Free Republic

The headline atop a press release from the Michigan League for Public Policy is clear enough: “Michigan still lags significantly behind nation in per pupil funding.” But easily accessible data proves the headline wrong. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau figures, Michigan’s ranking among the 50 states (plus the District of Columbia) for per pupil spending is 23rd. There are 28 states that spend less per pupil than Michigan and, when adjusted for per capita income, Michigan ranks in the top ten for per pupil spending. Claiming that funding of K-12 education in Michigan is somehow singularly deficient has...

INDIANAPOLIS — Maintaining the state’s roads and bridges is work fraught with obstacles and hazards. It doesn’t daunt Ed Soliday, a retired pilot and safety expert who loves telling stories and spinning metaphors. “I’m evangelist, and may 1,000 angels sing when somebody comes to see the light,” said Soliday, Republican chairman of the House Roads and Transportation Committee, who aims to convince fellow lawmakers to set aside politics in search of sustainable road funding. Don’t queue the music just yet. Soliday’s ideas for raising cash for deteriorating roads and bridges include some politically unpalatable proposals, such as tax hikes and...

**SNIP** Then consider this: Lead paint exposure is a widespread national problem, concentrated most heavily in the nation's low-income communities. And government efforts to remove lead paint from public and privately owned housing remains woefully below levels that most child and environmental health experts think truly necessary to eliminate the issue. In fact, the nation's lead paint abatement programs are among those that experienced a budget cut due to sequestration and subsequent federal cost reduction efforts. And that happened even though some public health experts believe that concerted national efforts to reduce widespread lead exposure - such as removing lead...

(1) Ryan Omnibus Fully Funds DACA Presidents 2012 amnesty quietly continues to churn out work permits and federal benefits for hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens. Paul Ryan bill funds entirely this 2012 executive amnesty for “DREAMers”—or illegal immigrants who came to the country as minors .(2) Ryan Omnibus Funds Sanctuary Cities (3) Ryan Omnibus Funds All Refugee Programs (4) Ryan Omnibus Funds All of the Mideast Immigration Programs That Have Been Exploited by Terrorists in Recent Years (5) Ryan Omnibus Funds Illegal Alien Resettlement On page 917 of Ryan’s omnibus a section titled Refugee and Entrant Assistance funds the...

Full Title Exclusive — Jeff Sessions Exposes Ryan’s, McConnell’s Plans to Fund Syrian Refugees: ‘It’s Going To Be Jammed Through’ “The president on the refugee policy has unlimited powers,” Sessions told Hannity. All he has to do is tell Congress what he intends to do. So he’s now talking about not… 10,000 next year but 30,000—he could go to 50 or 100,000 if he chose—and Congress has put itself in a position to fund whatever level he decides. So I think it’s important, as Congressman [Brian] Babin has talked about, to take a stand on this and control this. We...

Go here for all the latest on the House side where blogger Richard Falknor is tracking it at Blue Ridge Forum. Here is the news yesterday at World Net Daily from reporter Leo Hohmann with a catchy title: 'New date that will live in infamy: December 11′ Despite all the tough talk by Speaker Paul Ryan and GOP leaders in Congress about Syrian refugees and the need for better screening, the true intent of those leaders will be laid bare on Dec. 11. That's the day that a catch-all "omnibus" budget bill is scheduled to be voted on in the...

The United Sates and Russia should carry out investigations into the origins of Islamic State funding, exposing the entities contributing to the extremist group's rise, Kremlin's Chief of Staff Sergei Ivanov said on Thursday. No state can function efficiently without taking part in counteracting corruption and preventing the funding of terror groups, Ivanov stated, adding that the issues would be discussed during the upcoming G20 summit in Turkey. "The USA-led initiative, with Russia's active involvement, of investigating ISIL funding sources should become the start, rather than a conclusion, of an appropriate effort to implicate certain states, individuals and companies engaged...

JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippi voters rejected any change to the state constitution to bolster public school funding, defeating Initiative 42 on Tuesday.

A federal judge has ordered Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal to restore state payments to Planned Parenthood, making Louisiana the second state blocked from defunding the group.U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled Thursday that Jindal couldn't cancel the state’s Medicaid contract with Planned Parenthood over allegations the group is facing related to its fetal tissue donation program, according to The Associated Press.Planned Parenthood clinics in Louisiana do not perform abortions and do not accept fetal tissue donations.DeGravelles, who was appointed by President Obama last year, had previously delivered a temporary ruling in favor of Planned Parenthood. Jindal, who is running for...

I posted this in another thread but I would like to know (besides the obvious reason of (R) cowardice) why this plan wouldn't work? 1.) The House passes a budget that defunds amnesty, defunds PP, defunds the Iran deal, defunds Obamacare. 2.) The Senate attempts to vote on it. 3.) The Democrats filibuster. 4.) The deadline passes. 5.) The government shuts down. 6.) The Republicans "change the rules of the Senate" so that budget bills cannot be filibustered after the government is shut down. 7.) The Senate passes the budget. 8.) Obama vetoes the budget. 9.) The Republicans take to...

in·fan·ti·cide noun 1. the crime of killing a child within a year of birth.   2. a person who kills an infant, especially their own child.     Many in our country would argue that life in the womb of an animal is much more valuable than that of a human.   Let’s begin with some statements from the heart of Planned Parenthood founder, Margaret Sanger.   "The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it." Margaret Sanger, Women and the New Race;(Eugenics Publ. Co., 1920, 1923)   On blacks, immigrants and...

A group of scientists who travel to the Nullarbor to collect meteorites have received thousands of dollars from the public after they were unable to secure a government grant for their research. Since 2007, when PhD student Alastair Tait and his team from Melbourne first began their 3,400-kilometre road trips to the desert, they claimed to have found more than 20 per cent of Australia's recorded meteorites. Their research findings have been published in international journals, including Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta and Meteoritics and Planetary Science.

It may have escaped the attention of Baltimoreans but things have gotten a little testy in the New York-New Jersey area in recent weeks over the state of century-old rail tunnels running under the Hudson River. The deteriorating condition of the tunnels is threatening Amtrak and other rail service, but how to pay for a $14 billion-plus replacement has proven a challenge. Unfortunately, that's not just a problem for New York City but for Baltimore and other stops along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, the nation's most heavily traveled railway handling more than 750,000 passengers a day. The stations in Baltimore and...

Three more states—Alabama, Louisiana, and New Hampshire—have cut off state funding to Planned Parenthood (PP) in the wake of recent videos released by the Center for Medical Progress that appear to show PP officials negotiating over the sale of aborted baby organs and tissue. The three are the latest states to defund the nation’s largest abortion provider. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker ended state funding of abortion-performing facilities, including Planned Parenthood, in 2011. According to LifeSiteNews, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, and Texas also prohibit state funds from going to any facility that performs abortions. …

Until the eve of his presidential campaign, Jeb Bush was director of a philanthropy that gave tens of millions of dollars to Planned Parenthood and financed its advocacy of "unrestricted access to abortion" around the world. The charity also approved money to global abortion providers while he sat on its board. In 2010, Jeb was named one of the founding directors of the Bloomberg Family Foundation, established as a tax-exempt foundation to advance the vision of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He resigned from the board at the end of 2014 to prepare his presidential campaign. While a...

I would encourage all Americans to watch the Planned Parenthood videos and face the stark reality of a practice we are funding In the year 402 A.D., a diminutive monk named “Telemachus,” then living in the hinterland of the Roman Empire, felt a call to leave his obscure monastery and visit the city of Rome. He didn’t know why, but he believed he was following God’s leading. Upon entering the city, Telemachus was pushed along by the crowds into the Colosseum where gladiatorial contests were being held to celebrate the recent victory over the Gauls. Telemachus had never witnessed a...

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Thursday that Congress will likely have to take up a stopgap funding bill in September to avoid a government shutdown. Lawmakers are expected to leave Washington next week for the month-long August recess and won't return until the Tuesday after Labor Day. That leaves a limited number of days for Congress to avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1. "It’s pretty clear, given the number of days we’re going to be here in September, that we’re going to have to do a [continuing resolution] of some sort. But no decision has been made about that....

Construction on the new Interstate 74 Bridge is supposed to be done by 2020, but money – and time – is running out. On Saturday, July 11th, 2015, Representative Cheri Bustos visited the Quad Cities to meet with local leaders about federal funding. Right now, Congress is trying to pass a highway bill to fix and fund our area’s infrastructure. However, if they don’t find a solution by July 31st, 2015, federal funding for those projects – like the I-74 Bridge – will end. Monday, July 13th, 2015, a spokesman for Bustos said that if federal funding for the project...

Parents of private school students don’t want to put their children in public school for 100 days to be eligible for Nevada’s new voucher program. That was the general consensus of four hours of public comment at a Friday hearing on the new law. Parents urged lawmakers to figure out another way to determine eligibility for the program, which currently requires students be enrolled at a public school for 100 days before their parents can receive money. SB302, passed by legislators this year, says families can receive around $5,000 each year per student to use on things like private school...

“In Texas, we have a long history of welcoming immigrants from all over the world, immigrants who have helped make our economy the strongest in the country,” former Texas governor and presidential candidate Rick Perry said today. “It’s not fair that some people try to jump the immigration line by coming across our border illegally. One of the core responsibilities of the federal government is to secure the border. As the recent tragedy in San Francisco has shown us, it’s important for the federal government and local governments to be able to cooperate to apprehend illegal immigrants with criminal histories....