Free Republic

Joe Lieberman has long been many Republicans favorite Democrat. Not because he’s particularly conservative but because he’s an honest, well-meaning politician… and there aren’t many of those around anymore. Lieberman is in the news again now because he’s penned an op-ed criticizing his party’s shift to the left. Lieberman argues that if Democratic-Socialists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez truly are the future of the Democrat Party, then the Democrat Party doesn’t have a very bright future ahead. Really the point was, what is the Democratic party going to be? I am still a Democrat and when I see somebody that really says...

The Constitution Does not Mandate Deduction of State Taxes. Four high-tax blue states — New York, Connecticut, Maryland, and New Jersey — have filed suit against the federal government over the recent tax reform. Specifically, they object to its limitation on the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT). Under federal tax law, filers are allowed to deduct property taxes (the local part) and either state income or sales taxes. But under the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA), the SALT deduction is now capped at $10,000. This deduction had been particularly valuable in high-tax, high-house-price states such as California...

The lawsuit from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland amounted to their latest bid to fight the limit on state and local tax (SALT) deductions imposed by the GOP-authored tax plan. "The federal government is hell-bent on using New York as a piggy bank to pay for corporate tax cuts and I will not stand for it," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running for re-election and is considered a possible 2020 presidential candidate, said in a statement. The tax law signed last year caps those SALT tax deductions at $10,000. The deduction is especially popular in high-tax,...

Note Trumps' words at the 4 second mark!!!! Am I hearing wrong??

How did Americans develop their love affair with driving? Visit the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington and the transportation exhibit “America on the Move” will sell you on the commonly held theory that when Henry Ford made cars affordable, Americans loved them and demanded more and more highways. Of course, that exhibit is sponsored by General Motors, which donated millions to put its name on the collection. But University of Virginia history professor Peter Norton, author of “Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in American cities” contends that’s a myth. Just as outgoing President Dwight...

A Connecticut man who was assaulted by three juveniles while at work has been sentenced to prison for stabbing one of the attackers. The Connecticut Post reports 21-year-old Jeffrey Sumpter of Bridgeport received 18 months in jail Monday at a Stamford courthouse. The paper reported that Sumpter — who was convicted of felony first-degree assault — also will have to spend three years following his release on probation. If he breaks the law during that time, Sumpter could be made to serve all or part of a 42-month prison sentence. Sumpter was working at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Norwalk...

full title - Rod Rosenstein’s Right-Hand-Man Who Oversees Mueller Probe Abruptly Resigning from Justice Department The Justice Department’s senior-most career attorney, Associate Deputy Attorney General Scott Schools, is planning to step down for a job in the private sector, according to a source familiar with the matter. Schools works under Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and has had a significant role helping manage special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. NPR previously reported his departure. As the highest-ranking career official, Schools has served as a key adviser on many sensitive matters within the department, including the firing of former FBI Deputy...

NY Judge: Trump Admin Acted In 'Bad Faith' By Adding Citizenship QuestionCiting “bad faith,” a federal judge has ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to disclose additional information regarding its decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Judge Jesse Furman of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York announced on Tuesday that lawyers representing the government must produce a log of documents that were being withheld, as well as provide an explanation for why the administration did so. Furman further demanded that the government include documents from the Commerce and Justice Departments...

Ala Ochumare stood at the center of a candle-lit circle and read a two-page list of New Haveners who have been killed in the city since 2010. That was part of the opening of a Wednesday evening vigil near the corner of Henry Street and Dixwell Avenue, close to where Trayvon Foster was murdered last Saturday. Ochumare organized the event through Black Lives Matter New Haven to mourn and provide a “healing space” for those who have been affected by the loss of New Haven’s own. “Black and brown lives matter. It’s unfortunate we have to say that,” Ochumare noted....

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, suggested that President Trump's pick to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court should recuse themselves from any potential court decisions that relate to the special prosecutor's ongoing investigation into the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia. "The president should not be permitted to appoint a justice who will decide whether or not he complies with a subpoena to testify before a grand jury or pardons himself," Blumenthal said on "Face the Nation" Sunday. "I believe that whoever is appointed ought to recuse himself and commit to recusing himself from those kinds of decisions that affect...

It is often said that Washington, DC is filled with a bunch of nerds dominated by psychopaths. Others say that politics is simply Hollywood for ugly people. These are usually said in a joking manner and often uttered after coming back from a young professional happy hour here in the swamp. Perhaps the most soulless congregation of folks ever assembled can be found at those kind of events. A report conducted by Ryan Murphy at Southern Methodist University found that Connecticut contained the most psychopaths per capita followed quickly by California. New Jersey and New York followed next. But our...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take steps to curb ozone pollution that blows into New York and Connecticut from five other states. The decision by U.S. District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan is a victory for New York’s and Connecticut’s attorneys general, Barbara Underwood and George Jepsen. Their offices sued EPA administrator Scott Pruitt in January, accusing him of ignoring his responsibilities under the federal Clean Air Act to reduce pollution.

With a U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Janus v. AFCSME case expected any day, Connecticut’s public sector unions are trying to convince members not to opt-out of membership if the Supreme Court decides in favor of Mark Janus. The Connecticut State Employees Association and the American Federation of Teachers informed their members of a Freedom of Information request for union members’ contact information that originated out of Illinois. Leaders say this information could be used for an opt-out campaign in the wake of a positive Janus decision. ... A decision in favor of Janus would essentially make Connecticut a...

On Monday, when Connecticut had its State Open track and field championships at Willow Brook Park, one person broke the State Open records for girls in both the 100 and 200-meter runs. That person was a biological boy. Terry Miller of Bulkeley, a transgender, won the events. In the 100 meter dash, the runner-up was Andraya Yearwood of Cromwell, also a transgender. Here are the two races: Yearwood won the Class M sprint titles last year; Miller competed on the boys’ team during the winter indoor season then joined the girls’ competition. Feel free to fly into a fit because...

The success of transgender female athletes participating in high school track and field events has parents, athletes and coaches in some communities calling for a change in the current rules, as they question a possible competitive advantage. The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which governs high school sports in the state, allows athletes to compete in the gender specific sport in which they identify. Continued success by transgender athletes has prompted two petitions — one started in Glastonbury and another in Plainville — from critics who say transgender athletes have an advantage. Together, the petitions have about 150 signatures, though neither...

Connecticut manufacturers, looking to fill thousands of jobs, are reaching beyond community colleges and vocational schools to persuade high school students to embrace careers in 21st-century factories. It’s not an easy task as educators and manufacturers battle stereotypes of old, dirty factories. “The struggle has been getting the kids to see it,” said Mark Ruede, assistant principal at Manchester High School. “We definitely have some perception work to do in town.” Manchester High School students have visited Pratt & Whitney in Middletown where the United Technologies Corp. subsidiary manufactures jet engines, he said. What began as a trip to teach...

What do you call the top two finishers in the girls’ 100-meter dash at Connecticut’s recent State Open track and field championships? First and second place? If you’re not the mainstream media, you may call them “boys.” In fact, one of them set the “girls’” State Open record in both the 100 and 200-meter runs. Welcome to our (not so) Brave New World. Bulkeley High School’s Terry Miller, a boy claiming girlhood (BCG), won the events. In the 100-meter dash, the runner-up was Andraya Yearwood of Cromwell, also a BCG. This now is nothing new. For example, “Laurel Hubbard —...

@VictoriaPeckham Two male-bodied trans gender runners came first and second. What do you say to the girls who train so hard but can never win? Yet can’t even say: this is not fair.

There are those who believe he should never have been allowed to be born. He came into this world prematurely with severe spina bifida, Chiari II malformation, hydrocephalus, autonomic dysreflexia, central sleep apnea, dysphagia, hypotonia and paralyzed vocal cords. He would develop chronic lung disease, anemia, kyphosis, knee contractures, osteopenia and so much more. In layman's terms, he was paralyzed, except for partial movement of his arms. He couldn't speak because his vocal cords were paralyzed, nor could he eat or even breathe on his own. His own family can't remember how many times the ambulance raced him to the...

Aerospace and technology giant United Technologies Corp. said Wednesday it plans to hire 35,000 people -- including thousands in Connecticut -- and spend more than $15 billion on capital improvements and research and development over the next five years. UTC also announced plans to spend an additional $75 billion through local procurement of products and services, money that could include components from Springfield-area precision manufacturers....