Free Republic

A federal appellate court questioned Tuesday whether the structure of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) violates the constitutional separation of powers. That question has been on the minds of constitutional scholars and administrative lawyers ever since the Dodd-Frank Act brought forth this Frankenstein agency, which wields all the power and jurisdiction once exercised by seven separate agencies over great swaths of the economy, all without any meaningful oversight by the political branches. What federal agency would have the gall to answer Congress’ legitimate questions about its extravagant spending with the retort, “Why does that matter to you?” That was...

Utah's four House Republicans introduced a bill Wednesday that would strip the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service of their power to police federal lands, and give that power over to local cops. Rep. Jason Chaffetz and his three GOP colleagues from Utah introduced the Local Enforcement for Local Lands Act. The lawmakers say the growth of police authorities in both agencies has distracted them from their main mission of managing federal land, and has created conflicts with local authorities. They also say federal agents are not as trusted as local police, and should be removed. "Federal agencies...

While Detroit Public Schools and 15 of its schools now under a form of state receivership accounted for 3.5 percent of the state’s student population in 2014-15, they claimed 26 percent of the federal money sent to Michigan schools in the largest grant program for children in poverty. Most federal money to schools is targeted at helping meet the needs of children from low-income backgrounds. And sometimes lost in the ongoing debate over school funding is how much poor communities benefit from federal money compared with wealthier ones. Rick Joseph, the Michigan Teacher of the Year, wrote a column this...

With billions in taxpayer dollars at stake, the Obama administration has taken a "passive" approach to identifying potential fraud involving the president's health care law, nonpartisan congressional investigators say in a report due out Wednesday. While the Government Accountability Office stops short of alleging widespread cheating in President Barack Obama's signature program, investigators found that the administration has struggled to resolve eligibility questions affecting millions of initial applications and hundreds of thousands of consumers who were actually approved for benefits. The agency administering the health law - the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services - "has assumed a passive approach...

The execution of Robert Finicum by some government thugs needs to be investigated immediately by third parties. The family of this murdered man needs legal counsel to get take control of this situation, have the body autopsied and witnesses interviewed now before the government has a chance to cover up what happened.

You don't have to be a supporter of Warren Jeffs to object to the Federal Government prosecuting "The Creek" - Colorado City and Hildale, for denying basic municipal services to non-believers of the Fundamentalist LDS. Their personal crimes will be punished eventually. Why don't the feds go after the criminal governments of Flint and Chicago?

The National Transportation Safety Board wants to decrease the legal driving limit to one drink, lowering the legal limit on blood-alcohol content to 0.05 “or even lower.” The agency released its “most wanted list” on Wednesday, a laundry list of policies it would like implemented nationally. The list includes recommendations to reduce the current 0.08 blood alcohol content limit and outlaw all cell phone use while driving, even hands-free technology. “When it comes to alcohol use, we know that impairment begins before a person’s BAC reaches 0.08 percent, the current legal limit in the United States,” the agency said. “In...

<p>As the U.S. engages in a national debate over the militarization of the police, federal data shows that government agencies charged with largely administrative roles are spending tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to purchase SWAT and military-style equipment.</p> <p>Since FY 2006, 44 traditionally administrative agencies have spent over $71 million on items like body armor, riot helmets and shields, cannon launchers and police firearms and ammunition, according to federal spending data from watchdog group OpenTheBooks.com.</p>

Don’t confuse this as a defense of the Bundy family or their team of armed militia members who have occupied an abandoned building located on a federal wildlife preserve in Oregon. Any rational-thinking American should be horrified at the amount of land the federal government has confiscated, especially in the American West, but once you use or threaten violence to further a cause, you have lost me. Their cause is just. Their methods are appalling and un-American. Also un-American is Jonathan Chait of New York Magazine openly hoping these militia men end up dead.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is spending over $100,000 studying disgust, hypothesizing that all bullying behavior begins with feelings of revulsion.Researchers at Columbia University want to see if they can “successfully regulate” disgust emotions in teens in order to stop bullying.“Whether it’s being the victim, being the perpetrator, or having to watch this upsetting cycle of peer rejection and victimization, few adolescents are unaffected by bullying’s harmful impact,” a grant for the project states. “This effect can last long past adolescence, as both being the bully and being the victim are linked to the development of both short- and...

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has spent over $1.1 million studying the “freshman 15,” trying to determine whether friends influence their college peers to eat more.Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) highlighted the project as an example of wasteful spending, calling out the agency for studying a myth invented by Seventeen magazine.“The ‘freshman 15’ is an old legend around college campuses; the idea that new college students, away from home and confronted with a campus food service smorgasbord tend to put on a few extra pounds,” Paul’s latest edition of “The Waste Report” reads. “Well the National Institutes for Health...

Myles UdlandSeptember 18,2015 Good morning! It's the morning after the Fed's big meeting where they decided to keep interest rates pegged near 0%, and after a wild swing on Thursday that saw stocks ultimately end the day lower, futures on Friday morning were pointing to a lower open to close the week. Near 7:00 am ET on Friday, Dow futures were off about 175 points, S&P 500 futures were off 20, and Nasdaq futures were down 45. Each of these declines were about 1%. FinViz And while stocks were sliding, bonds were rallying as the yield on 2-year note, which...

The Department of Justice has accused a business of discrimination due to the company requiring employees to show proof of citizenship for employment. The DOJ claims that Nebraska Beef Ltd., a Nebraska-based meat packing company, “required non-U.S. citizens, but not similarly-situated U.S. citizens, to present specific documentary proof of their immigration status to verify their employment eligibility.” After receiving pressure from the government, Nebraska Beef agreed to pay $200,000 in a civil penalty settlement and said they will establish an uncapped back pay fund for people who lost wages because they could not prove they are in the country legally....

Sam RoAugust 30,2015US futures are trading in the red, signaling more volatility for the US stock markets when they open on Monday Dow futures are down 177 points, S&P futures are down 22 points, and Nasdaq futures are down 46 points. This follows what's being interpreted as hawkish comments from Stanley Fischer, Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve. "Given the apparent stability of inflation expectations, there is good reason to believe that inflation will move higher as the forces holding down inflation dissipate further," Fischer said on Saturday during a panel at the Kansas City Fed's Economic Symposium in Jackson...

Myles Udland August 24, 2015Larry Summers, who was very nearly chairman of the Federal Reserve, thinks there is almost no reason for the Fed to raise rates right now. Writing in The Financial Times on Monday, Summers argues that the Fed will be risking setting off a financial crisis by electing to raise rates at some point this year, as it has made clear it plans to do. Here's the heart of Summers' impassioned case against the Fed doing anything: There may have been a financial stability case for raising rates six or nine months ago, as low interest rates...

The Environmental Protection Agency isn’t responding to claims by Todd Hennis, owner of the Gold King mine in Colorado that the agency coerced him to grant access to his property. Once taking over, of course, EPA’s incompetent attempts to remove debris created a massive 3 million gallon toxic waste spill from the mine. Hennis told the CBS Denver affiliate that unless he allowed the EPA to have access and authority to conduct operations on the site the agency had threatened him with daily fines of $35,000. “When you’re a small guy and you’re having a $35,000-a-day fine accrue against you,...

Following the recent spike in violent crime, Baltimore's Interim Police Commissioner Kevin Davis announced at a press conference Sunday morning the establishment of BFED, where federal agents from FBI, ATF, DEA and other agencies will be embedded in the Baltimore homicide unit. (Colin Campbell/Baltimore Sun video

Goosed into action by an angry federal judge, federal immigration authorities will go door-to-door demanding illegal immigrants return the three-year amnesty approvals the Obama administration issued to them in defiance of a court order. Those who don’t return their three-year permits will have them terminated at the end of this month, the National Immigrant Justice Center, one of the advocacy groups briefed on authorities’ plan, said in a statement preparing immigrants for what could be a traumatic encounter. The move comes as Homeland Security officials, fed up with slow-walking by illegal immigrants, are finally playing hardball after months of less...

A resolution in the Michigan Senate sounds the alarm that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could soon be meddling with how outdoor barbecue-loving Americans prepare their food. Senate Concurrent Resolution 14 expresses opposition to EPA efforts to acquire a study that could lead to regulations on outdoor grills and barbecues. The EPA has commissioned a study intended, "To perform research and develop preventative technology that will reduce fine particulate emissions (PM2.5) from residential barbecues. This technology is intended to reduce air pollution as well as health hazards in Southern California, with potential for global application." Sen. Phil Pavlov, R-St. Clair,...

James Triplett had his customers lined up around the corner in broad daylight, the feds say. Not for concert tickets. Not for iPhones. For heroin. Now 42 people are facing state or federal drug charges for their alleged roles in supplying and distributing heroin around West Grenshaw and Independence in the North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side. Among them is the 33-year-old Triplett, also known as “Trell,” who authorities said controlled the drug market in the area. Investigators even included a photo in a federal criminal complaint spanning more than 200 pages. They said the photo depicts a line...