Free Republic

The stated mission of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute is to teach the general public about how the U.S. Senate works, so it’s fitting that the shrine to the late Massachusetts Democrat is funded, in part, by $38 million in taxpayers’ money. The $78 million combination museum and interactive civics exhibit was formally dedicated by President Obama on Monday. Besides a section honoring Kennedy’s 46-year political career, which ended with his Aug. 25, 2009 death, the Institute will offer a “Senate Immersion Module” which aims to teach visitors how the upper chamber works. (snip) On top of an $18.9 million...

Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney told the State Journal on Monday he had never discussed marijuana legalization with Gov. Scott Walker, but in a radio interview last year he discussed such a conversation. Mahoney initially disputed a story Gov. Scott Walker told last week in response to a question about marijuana legalization at a luncheon in Phoenix emceed by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. Mahoney later acknowledged the conversation after listening to a recording of the radio interview, but emphasized that it was "in passing" and that he has no recollection of it. At the Phoenix event Walker said he...

An anti-cop group wants to take its beef with law enforcement to a new level: disarm the New York City Police Department.

It's a good day," President Barack Obama said, as he hugged Jani Bergdahl, mother of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, upon his announcement last May that Bergdahl had just been released from five years of Taliban captivity.

The inspector general of the VA is looking into why Diana Rubens received $288,000 in relocation reimbursement for a 140 mile move. The average relocation check over the past three years is just a tad over $12,000. Relocation pay is supposed to help cover the costs of moving including househunting, moving, terminated leases and temporary housing. Housing doesn’t seem to be the problem as Rubens sold her house in Alexandria last July for $770,000 to Stone Financing, who sold the property for a loss of over $80,000. Hmmm. She then bought a house in Pennsylvania for $589,000. Her relocation check...

In the wake of the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the media have been stacking myth upon myth in order to drive the narrative that right-wingers desperately want to harm gays and lesbians.

Gay activists and their leftist allies told us decades ago that same-sex marriage wasn’t on the agenda. All homosexuals wanted was the benefits of marriage, but not the title. That, of course, was a lie.

The debate over Senator Ted Cruz's eligibility to run for president revolves around conflicting information from several key authorities on the Natural Born Citizen clause. The question is whether a person is a "natural born citizen" (as intended by Section 1 Article 2 of the Constitution) by merely being born inside the U.S. (the rule of jus soli, or 'rule of the soil'), or by being born in the U.S. with one or both parents also being American citizens...or by being born anywhere in the world to one or more parents who are U.S. citizens (the rule of jus sanguinis,...

Already pegged by The Hill as one of the most vulnerable U.S. Senators facing re-election in 2016, and the only Democrat on that list now that Sen. Harry Reid has decided to retire, Michael Bennet is still scrambling to consolidate his base. With his polling numbers hovering just above the 50% mark among Democrats and Democrat activists actively protesting his fundraisers, we cannot blame him one bit. Bennet’s latest pander was an amendment he introduced last week that effectively declared climate change to be a national security issue. While this might mollify the environmental extremists who comprise a meaningful spot...

Unlike Scott Walker and more emphatic than Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz enthusiastically supports Gov. Mike Pence and urges all Americans to do the same: HOUSTON, Texas — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, issued the following statement today in support of Governor Mike Pence’s effort to defend religious liberty and protect against the government forcing individuals to violate their deeply held beliefs: “I want to commend Governor Mike Pence for his support of religious freedom, especially in the face of fierce opposition. There was a time, not too long ago, when defending religious liberty enjoyed strong bipartisan support. Alas, today we...

VANCOUVER – Spurned by U.S. regulators, Amazon.com has turned to the one country where flying delivery robots are still welcome: Canada. On Monday, the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper revealed that the online retail giant is testing its latest prototypes for package-carrying drones at a top-secret site in British Columbia. “We are rapidly experimenting and iterating on Amazon Prime Air … including outdoors at a rural test site in Canada,” wrote Amazon spokesperson Kristen Kish in an email to the National Post. --- Located a mere 600 metres from the U.S. border, the Canadian testing grounds fulfill a lingering threat by Amazon...

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) traveled to Baghdad on Monday, where he met Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to discuss the political and security situation there, according to the prime minister's office. In another meeting with Speaker Salim al-Jabouri, Boehner affirmed support for Iraq's democratic system and discussed the shared U.S. determination to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), according to a parliamentary statement provided to The Hill by a local journalist. The Speaker's visit with a congressional delegation comes as local forces, including Iranian-backed Shiite militias, work to retake the city of Tikrit, about 100 miles northwest...

GOP Presidential Hopefuls Back Indiana 'Religious Freedom' Law Mar 30, 2015 By BILL McGUIRE and ALANA ABRAMSON Key Republican presidential hopefuls are backing Indiana's new Religious Freedom Restoration Act amid growing concern over possible discrimation against gays and lesbians when the law takes effect. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, in an interview on conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt's show today, expressed support for Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and the legislation. "I think Governor Pence has done the right thing," Bush said, according to the New York Times. "I think once the facts are established, people aren't going to see...

The action against Southeastern Oklahoma State University is the first lawsuit claiming that anti-transgender discrimination violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 from the Justice Department.WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Monday filed a lawsuit against Southeastern Oklahoma State University, alleging that the school discriminated against a transgender professor in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The case is the first time the Justice Department sued an entity alleging that the sex discrimination ban in Title VII of the historic civil rights legislation protects transgender people from discrimination. In December 2014, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the...

A further 33 per cent believe abortion should be legal in most cases Two-thirds said they believe schools need to offer more sexual education classes 71 per cent of millennials, people aged between 18 and 35, still believe in marriage

On March 18, 2005, my sister, Terri Schiavo, began her thirteen day agonizing death after the feeding tube – supplying her food and water – was removed. Terri was cognitively disabled and had difficulty swallowing and therefore needed a feeding tube. Terri was not on any “life support”, nor was she sick or dying. Nonetheless, she received her death sentence ordered by Circuit Court Judge, George W. Greer of Pinellas County Florida. Greer’s order to remove Terri’s feeding tube was in response to her estranged husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo, requesting permission from the court to kill his disabled wife....

The Singaporean police confirmed on Monday that a teenage video blogger was arrested[1] a day earlier for an obscenity-laced tirade posted on YouTube that celebrated the death of Lee Kuan Yew, the country’s founding father, and disparaged Christians.The blogger, Amos Yee, 17, is due in court on Tuesday and could face more than three years in prison on charges of violating laws against offending the feelings of a religious group, harassment and sharing obscene material

By a nearly 2 to 1 margin, Americans support the notion of striking a deal with Iran that restricts the nation’s nuclear program in exchange for loosening sanctions, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds. But the survey — released hours before Tuesday’s negotiating deadline — also finds few Americans are hopeful that such an agreement will be effective. Nearly six in 10 say they are not confident that a deal will prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, unchanged from 15 months ago, when the United States, France, Britain, Germany, China and Russia reached an interim agreement with Iran aimed...

This article explains that the City of Chicago has concealed how it has dealt with its budget gap over the past decade. The city failed to cut its recurring expenditures to match its recurring revenues after it blew through its reserve funds. Instead, two administrations have: Used long-term debt to finance everyday expenses and maintenance; Used long-term debt to finance judgments and settlements, including police brutality cases, and retroactive wage increases and pension contributions for its unionized employees; Restructured the city’s existing debt to extend the maturities on its bonds far out into the future in order to avoid having...

For the first time, a majority of taxpayers will have to check a box on their tax return attesting they have health insurance either through their job or Medicare or Medicaid. But what happens if they miss it, which can easily happen on the complex form? The Internal Revenue Service told the Washington Examiner it will not penalize anyone who has insurance but neglected to check the box. However, a taxpayer may be asked by the agency if they have health insurance if their return is flagged during a routine check. "The IRS routinely follows-up on the accuracy and completeness...