Free Republic

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A skeleton crew of substitutes welcomed students to Los Angeles schools Monday as tens of thousands of teachers walked off the job for the first time in three decades, but parents wondered how much their kids were learning in the nation’s second-largest school district.

The House and Senate this week voted overwhelmingly to provide back pay to about 800,000 federal workers who are going without paychecks because of the partial government shutdown. But seven lawmakers — all House Republicans — opposed the measure. Those "no" votes came from Reps. Justin Amash (Mich.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Glen Grothman (Wis.), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Chip Roy (Texas) and Ted Yoho (Fla.). President Trump on Thursday indicated he would sign the bill, leading to its passage by unanimous consent in the Senate later that day. On Friday, the House cleared the measure in a 411-7...

How as Americans do we explain the intransigence of the left when it comes to national security? 'Tis a mystery. These people, these Democrats in Congress, are among the most privileged persons on the planet. They have enjoyed, more than most, the blessings bequeathed by the Founders, the authors of the Constitution. Yet they are determined, like Obama, to transform us into something this nation was never meant to be: a land without borders. While all of them are on record supporting a border wall in the past, now that Donald Trump is president, they all oppose it with every...

The US military will be extending its security support mission at the southern border with Mexico through the end of September, according to officials. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan authorized the extension on Monday after receiving a request from the Department of Homeland Security. The border deployment was first ordered back in October by President Trump and initially slated to end...

Sheriff David Clarke: "Message to all those supposed @realDonaldTrump supporters who jumped off the TRUMP TRAIN yesterday...WE DON'T NEED YOU. In Trump we must TRUST. He knows what he's doing. Wanted: New Conservative Fighters"

House Democratic leaders are expanding the roster for the chamber’s coveted tax-writing panel after outcry from lawmakers about the lack of Hispanic representation on the committee. Rep. Jimmy Gomez, a second-term Democrat from California, was tapped to join the ranks of the Ways and Means Committee on Monday night, nearly a week after leadership announced the Democratic slate for the panel. The move comes after multiple Democrats voiced alarm about the lack of Latinos on Ways and Means, one of the most sought-after committees in the House. Without the addition of Gomez, Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) would have been the...

President Trump’s proposed wall along the United States-Mexico border has soared in popularity with American voters across the board, as he battles a split GOP-Democrat Congress to secure funding for the barrier. The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll reveals a major shift among nearly all demographic groups across the country when it comes to support for a border wall at the southern border. This time last year, the poll claimed that only 34 percent of voters supported a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. Today, support for the wall has climbed to 42 percent overall. Most notable, swing voters are increasingly...

RUSH: Okay. So it’s like Groundhog Day. It’s deja vu all over again! The New York Times and the Washington Post with gigantic stories on literally nothing! But headlined to make it look like there’s a new development in the Trump-Russia case, and that is that Trump was actually working and reporting to Russia. There is no evidence in these two stories. There is still no evidence — and they admit it — of any collusion whatsoever. And yet two brand-new and fresh stories about something that I would expect you to be bored silly by now. So the question...

RUSH: Now, this government shutdown. You know what? This such a great opportunity. The media’s now doing tug at your heartstring stories about the hardships being experienced by people because of the government shutdown. I’ll tell you, this is a great teachable moment. We’ve always believed in smaller government, reducing the size of government. Listening to the complaints — I saw something on CNN just before the program started. And it was about I think farmers or people that work in agriculture somewhere who may not be able to go on without government subsidies. My initial quote, why are they...

Steve Guest Twitter Video at link. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) faced some tougher talk from media hosts, for once, regarding the government shutdown that has lasted 20+ days now. President Trump promised border security during the 2016 campaign. He promised to build a wall. He has to follow through on it. It was one of his signature issues. He’s only asking $5 billion for part of his wall. The Democrats are not willing to play ball after reclaiming the House. Last week, Trump offered to re-open the government in exchange for some of the funding. Democrats rejected...

The partial government shutdown is about more than a shutdown. It’s civil war. There are not guns or violence, at least not yet. The U.S. military has not turned against any portion of the citizens. Nobody has openly called for secession yet, at least to the point where it can credibly happen. Not just yet. Yet all these things are just beneath the surface. Any one of these things could happen, almost at any time, although — for perfectly understandable reasons — most of us prefer not yet to know it. Donald Trump came along in the midst of this...

President Trump declines to answer a final question from the press as he departs the White House Jan. 14, 2019 in Washington, DC. President Trump is digging in his heels on his demand for a border wall, telling aides and allies that he believes he is winning the battle for public support. Over the last 24 hours, Trump has privately touted a Washington Post-ABC News poll indicating that public support for a border wall has increased to 42% from 34% last year, a source familiar with his comments told CNN.

For two years, the GOP had many opportunities to fund Trump’s wall both in part or in whole and it declined on every occasion. On Friday, January 11, a dubious milestone was reached. We are now living through what has become the longest government shutdown in American history. This seemingly intractable stalemate has created the illusion of partisan consensus. Democrats seem united in opposition to President Donald Trump’s demand for a small amount of funding that would be used to construct portions of the president’s long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Republicans, meanwhile, are posturing as though they have always...

Asked by reporters about Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) suggestion that Trump sign a stopgap spending bill to buy more time for talks, Trump responded, “I did reject it.” “I’m not interested. I want to get it solved. I don’t want to just delay it. I want to get it solved,” he said.

[PHOTO] It seems to me that Democrats and their lap-dog media are liars. Democrats and their media no longer care about America and Americans. They seem to be all about destroying—killing—America. They are about ruining Trump. They promote “patriotic” illegals over and above real Americans. Everyone of us conservatives already knows this. What bothers me more, and what I’m writing about here, is a mystery of how and why the remainder of America views these lying elites. How can they be seen as near demigods, mythic, glorious in truth, justice, and the socialist way? DEMOCRAT MEDIA, 2019. A BUNCH OF...

In 2006, the Secure Fence Act, supported by Senators Obama, Clinton, and Schumer along with 23 other Democrats, was passed. Congress supported a border wall under Presidents Clinton and Bush. So the only answer as to why Democrats balk at supporting President Trump’s funding request is politics. The National Border Patrol Council, in an April survey, found that an overwhelming 89% of America’s frontline Border Patrol agents support building President Trump’s fence along the U.S./Mexico border.Those closest to the problem see a wall system in strategic locations as a necessary piece of the border security puzzle. Some facts stand out....

In February 1992, less than three months into his first stint as the federal government’s top lawyer, Attorney General William Barr told a gathering of more than 100 law enforcement officials in San Diego that under his leadership, the U.S. Department of Justice would finally solve the looming immigration crisis at the border. Barr’s proposed solution was, in its way, decades ahead of its time: the construction of a heavily armored steel fence along the U.S.-Mexico border immediately south of San Diego, complete with lighting, motion sensors, and the addition of hundreds of Border Patrol agents. So convinced was Barr...

Republicans and Democrats may be sniping at each other over the partial government shutdown, but it’s the Libertarian Party which is putting words to action. Libertarians have organized multiple national park cleanups over the last week to show maybe the government isn’t needed to provide services.

Since January 1, neither CNN nor MSNBC has booked a single “Angel Mom” — mothers of children brutally murdered by illegal aliens — as guests on their networks, per an analysis conducted by the Republican National Committee (RNC). The RNC told Breitbart News it has tracked both networks since the beginning of the year as they intensely bash President Donald Trump over the government shutdown that is now the longest ever in the history of the United States. Since the turn of the year to 2019 from 2018, neither network has conducted a single interview with any family members of...

Howard Buffett, Warren’s oldest son, has become a crusader at the border, using his organizations and wealth to boost security efforts of local authorities and volunteer groups, according to a recent report. While his interest in border security may seem odd, a closer look at the 64-year-old billionaire and philanthropist reveals he’s no stranger to the issue. Buffett owns a ranch in Cochise County, Arizona, that sits just 300 yards from the U.S.-Mexico border. In addition, a report by The Phoenix New Times indicated a close relationship between Buffett and law enforcement, with the former reportedly gifting $30 million to...