Free Republic

Part of a 1950's series explaining what Marxism-Leninism would mean if implemented in the United States.

As President Trump prepares to sell his tax plan to the nation's manufacturing lobby on Friday, his best-laid tax plans have already drawn objections from some fellow Republicans who are fuming over the decision to end deductions for state and local income taxes. The situation will pit the White House against members of Congress from states that pile high income taxes on top of what the federal government takes from paychecks. High-income Californians, for instance, pay as much as 13.3 per cent of their income to the state in addition to their federal taxes. New Yorkers can pay up to...

Republican Sens. John McCain and Mike Lee introduced legislation Thursday to permanently exempt Puerto Rico from the Jones Act shipping law. The senators say the Trump administration's decision Thursday to grant a 10-day waiver of the Jones Act for Puerto Rico does not go far enough to help rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Maria and encourage long-term economic growth on the bankrupt island. "While I welcome the Trump administration's Jones Act waiver for Puerto Rico, this short-term, 10-day exemption is insufficient to help the people of Puerto Rico recover and rebuild from Hurricane Maria," said McCain, R-Ariz. "Our legislation would permanently...

Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) on Wednesday harshly criticized Donald Trump, writing a letter to express his “utter disgust” with how the president has handled race relations in the United States. In an acerbic letter to Trump, Richmond—who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)—slammed the president’s attack on NFL players, his “use of profane, sexually derogatory language in addressing American citizens” and his employment of “racist dog whistles” in everyday speech. “I write today to express my utter disgust with your handling of race relations in America in general and, more specifically, your calculated, divisive response to nationwide demonstrations against police...

President Trump is preparing an executive order to allow people to purchase health insurance across state lines, a reform conservatives have long championed as a way to bring costs down and stir greater competition in the national marketplace. The executive action gives the White House a chance to follow through on at least one promise related to healthcare reform after Senate Republicans' second attempt to overhaul Obamacare failed this week. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul "I think there's going to be big news from the White House in the next week or two, something they can do on their own," Paul...

Full title: "Graham-Cassidy is dead. Stop treating Obamacare like the enemy and help get Americans health coverage" We may never know how many Republicans in the U.S. Senate would have voted against the latest ill-conceived and disruptive proposal to ”repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act. But we know the three whose public opposition kept the measure from reaching the Senate floor this week — Susan Collins of Maine, John McCain of Arizona and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Although they disagree sharply over what to do about the ACA, they all deserve the country’s thanks for stopping lawmakers from heedlessly...

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) kneeled on the House floor Monday night to show solidarity with NFL players defying President Trump to protest police brutality. Jackson Lee, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, blasted Trump for attacking NFL players who kneel during the national anthem at games to draw attention to the treatment of African Americans by law enforcement. Then she took a knee herself. "I kneel in honor of them. I kneel in front of the flag and on this floor," Jackson Lee declared. "I kneel in honor of the First Amendment. I kneel because the flag is...

I guess now we’re not supposed to be fighting culture wars anymore – man, it’s so hard to keep up with these ever-changing new rules! I’m old enough to remember way back to 2016, before Trump got nominated, and I could have sworn Conservative Inc., was gung-ho for the whole culture war thing. But then Trump actually fought it, taking on the big, soft target that is the spoiled, semi-literate athletes who like to rub their contempt for the flag we love in our faces in the guise of woke wokedness. Now we suddenly discover that fighting back is horribly...

The Humane Rescue Alliance visited Capitol Hill offices to snap pictures of senators and representatives with their pets. See photos. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) sits with her dog, Kirby. She has had 7-year-old Kirby for almost six years. The pup travels with the senator throughout her home state of California. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and his chief of staff, Amy Porter, with her pup, Archie in his House office. Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) with his 9-year-old Dachshund Cali. SheÂ’s named after her home state and is friends with the other dogs on that come into the nearby offices, including Archie...

In March of 2012, Senator Jeff Sessions had a shocking exchange with Leon Panetta, Obama’s CIA Director. In the exchange caught on video, you can see General Kelly, the current White House Chief of Staff, sitting smugly behind Panetta. I find it very revealing that Kelly is present at this controversial time during the Obama administration, and now he is guarding President Donald Trump as White House Chief of Staff. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s declaration before the Senate Armed Services Committee that the President should not consult the Congress but look to the globalist power of NATO and the...

Being from West Virginia, Rep. Manchin has had to push back against the coastal Democratic machine from time to time, but this round, the Dems may have gone too far and might be losing one of their Representatives to the Republican side. We’ve already seen that the Governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice, was willing to switch to the Republican side of the aisle, making his announcement at a Trump rally. Now, it’s looking like Rep. Joe Manchin might do the same. Democrats have already lost the state, both in terms of their wide support for Trump and the loss...

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley announced Wednesday plans to subpoena two senior FBI officials to question them about former FBI Director James Comey, opening the door for even more incriminating information to be uncovered about him. “We’ve got subpoenas at the Senate counsel office,” Grassley told CNN Wednesday, referencing the office responsible for drafting subpoenas. “When we get done there, I’m gonna have to consult with Sen. Feinstein.” The top ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Diane Feinstein, has been working with Grassley to investigate President Donald Trump’s purported connections to Russia, as well as his termination...

"Here you have a president who I can tell you and guarantee you is in collusion with the Russians to undermine our democracy. Here you have a president that has obstructed justice. And here you have a president that lies every day," Waters said. The ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee also said she plans to grill Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson when he comes before her committee in the coming weeks. . . "Look at Ben Carson. My God. My grandmother would call him an educated fool," Waters said.

Congress is finally tackling the tax code, which is good news because reform is badly needed. Our outdated code is complicated by thousands of credits, deductions, and exemptions to individual and corporate interests -- and it imposes high rates that inhibit economic growth. However, as we've seen with the failed efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, getting a consensus among Republican members is easier said than done. It should boil down to three priorities. First, though overhauling the whole tax code would be great, if the goal is economic growth, reforming the corporate side is the most pressing priority. Everyone...

Justin Amash has something of a record of voting for illegal aliens and against the Republican base. But this is about MS 13 and other gangs. Is he really that blind, tone deaf, and stupid?

On Friday, September 15, the Associated Press reported on a fascinating new wrinkle in the centuries-old face of unconstitutional federal activity, and the details might surprise many who are concerned about the sticky issue of “immigration”. According to the report, Federal District Judge Harry Leinenweber just ruled that Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Justice Department cannot withhold federal “public safety” grants to so-called “Sanctuary Cities” if the politicians in those cities did not conform to federal immigration policies. This, in effect, temporarily removes a powerful tool in the Trump Administration’s work shed as the President attempts to wrangle with...

Stick a fork in the Democrats and Republicans. Wednesday night's latest round of deal making between President Donald Trump and Democratic congressional leaders is the latest evidence that the major political parties have lost all semblance of real power. Never before have we seen the leadership of both major political parties so humbled. That power vacuum is currently enabling the president to act without any loyalty to his own party, while working with whomever he pleases on whatever issues he wants. It's why we have a Republican congressional leadership, headlined by a Senate Majority Leader with an 18 percent approval...

Video and photo evidence has surfaced that could prove Imran Awan maintained a chain of computer servers in the basement and locked garage area of an Alexandria, VA home he and wife Hina Alvi rented to a tenant. The embattled Awan couple did not reside at the home, however, did maintain separate internet service and a router which fed into a locked internal storage area connected to the home, according to an interview with former tenant Laurel Everly who rented the home for nine months from the Awans in 2014 and 2015. Everly has now provided photos and videos of...

Tom MacArthur’s town-hall meeting should have been uneventful. It was May and MacArthur, a Republican congressman, had come home to New Jersey to talk to constituents, having won re-election with a hefty majority less than a year earlier. Normally, at such an event, he might have expected to field a couple of dozen idiosyncratic questions, trot out some polite replies, wrap up after an hour or so, and go home for an easy night’s sleep. But it didn’t quite pan out like that. Six days earlier, the House of Representatives had voted to pass the American Health Care Act, which...

House Speaker Paul Ryan said during a Friday interview Democrats will “have to stomach” the fact that President Donald Trump will advance immigration reform. Ryan spoke with WISN’s Vicki McKenna at length about immigration and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. “They’ll have to stomach the fact that yes, this president will be successful in doing something that hasn’t been done for years, which is advancing some immigration reform, advancing security, advancing enforcement, and advancing a law that fixes the DACA problem so these kids don’t get kicked out,” Ryan said. “That would be a victory for this...