Free Republic

The Clinton Foundation has until November 16 to amend more than ten years’ worth of state, federal and foreign filings, but it’s going to be virtually impossible to do so without acknowledging that it has engaged in massive accounting fraud since its inception The Clinton Foundation has gotten a good deal of unflattering attention as of late, which isn’t surprising given that its best known namesakes are Bill, a former president and chronic philanderer, and Hillary, who hopes to be the nation’s next leader. Furthermore, the foundation portrays itself as do-gooder nonprofit organization but a cursory look reveals questionable and...

When we presented America's new debt ceiling of $19.6 trillion lasting through March 2017 last week...  ... some took offense saying a debt ceiling deal is nowhere near done, and that the conservatives would at least put up a token fight. A few days later, the deal is virtually complete, the Freedom Caucus has been isolated, Paul Ryan never even got his hands dirty, and Boehner has caved one last time corporate/democratic prerogatives, precisely as we said would happen. Yes, the republicans will pretend to demand concessions, such as a balanced budet and other "sound money" conditions but they...

One of the best-selling items right now at the High Bridge Arms gun shop in San Francisco is not a firearm or ammunition, says general manager Steven Alcairo. It's souvenir T-shirts that say "San Francisco's Last Gun Store." Alcairo says people around the country are buying them to support the shop, which is closing at the end of the month. "They're blowing out of here. We've been boxing them and sending them off to different states," he says. High Bridge Arms has been open for 63 years, and it has sentimental value for customers like Steven Walker. "My wife, she...

Back in July we covered the controversial (to say the least) move by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to take a page from Barack Obama’s playbook and bypass the state legislature through executive action, raising the minimum wage for fast food chain workers to $15 per hour. This was seen in the more progressive sectors of the activist community as a role model for other states to emulate as long as Congress wouldn’t make such a move on a national level. Protests regarding the fundamental unfairness of this plan, combined with the highly dubious legal nature of the scheme...

The price of the benchmark ObamaCare plan will jump by 7.5 percent on average next year, according to data released Monday. The premium increase is far more than last year’s 2 percent jump among benchmark silver plans. Those plans, the second-lowest cost option among silver plans, are important because they determine healthcare subsidies for people living in that area, even if they pick a different tiered plan. ... The increase for next year does not take into account the billions of dollars in government subsidies that are given to people on the exchanges. It also doesn’t include the dozen state...

California's high-speed rail project will never make its current 2022 arrival time, according to the Los Angeles Times. Doesn't this strike anyone in charge of this costly boondoggle as ironic? The Los Angeles Times does a commendable job of providing a reality check to the increasingly out-of-touch project. After reviewing project documents and talking to various experts, the paper concluded, "The deadline and budget targets will almost certainly be missed," and state officials have "underestimated the challenges ahead." Officials still haven't settled on a route, they're behind schedule in acquiring land, getting permits and financing, and the project faces several...

DHS Incentivizes Employers to Hire Alien College Grads Over Native Grads Obama administration has proposed new rule to expand program The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is expanding a program that awards businesses bonuses when they hire alien college graduates over native-born graduates, according to an analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies. The optional practical training program (OPT) awards alien college graduates a work permit to stay in the United States for 12 months. If these graduates have majored in science, technology, engineering, or math, also known as STEM fields, the graduates get an additional 17 months of work....

Must Listen.. With control of the House and Senate did Majority Leader Mitch McConnell or House Speaker John Boehner use the same level of severity expressed by Harry Reid to put a repeal bill on the desk of Obama for veto? Simply, NO. Why not? If for nothing but to accept and follow the will of the people. Despite the probability of an Obama veto, this was not a matter of option. While the method might have been “symbolic”, due to the almost guaranteed veto, it would have stood as a promise fulfilled. We are not blind to the maneuverings...

Fifty-one percent of working Americans make less than $30,000 a year, new data from the Social Security Administration (SSA) shows. That’s $2,500 a month before taxes and just over the federal poverty level for a family of five. The new numbers come from the National Wage Index, which SSA updates each year based on the National Wage Index, which SSA updates each year based on reported wages subject to the federal income tax. In 2014, half of working Americans reported an income at or below $28,851 (the median wage), and 51 percent reported an income of less than $30,000. Forty...

Was the dismal September jobs report the nail in the coffin for a 2015 interest-rate rise? Markets are acting as if it were, even as some economists think Federal Reserve officials see things differently. Monthly job gains, which had averaged over 200,000 for most of the year, plunged to 142,000 in September and a downwardly revised 136,000 in August. Private hiring was the weakest in three years. The workweek and labor-force participation rates also declined even further. Meanwhile, other data showed U.S. manufacturing and retail sales nearly stalled last month... *** There's Always Next Season An hour after the jobs...

The conventional wisdom among Donald Trump’s detractors is that his current surge in the polls won’t last because as we get closer to actual voting, Republicans excited by his political incorrectness will start factoring in “electability.” When GOP voters realize that he can’t beat Hillary Clinton, the theory goes, they will switch their support to other more electable candidates. One problem with that theory: Right now, GOP voters believe Trump is the most electable candidate. A new Post/ABC News poll asked GOP-leaning voters which candidate “has the best chance of getting elected president in November 2016?” The winner was Trump...

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-10-27/why-donald-trump-could-win-the-republican-nomination

The legal barrage to halt the Environmental Protection Agency’s radical Clean Power Plan has begun. A broad coalition of U.S. industry and business, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and an armada of other business and industry organizations, has asked the D.C. District of the federal Court of Appeals to prevent any further action on the Plan until the court can decide its overall legal status. The coalition filed a motion at their first opportunity on Friday to stay EPA’s long-awaited final rule governing the plan, immediately after the agency published the rule in the...

Congressional leaders have reached a breakthrough tentative budget deal with the White House that would set government funding levels for the next two years and extend the nation's debt limit through 2017, avoiding routine talks of a government shutdown. The 144-page bipartisan funding bill, labeled a 'discussion draft,' was posted online just before midnight setting up a potential vote in the House as early as Wednesday. If approved, the agreement would be a milestone after years of gridlock and annual threats of government shutdowns......

The DOJ has filed its response to Apple's claims that unlocking an iPhone 5 would be unduly burdensome. This ongoing dispute over an All Writs Act order (the act itself dates back to 1789) is also an ongoing dispute over the use of encryption-by-default on Apple phones running iOS 8 or higher. The argument started with one of the founding members of the "Magistrates' Revolt" -- Judge James Orenstein -- who, back in 2005, challenged another All Writs order by the DOJ. A decade ago, Orenstein pointed out that the government's use of these particular orders circumvented both the judicial...

Many of the findings in this report contradict trends that appear in publicly reported data. For instance, publicly reported statistics indicate that CPS has made tremendous progress in elementary math and reading tests, while this analysis demonstrates only incremental gains in math and almost no growth in reading. The discrepancies are due to myriad issues with publicly reported data—including changes in test content and scoring—that make year-over-year comparisons nearly impossible without complex statistical analyses, such as those undertaken for this report. This leads to another key message in this report: • The publicly reported statistics used to hold schools and...

Supporters of the expired Export-Import Bank succeeded early Monday evening in using a rare parliamentary maneuver to force the agency's proposed resurrection onto the House floor, over the opposition of conservative Republicans. The 246-177 vote on the petition to bring the legislation to the floor, with dozens of House Republicans joining Democrats, sets up a series of further actions later tonight that are expected to lead to a final House vote to reauthorize Ex-Im late Monday or Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. borrowing authority would be extended until March 2017, beyond the Obama administration, under a deal being negotiated by congressional leaders and the White House, according to a U.S. House of Representatives source. As part of a parallel measure to fund government programs through Sept. 30, 2017, negotiators also aim to stop an increase in Medicare Part B premiums that is otherwise due to start soon.

The determination, published by a panel of researchers for the International Agency for Research on Cancer in a medical journal Monday, classifies processed meat products like salami and bacon carcinogenic to humans, the strongest level of risk for cancer, and a category shared with tobacco smoke and diesel engine exhaust.

A frightening showing at the box office this weekend featured five disappointments—including two of the biggest flops in history. “ Steve Jobs,” “The Last Witch Hunter,” “Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension,” “Rock the Kasbah” and “Jem and the Holograms” all fell short, with only “Witch Hunter” cracking $10 million. “Kasbah” and “Jem” now rank among the worst openings of all time, and “Paranormal” missed expectations after weeks of anticipation over its divisive distribution strategy. Instead, holdovers “The Martian” and “Goosebumps” came in first and second place, respectively. “The Martian” grossed an estimated $15.9 million in the U.S. and Canada, bringing...