Free Republic

It is no secret that I am not a Donald Trump fan. That is an understatement. From the first days that he began his “campaign”, he has demonstrated that he is not deserving to serve as President or anything else. His demeanor is repulsive, his positions are nonexistent, except for his distaste for Mexico, and his policy positions (oh wait, I should use the singular – his ONE policy position – immigration) are fantasies. I am not interested in voting for or heaven forbid, electing, a Kardashian with a combover as POTUS. And be not mistaken, this is precisely what...

Bankrupt 50 Cent seeks court's permission to pay basic bills for his lavish mansion... which costs 72K a month to maintain Bankrupt 50 Cent has asked the court to let him keep paying the bills for the upkeep of his lavish mansion. The entertainer, real name Curtis Jackson III, ususally shells out $72,000 in monthly expenses at his Connecticut estate. But after filing for bankruptcy in July, the 40-year-old rapper must now get court permission to pay all bills, no matter how basic, reportsTMZ.

A North Texas man is fighting the North Texas Tollway Authority over $1,436 in tolls for a car he insists he no longer owns. David Barlett, of Kemp, said he sold his 2002 Nissan Maxima in October 2013 to a man who responded to a Craigslist ad. InvestigativeTarrant County Ordered to Stop Issuing Passports "I signed the title over to him and didn't really think much else about it – until I started getting bills from the tollway," Bartlett said. The buyer never turned in the title to the state and kept the same license plates. So on paper, Bartlett...

Excessive cynicism can be an occupational hazard of those who pay close attention to actions of legislatures and politicians. Honest debate over important policy issues is important, but political observers can be quite disappointed if they consider everything their elected officials work to decide. For example, on April 28 Rep. Edward McBroom (R) introduced a bill to establish the ladybug as the official insect of Michigan. The proposed legislation does not specify any particular variety, although Wikipedia reports some 5,000 types worldwide. The bill could trigger a Battle of the Bugs on the House floor, because in recent years no...

The 2015-16 session of the Michigan Legislature is underway, and like a new baseball season anticipation and hope are in the air. House Republicans recently unveiled an ambitious action plan that seeks to continue Michigan’s recovery. Many of the proposals in the House agenda are ideas recommended by Mackinac Center experts: Safeguard public employees’ retirement and protect taxpayers by closing the underfunded pension system and moving public employees to a 401(k)-style system. The school employee pension system is $25 billion in the red, while Michigan’s 50 largest cities have an additional $3.4 billion in unfunded liabilities. Stretch public resources by...

Yesterday was a good day for gun rights in Minnesota. A bipartisan group of Representatives at the State Capitol passed several bills protecting and enhancing the Second Amendment. Bills enhancing the Second Amendment include: ⦁ Emergency Powers Act ⦁ (HF 722) - Protects private property rights by prohibiting government officials from confiscating firearms during a declared state of emergency.

It was a tough morning for NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia. Their Twitter timeline was just depressing. Three state senators introduced three distinct pro-abortion bills in Richmond, only to have them defeated one-by-one by the Senate Education & Health committee. The first proposed bill up for debate was SB 733, which would have repealed the mandatory ultrasound law that requires women to view an ultrasound before having an abortion. Senator Mamie Locke (D-VA 2), who introduced the legislation, tried arguing that ultrasounds are unnecessary because “women have already made their decision.” Locke’s logic is very faulty here. In reality, 78 percent of...

Dwyane Wade reportedly makes around $30 million a year -- his estimated worth is approximately $100 mil -- which makes it pretty shocking his $1.2 million Chicago pad is in foreclosure. According to legal docs -- obtained by TMZ Sports -- Wade stopped making payments on the $225K mortgage ... the docs don't say how much he's behind.

As he stepped out on stage last year to hawk his big TV comeback in front of advertisers, comedy great Robin Williams joked it was 'nice to have a job where the checks will clear.' After making his name as the eccentric and beloved alien on 1970s TV hit Mork and Mindy, Robin transferred his attentions to Hollywood with a stream of box office hits. But after acclaim and an Oscar, the movie career started to dry up and the actor signed up for CBS show The Crazy Ones, a small-screen comedy about a 'renowned and slightly unhinged' advertising genius/madman....

The House passed a pair of bills Thursday to provide tax breaks to businesses. One bill, H.R. 4457, “America's Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2014,” would permanently extend Section 179 expensing of up to $500,000 after the generous bonus depreciation limit expired last year. It passed by a vote of 272 to 144. The other bill, H.R. 4453, the “S Corporation Permanent Tax Relief Act of 2014,” makes permanent the shortening of the built-in gains tax-holding period for S corporations from 10 years to five years to give S corps quicker access to capital. It also contains a basis...

The Buffalo Bills have agreed to pay up to $3 million – largely in the form of debit cards redeemable only at the team store – to settle a class-action lawsuit that accused the team of sending too many alerts to fans who signed up for a text-messaging service. Jerry Wojcik, a Bills fan and area native now living in Florida, contended in his October 2012 suit that the team violated the terms of its text service by sending him 13 messages over two weeks when it promised to send no more than five per week. The lawsuit was panned...

Legislation aimed at cracking down on human trafficking could result in government taking more property from citizens in Michigan. At issue is a "willful blindness" clause inserted into House Bills 5230 and 5233 that would allow government officials to take property from people who, while not involved with a crime, benefit by getting property as a result of some form of criminal activity. The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan opposes the bills, saying the legislation expands the ability of government to force people to forfeit property without clearly written rules for doing so. Rep. Klint Kesto, R-Commerce Township, sponsored...

Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly is preparing for another surgery related to his oral cancer. ... On her personal website, Kelly’s wife wrote that “the cancer’s back, aggressive, and starting to spread.”

MOSCOW, March 20, /ITAR-TASS/. Russian lawmakers will meet at an extraordinary session on Thursday to consider the presidential package of bills on Crimea's reunification with Russia. The documents under review are an inter-state treaty and a constitutional bill on the creation of two new constituent members of the Russian Federation. On Tuesday, the Russian Parliament's committee on CIS affairs unanimously recommended to ratify "the Crimean treaty," signed in the Kremlin on March 18, while the house committee on constitutional legislation and state development recommended to approve all the readings of the bill on Crimea and Sevastopol's joining Russia. The treaty...

Jodi Arias was convicted of murder, but still awaits a sentence. So far, Arizona taxpayers have covered $2.1 million in legal fees for the Jodi Arias legal team and other costs associated with her case.

The Obama administration stopped short Thursday of threatening to veto House bills to require officials to tell people if their personal data has been compromised through ObamaCare, and to require weekly reports on the health law's implementation. The White House said in two Statements of Administration Policy that it opposed both bills, one of which is set for a Friday vote in the House. Weekly reporting requirements on both enrollments and the operation of the HealthCare.gov website would require "unfunded, unprecedented, and unnecessary reporting requirements" on the health insurance exchanges, it said in one statement. "It would require the reporting...

OK, please educate me here-- How can this even be happening, constitutionally, when all fiscal bills MUST ORIGINATE in the House?

Barack Obama, to hear his advisers tell it, has finally found The One he has been looking for: John McCain. “We have been looking literally for years for someone we can cut deals with, and finally someone has stepped up,” a White House official said. West Wing aides say they now talk with McCain roughly every other day. McCain, to hear fellow Republicans tell it, has finally found The Two he has needed to make such conversations worth the bother: Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat who can actually get things done in the Senate, and Denis McDonough, a White House...