Free Republic

<p>NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — President Donald Trump is expected to unveil his massive infrastructure bill on Monday, and the plan that once seemed to be a rare issue that both sides could agree on is now facing controversy.</p> <p>As WCBS 880’s Ethan Harp reported, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-New York) addressed the infrastructure plan at Grand Central Terminal Sunday. He was once on board with the plan, but is now concerned with what it could really look like.</p>

President Trump on Monday rolled out a White House budget that includes deep cuts to some federal agencies, an increase in funding for the Pentagon and $18 billion for a wall on the Mexican border. It includes proposals to cut deficits by more than $3 trillion over a decade and lower debt levels as a percentage of the gross domestic product, but does not balance by doing away with annual deficits.

President Donald Trump unveiled his $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan on Monday at the White House, criticizing the amount of money wasted in the Middle East before he was presdient. He estimated that the United States had spent $7 trillion in the Middle East, calling it a “mistake.” “It’s crazy… $7 trillion in the Middle East, and the Middle East is far worse now than it was 17 years ago when they went in,” Trump said. “And not so intelligently, I have to say, went in. I’m being nice.” As part of his plan, Trump said that the administration would accelerate...

The Education Department has told BuzzFeed News it won't investigate or take action on any complaints filed by transgender students who are banned from restrooms that match their gender identity, charting new ground in the Trump administration's year-long broadside against LGBT rights. It’s the first time officials have asserted this position publicly as an interpretation of law. No formal announcement has been made. For nearly a year, the Trump administration took a less clear stance, with officials saying they were studying the issue ...

President Trump's newly proposed budget includes a proposal to end federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), part of a package that includes $300 billion in new spending overall. CPB provides federal funding for PBS and National Public Radio stations. "The Budget proposes to eliminate Federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) over a two year period," according to the proposal. "CPB grants represent a small share of the total funding for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR), which primarily rely on private donations to fund their operations," it continues. "To conduct...

Thanks to the improving economy, something very unusual is going on in American politics. American voters are separating the personal from the political in perhaps the most significant way ever. President Donald Trump's overall approval rating in most polls is creeping up lately, yet it remains at historically weak levels for a president at this stage in his first term. But at the same time, voters are starting to become more positive about the economy and more willing to give Trump the credit for it. Several polls are noting this trend, but it's most clear in the latest Quinnipiac College...

President Trump offered some kind words for Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., and his bid to unseat Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., in 2018, saying that the Republican congressman is "going to win big" in the race. Trump made the remarks while opening up an event in Harrisburg, Pa., early Wednesday evening on tax reform.

Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA) called out Senate Democrats following a government shutdown led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and members of the Republican establishment, saying the Democratic Party put the interests of illegal aliens ahead of American citizens. On Friday evening, Senate Democrats, including Schumer and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), along with well as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), voted against a spending bill to prevent a government shutdown because it did not include amnesty for at least 3.5 million illegal aliens and their illegal alien parents. Barletta quickly responded to the decision to...

Former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile has been on a roll recently. She’s ripped into the DNC’s former leadership, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and now former President Barack Obama. In her new book, “Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House,” Brazile outlined how Obama leeched off the Democratic Party to further his own causes, even if it meant bankrupting the entire party, The Daily Caller reported. “We had three Democratic parties: The party of Barack Obama, the party of Hillary Clinton, and this weak little vestige of...

In an email to Clinton campaign chair John Podesta from February 2016, released Friday by WikiLeaks, now-acting chair of the Democratic National Committee Donna Brazile gave a frank and honest assessment of the Obama economy — it wasn’t good. “I think people are more in despair about how things are—yes new jobs but they are low wage jobs,” she admits. “HOUSING is a huge issue. Most people pay half of what they make to rent,” she continued.

In my post yesterday about freshly-announced benefits from tax reform -- here's another bummer for Pelosi and friends -- I warned that in spite of Americans' positivity on the economy and growing support for the GOP-passed law, outsized Democratic enthusiasm threatens to make a 'blue wave' inevitable.  I stand by that analysis, but figured I'd keep you posted on data points and trends that push back against the 'doomed GOP' narrative.  One was the Monmouth poll we covered last week.  The latest national survey from Politico is another.  The president's approval rating is up to a respectable level, Republicans have...

<p>Trump tweeted, “Just signed Bill. Our Military will now be stronger than ever before. We love and need our Military and gave them everything — and more. First time this has happened in a long time. Also means JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!”</p>

Despite everything Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on Wednesday following the announcement of a new two-year budget deal — unlike others — Schumer surprisingly hasn't said much on the topic of a possible military parade in Washington D.C. However, back in 2014, Schumer called for precisely what we’ll most likely see Democrats — and some Republicans — rally against in the near future, a military parade. They’ll all call the parade contrary to what a democracy should be. They’ll also try to make it almost completely about how President Trump is just trying to boost his own ego. We’ll hear...

In a daily feature it calls “California Today,” the New York Times expresses concern over the impact of stock market declines on California’s wealthy. It is not out of concern that risk-takers will be disincentivized from making future investments, however. Matt Stevens and Julie Turkewitz write: California has one of the highest top tax brackets in the country, and the state relies heavily on those top earners to fill its coffers. (In 2014, the top 1 percent of earners paid 48 percent of all state income taxes in California, according to a 2016 article in the Economist.) “Since the top...

“Trump in one year is already better than sixteen years of [George W. Bush and Barack Obama] put together,” said former Wall Street Journal editor Brett M. Decker, pointing to a current 17-year high in consumer confidence. Decker, an expert on Asia and the bestselling author of Bowing to Beijing: How Barack Obama Is Hastening America’s Decline and Ushering a Century of Chinese Domination, joined Friday’s edition of SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Tonight with Breitbart News’s Executive Chairman Stephen K. Bannon and Senior Editor-at-Large Rebecca Mansour. “The leading indicator, when you dig into the data on why consumer confidence is high,...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has announced a deal with Senate Democrats to fund the government and set spending levels for defense and nondefense programs over the next two years. The legislation would avert a government shutdown on Friday, when federal funding is due to expire, and boost defense and nondefense programs. It also lifts the debt ceiling to March 2019, which White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders hailed as a decision that would move Congress away from "crisis-to-crisis budgeting." The deal is backed by McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), and will almost certainly be...

Approximately 50,000 GM factory workers will each get a profit-sharing check totaling $11,750 later this month, according to company statements as reported in the Detroit Free Press and USA Today. In addition, about 40,000 union workers at Fiat-Chrysler will get profit-sharing checks of $5,500, as well as $2,000 bonuses. Also, about 54,000 workers at Ford will get profit-sharing checks of $7,500 each. GM made $12.8 billion in pre-tax profits in 2017, said USA Today. Fiat-Chrysler earned $4.4 billion in pre-tax profits in 2017, and Ford pulled in $8.4 billion in pretax profits. "The actions we took to further strengthen our...

Full Title: Billions of Crumbs: Over $3 Billion in Bonuses Given to American Workers So Far Because of Tax Cuts and Jobs ActWASHINGTON, D.C. - Over $3 billion in bonuses have already gone out to American workers all over the country thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's enactment less than two months ago, with over 300 companies passing on the savings they see under this bill to their employees with bonuses, pay raises, better benefits, and more job opportunities.These billions in bonuses come as 90% of workers across the country will begin to see higher paychecks as their...

With the stock market nearing correction territory Monday, former Obama White House Press Secretary Jay Carney suggested on Twitter that President Trump should have learned something from his predecessor and be careful not to tout optimistic looking stocks. It is just too risky.The Dow Jones plunged almost 1,600 points and essentially erased its gains for the year. It was the worst loss in six and a half years.The Obama administration, Carney claimed on Twitter, was careful to never boast about the stock market as Trump has often done. Good time to recall that in the previous administration, we NEVER boasted...

The defense of free speech has always been a bedrock bipartisan principle. So it’s unusual to hear a veteran liberal politician excuse campus outrage squads that shout down dissent. But that’s exactly what former Vermont governor and Democratic National Committee head Howard Dean did in a recent appearance.. Dean’s take on this was that there are “consequences to free speech.” He caricatured Erika Christakis’s thoughtful, sensitive letter as an ugly screed mocking “snowflake” students and defending racist costumes. He also described the protesters as well-behaved, despite their screaming and bullying. ... Dean is hardly alone...progressives on and off campus are...