to be Arizona with thousands of patriotic young Americans who stand up tall for America and refuse to kneel to the radical left,” Trump said after the crowd roared and shouted “U-S-A!” as the president took the podium. It was a contrast to Trump’s ambitious campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that failed to fill the enormous stadium. Students for Trump and Turning Point Action teamed up to rent the Dream City Church in...

PHOENIX – The federal government could give Americans $4,000 apiece to take a vacation if U.S. Sen. Martha McSally’s proposal takes off. McSally (R-Ariz.) introduced the bill, the American TRIP Act, on Monday, the day before President Donald Trump visits Yuma and Phoenix. The legislation is meant to act as an incentive to travel domestically. Couples would start at $8,000 in vacation tax credits and receive $500 for each child who is a dependent. Credits would apply for 2020, 2021 and 2022. “It will also encourage Americans to safely get out of their homes and discover or rediscover Arizona along...

PHOENIX — Coronavirus pandemic or not, an investment advisory company is leaving the cultural unrest in Seattle and moving its headquarters to Phoenix’s Camelback Corridor. ” … The unrest that has taken place in the city of Seattle … there is really is not a downtown business community today,” Smead Capital Management, President and CEO Cole Smead told KTAR News 92.3 FM. Smead said that although taxes in Seattle are lower, candidate recruitment is harder and the cost of living within the city is more expensive than Phoenix. “We’re hearing rumors of 40-story buildings that will be only 20-percent occupied...

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo is actively talking to New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont about mapping out mandatory quarantine “guidelines” for individuals traveling into the tristate area from Florida and other states seeing spikes in COVID-19 cases. Cuomo said the trio is “seriously considering” implementing a 14-day isolation for Floridians and that could be extended to travelers coming from Texas, Arizona and at least 20 other states. “The virus is up and more people are getting sick and now our fear in New York is those people are going to travel to New York and...

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Several more people were arrested after the Scottsdale Police Department says they took part in riots and looting on May 30th. Scottsdale Police say they have made a total of 34 arrests related to the looting. Angelo Brady II, 24, was arrested for trespassing after police discovered his involvement through a video he had posted online. Madison Mateevici-Dailey, 18, was arrested for stolen property and trafficking stolen property. Ariana Burrell, 24, was arrested for stolen property charges as well. Tyree Eubanks, 35, was arrested for stolen property, trafficking stolen property and weapons violation. Police released mugshots on...

216 miles completed, 339 miles under construction, 183 miles under pre-construction. (738 Total)

President Trump is expected to sign an expansion of immigration restrictions in the coming days in response to the economic downturn from the coronavirus pandemic -- an order that will reportedly suspend a number of guest worker programs. Trump signed an order in April suspending some forms of immigration, citing “the impact of foreign workers on the United States labor market, particularly in an environment of high domestic unemployment and depressed demand for labor” as a reason for the restriction, as well as pressures on health care and other factors. That order suspended, for 60 days, green cards for immigrants...

President Donald Trump is coming to Arizona for a visit Tuesday, June 23. The White House confirmed on Friday, June 19, that Trump would be in Yuma to survey the border wall and mark the completion of the first 200 miles of the border wall system. Before his tour of the wall, Trump will participate in a roundtable discussion with community and elected leaders on border security. Joining the President in Yuma will be Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf, Acting Deputy DHS Secretary Ken Cuccinelli, CBP Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan, and other officials. Following his Yuma visit, President Trump will...

Whether it’s true or not, if you say the “wrong” thing about Islam, you’re guilty -- even if you’re merely quoting what Muslims themselves say. Consider the recent case of Professor Nicholas Damask, chairman of the Department of Political Science at Scottsdale Community College in Arizona. Last month, after one of his students, Muhammad Sabra, found -- and shared on social media -- quiz questions which Muhammad felt were in “distaste of Islam,” the professor received a plethora of online death threats to himself and his family and criticism from his college. Matters eventually turned around in Damask’s favor; his...

The United States may be at a crucial point in the coronavirus pandemic, with cases rising again and officials deciding whether to stay the course on reopening. At least 19 states have seen new cases go up in the last two weeks and six states on Tuesday reported record increases, CBS News' Manuel Bojorquez reports. Florida reported 2,783 new cases. Texas reported 2,622, and Arizona reported a one-day jump of 2,392 new cases. Oklahoma, Oregon and Nevada also reported their highest single-day spikes in cases yet. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dismissed concerns Tuesday that reopenings are driving his state's record-breaking...

The health “experts” and the media propagating viral panic porn think people like us don’t understand arithmetic. They think they can manipulate headline stories warning of increased cases of COVID-19 in order to push more lockdowns, ignoring all the ways that more cases are being discovered, while the percentage of positive tests, new hospitalizations and deaths, and the lethality of the virus are all waning significantly. “Arizona’s COVID-19 spread is ‘alarming’ and action is needed, experts warn,” read the title of an Arizona Republic article..... ...As is always the case, there is a grain of truth that is hugely distorted...

Dare to Fly by Senator Martha McSally is a book about life’s lessons told through her own experiences. Even though unfathomable crimes have been committed against her, she has persevered emotionally and physically. The senator has not let her tragedies define who she is, but her triumphs. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Martha McSally served 26 years in the Air Force, retiring as full colonel. She is the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat and the first to command a fighter squadron in combat in United States history. She deployed six times to the...

We learned recently that Marian Steelman (Azishot - FR member since January 2009) passed away in November. "Marian Steelman was born on September 19, 1947 and passed away on November 16, 2019 and is under the care of Mariposa Gardens Memorial Park and Funeral Care."DignityMemorial.com Prayers for her family and friends. Godspeed.