Free Republic

During her weekly press conference Thursday, House Minority Leader’s train of thought seemed to ran out of gas ... 16 times. The 77-year old California congresswoman repeatedly paused in the middle of her sentences while searching for her next words. In all, Pelosi stumbled 16 times over just 15 minutes. At times, Pelosi stared vacantly into the distance as she gathered her thoughts. "This week we had ... March 5th ... marked the 6th month -- the end of the ... time frame," Pelosi stumbled, attempting to explain the expiration of President Trump's deadline on reforming Deferred Action Against Childhood...

A former Texas Republican leader is downplaying the news of a high Democratic voter turnout in Tuesday's primaries. Democrats in the Lone Star State turned out Tuesday in the largest numbers for a midterm primary election in more than a decade. According to some media reports, they were venting their pent-up anger at President Donald Trump and this first state primary of the 2018 election cycle provided that opportunity. Their party, however, has emerged winless in statewide races for governor and U.S. senator for more than 20 years, and they face long odds this November of ousting Republicans such as...

The White House released a list of criminal illegal immigrants set free by the state of California in lieu of allowing ICE to detain them, in a Thursday morning statement. The Trump administration filed suit against the state of California Wednesday for classifying itself as a sanctuary state. “California is using every power it has — and some it doesn’t — to frustrate federal law enforcement. So you can be sure I’m going to use every power I have to stop them,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in his announcement of the lawsuit Thursday. “When a foreign national in the...

President Donald Trump on Thursday will sign formal proclamations imposing tariffs aimed at defending America’s steel and aluminum industries from foreign imports. The tariffs are an “iron clad” measure aimed at defending industries vital to U.S. national security, a senior administration official said. The orders impose a sweeping tariff of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum imports. They will initially apply to all countries that export the commodities to the U.S. apart from Canada and Mexico, which will be granted a temporary reprieve while negotiations over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) continue. “Canada and...

International Women’s Day is a global celebration in more than 100 countries today, but many Americans may have only a vague awareness of the holiday. This might soon change, if grassroots organizers (including the group behind this January’s Women’s March on Washington) succeed in their efforts to convince women around the world to join in a “day of action,” including a labor strike, this March 8. As International Women’s Day approaches, take a look back at its origins in the United States more than a century ago, and how far it has come since then. Controversy clouds the history of...

A New York Times analysis of how the recently enacted tax reform law could affect a hypothetical couple's taxes was corrected to admit their taxes would actually go down, not up. In the story from late February, the Times collaborated with TurboTax vice president Bob Meighan to lay out how the Republican-backed tax overhaul would affect "Samuel and Felicity Taxpayer," an imaginary couple from suburban New York that makes $183,911 a year. Samuel is a self-employed engineering consultant, and Felicity is as an employee of a design firm. The "bottom line" of their analysis: "The family would owe $3,896 more...

President Donald Trump’s Justice Department filed a suit against the state of California on Tuesday modeled after one brought against Arizona by former President Barack Obama’s DOJ, which affirmed the federal government’s authority to set immigration policy. In 2010, then Attorney General Eric Holder sued Arizona over state law S.B. 1070, which — in accordance with federal law — required any aliens in the United States to have proper identification at all times, and empowered state law enforcement officers to attempt to determine immigration status during “lawful stop, detention or arrest” for other suspected crimes. Additionally, it barred state and...

Is special counsel Robert Mueller running out of time to prove President Trump colluded with Russia to win the White House? While many argue the probe should have never existed, one Republican Congressman is saying he believes Mueller’s time is nearly up.

Confessed mass murderer Nikolas Cruz texted a pal minutes before allegedly going on a shooting rampage at his former Florida high school that he had “big” news — but added it was “nothing bad,” according to a disturbing new report. Cruz sent the chilling text messages to the teenage son of the Snead family, which was housing the deranged 19-year-old before he allegedly shot 17 people dead using an AR-15 rifle at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day, the Palm Beach Post reported. The 17-year-old Snead received the messages while he was in class at Stoneman Douglas...

President Donald Trump on Thursday slapped deeply contentious trade tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum, swatting aside warnings of a global trade war and protests from allies in Europe and at home. The tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum will come into effect in 15 days, the White House said. They will not apply to Canada and Mexico initially, an official said, adding that security and trade partners could negotiate to seek exemption. The measures are likely to spark retaliatory sanctions from the European Union, China and other economic powers. Moving to fulfil a...

March 8 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Thursday, joined by steel and aluminum workers at the White House, imposed his promised industrial tariffs -- 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on foreign-made aluminum. Trump signed the tariff proclamations Thursday afternoon in a meeting with industry workers and officials -- ushering in fiscal penalties that have drawn ire from world leaders and sparked fears of a possible trade war. "A nation that does not protect property at home cannot protect its property abroad," Trump said. The White House said Canada and Mexico will initially be excluded from the...

Baltimore’s new Mayor Catherine Pugh is sending public school students to the “March for Our Lives” event in Washington, DC. The event has been organized for the students of Parkland who have been repeatedly exploited by the left to push gun control. Pugh is charging the taxpayers of Baltimore for the trip. Philip Wegmann reports at the Washington Examiner: Baltimore mayor promises taxpayer money to high school students playing hooky and protesting gun violence To succeed in life, stay in school … unless you’re cutting class for the sake of progressive politics. That’s the message Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh delivered...

In a surprising turn of events, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has taken to social media to make a case for President Trumps recently proposed tariffs. President Trump published a tweet yesterday stating that China was asked to develop a yearly plan for the One Billion Dollar reduction in their trade deficit with the United States. President Trump was well received during his visit to China earlier this year and notes this by saying that U.S. relations with China are very good and that he looked forward to seeing what ideas they came up with. But, President Trump urged that the...

RUSH: I was watching on CNN today. The Democrats have a genuine, radical, off-the-wall analyst/strategist named Cardona, Maria Cardona or something. She’s debating some guy on immigration and sanctuary cities, and she was really all over ICE. She says (summarized), “ICE, it’s like the Gestapo! I mean, they’re not… They’re not just focusing on the criminal illegals. They’re focusing on the people who are here without papers too!” I’m saying, “Well, what the hell are they if they’re not illegal?” As though we’re supposed to ignore that particular illegality, being here illegally and only go after those who have committed...

President Trump’s job approval rating is at 42 percent according to a new Marist poll, the highest it’s been in the poll since he took office more than a year ago. Trump's approval rating rose from the 38 percent he received in the poll last month. And the percentage of Americans who strongly approve of Trump held at 24 percent from last month’s survey, an all-time high for the president.

A former corporate-fraud prosecutor carried out the “most serious” example of public corruption by a U.S. Department of Justice attorney in years by stealing more than 40 whistleblower fraud cases in 2016 and trying to sell the secret information to companies under federal investigation, prosecutors said.

SANTIAGO, Chile — A trade pact originally conceived by the United States to counter China’s growing economic might in Asia now has a new target: President Trump’s embrace of protectionism. A group of 11 nations — including major United States allies like Japan, Canada and Australia — signed a broad trade deal on Thursday that challenges Mr. Trump’s view of trade as a zero-sum game filled with winners and losers. Covering 500 million people on either side of the Pacific Ocean, the pact represents a new vision for global trade as the United States threatens to impose steel and aluminum...

The election season got started this past Tuesday in Texas, and the primary results are being analyzed for clues about what they mean for November. The results confirmed that the Democratic enthusiasm is real, but it's probably not strong enough to turn Texas blue. The number of votes cast in Democratic primaries nearly doubled those from four years ago. However, the 1,037,779 Democratic voters fell half a million short of the GOP's 1,543,674 votes. Primary votes don't translate directly into general election results, but there's nothing in the data to suggest a big blue wave sweeping over Texas. However, not...

If you've been paying attention to the WAR going on between Trump and the Deep State up there in the DC swamp, you are aware that we're coming down to "crunch time."  One of the early - in MY lifetime - warriors against the ages old forces of darkness we now call the Deep State was Representative Larry McDonald.  Because some of you younger folks knew little or nothing about him, a few months ago, I sent out a link to a 6 minute video I posted to YouTube of my introduction of Larry at one of his last excellent...

While crews shore up seawalls and coastal infrastructure and residents brace for another powerful storm, a coalition that includes architects, engineers, planners and downtown Boston businesses is putting pressure on the House to pass a bill requiring the state to plan for the effects of climate change. The Massachusetts Climate Change Adaptation Coalition sent a letter Monday to all state representatives urging them to reach out to House leadership and ask for action on a bill (S 2196) requiring the state to develop a comprehensive adaptation management action plan in response to climate change. The coalition — which includes dozens...