Free Republic

Gun control activist David Hogg tweeted Sunday that Americans “have no right to a gun,” suggesting that the right to keep and bear arms applies only to members of the militia. Hogg tweeted:You have no right to a gun. You are not a militia. When you’re talking about your second amendment rights you’re talking about a states right to have what is today the national guard. The modern interpretation of 2A is a ridiculous fraud pushed for decades by the gun lobby. — David Hogg ☮️ (@davidhogg111) February 26, 2023 The text of the Second Amendment says, “A well regulated...

Left-wing documentary filmmaker Michael Moore took to Twitter on Friday and urged the media to compare the National Rifle Association (NRA) to the murderous terrorist group ISIS. “The NRA is a terrorist organization,” Moore wrote in a tweet that went viral. “The media should speak of the NRA in the same way they do ISIS.” “Total ISIS-inspired deaths in US = 79,” the Academy Award-winner wrote, adding, “Thanks to the NRA & the politicians they buy, we’ve had 1.2 MILLION American gun deaths since John Lennon was shot dead in NYC #NRAKillsKids.”

President Donald Trump is facing a deluge of criticism after appearing to keep an umbrella to himself while leaving his wife and son to brave the elements.Photographs of the president showed him holding a large black umbrella as he boarded Air Force One at West Palm Beach in Florida Monday.

WASHINGTON — An updated version of the Graham-Cassidy health care bill circulating among lobbyists and on Capitol Hill on Sunday night has changed to provide more benefits to Alaska, a move to appeal to Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who has been highly skeptical of efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The new version would grandfather Native Alaskans into Medicaid so they wouldn't lose coverage after the expanded Medicaid program is rolled back in 2020, according to a section-by-section summary of the new legislation obtained by an industry lobbyist

Donald Trump relentlessly mocked Ohio Gov. John Kasich's campaign-trail eating habits on Monday. During a rally in Rhode Island, the Republican presidential frontrunner said that the Ohio governor should learn from Trump's children, whom Trump has urged to eat modest portions of food. "Did you see him? He has a news conference all the time when he's eating. I have never seen a human being eat in such a disgusting fashion," Trump said of Kasich. He continued: "I'd say, 'Children, small, little bites.' This guy takes a pancake and he's shoving it in his mouth. It's disgusting. Do you want...

The next two days are going to be nonstop busy for us — and most people in the political world — but we want to start meeting people who live in South Carolina who could potentially help us with the mystery of why so many people seem to think things Obama did in the leadup to the 2008 South Carolina Democrat primary will be the end of his presidency…and could even put him in prison. Apparently, this is all centered around rural South Carolina. We know almost nothing about the state and need to make allies on the ground there…people...

Goldman retreats from life settlements Fri Dec 18, 2009 2:27pm EST *Goldman decision follows Congressional hearing *Credit crunch crushes exotic securities By Matthew Goldstein NEW YORK, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs (GS.N) is quietly backing away from life settlements--- the business of buying life insurance policies from aging Americans in the hopes of collecting on the death benefit. The Wall Street investment bank is ending its involvement with a "mortality index" it launched in December 2007 with high expectations. A Goldman spokesman confirmed the decision. Goldman's QXX index tracks the life expectancy of a group of people aged 65...

WASHINGTON -- Congress on Tuesday cleared for President Obama's signature a $410 billion measure to fund the government, a measure denounced by most Republicans as an example of reckless spending. The Senate approved the measure by voice after it cleared a key procedural hurdle by a 62-35 vote. Sixty votes were required to shut down debate. Obama will sign the measure Wednesday, the White House said, but he will also announce steps aimed at curbing lawmakers' penchant for pet projects. The $410 billion bill is chock-full of lawmakers' pet projects and significant increases in food aid for the poor, energy...

The so-called stimulus package that just passed the U.S. House will not only fail to accomplish its stated purpose, it will damage the economic health of our country for decades to come. President Barack Obama at least tried to reach out to House Republicans, meeting with us earlier in the week. His best attempts fell flat, however, as not a single Republican voted for the package. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her liberal chairmen did not even attempt to reach out. To be sure, everyone agrees that whatever help the federal government can constructively and legitimately give should be given. There...

NEW YORK -- Most Republican governors have broken with their GOP colleagues in Congress and are pushing for passage of President Barack Obama's economic aid plan that would send billions to states for education, public works and health care. Their state treasuries drained by the financial crisis, governors would welcome the money from Capitol Hill, where GOP lawmakers are more skeptical of Obama's spending priorities.

Taxpayers should wake up the politicians and ask them to tell Wall Street: "We want the same deal Warren Buffett got." The Omaha billionaire announced he is playing White Knight to Goldman Sachs by investing $5 billion in the endangered investment house. What a big-hearted guy. Buffett is an old-fashioned capitalist who invests in companies for the long term and I am a big admirer. But Warren Buffett did not get to be a billionaire by committing public-spirited acts of charity. He plays to win. So his deal with Goldman Sachs is carefully wired to produce gorgeous returns for Buffett's...

In Washington these days, an 11-figure expenditure barely attracts notice.___ With Congress preoccupied with the massive, $700 billion bailout plan for the financial industry, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler have finally secured Part One of their own federal rescue plan. A bill set to be passed by Congress and signed by President Bush as early as this weekend--separate from the controversial Wall Street bailout plan--includes $25 billion in loans for the beleaguered Detroit automakers and several of their suppliers. "It seemed like a lot when we first started pushing this," says Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, one of the...

The federal takeover of mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae may stabilize the economy and help the housing industry. But politicians could take a hit, particularly Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Employees of the government-sponsored firms, which own or guarantee half of the nation's mortgages, have donated almost $4.3 million to federal elected officials and their various campaign committees since 2005. Obama is the largest individual recipient at about $112,000, federal campaign finance reports show.One reason Obama has collected the most is that he has raised far more than any other federal candidate, $390 million so far. The mortgage...

WASHINGTON - Auto industry allies hope to secure up to $50 billion in government loans this month that would pay to modernize plants and help struggling car makers build more fuel-efficient vehicles. With Congress returning this coming week from its summer break, the industry plans an aggressive lobbying campaign for the low-interest loans. The situation is growing dire after months of tumbling sales, high gasoline prices and consumers' abandoning profitable trucks and sport utility vehicles. Lawmakers authorized $25 billion in loans in last year's energy bill to help the companies build fuel-efficient vehicles such as hybrids and electric vehicles. With...

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday approved a five-year, $307 billion farm bill with wide bipartisan support, virtually sealing President Bush’s defeat in a battle over agriculture policy. Mr. Bush has promised to veto the bill because he says it would not do enough to limit subsidies at a time of record grain prices. His advisers said Thursday that he had every intention of making good on that vow. The Senate vote, 81 to 15, with 35 Republicans in favor, guarantees an easy override of a veto. The House passed the bill on Wednesday, 318 to 106, also far more...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress is once again going coconuts over Rep. Don Young’s Coconut Road earmark. Anti-earmark crusader Sen. Tom Coburn is holding up passage of technical corrections to the 2005 highway bill until the Senate agrees to investigate how $10 million got dedicated to an interchange project at Coconut Road after the $286 billion bill had passed both chambers of Congress. The Senate has been trying all week to pass the technical corrections bill but Coburn has single-handedly held it up in an effort to force a vote on his amendment. The Senate was expected to take up the...

WASHINGTON — Texas has long viewed itself as a conservative bastion, but the Lone Star State ranked third in the nation between 2000 and last year in receipt of federal dollars, raking in aid and contracts worth more than $1.2 trillion. An analysis by a private watchdog group found that state agencies and a number of congressional districts were major beneficiaries of the federal largesse. For example: • Rep. Ron Paul has long crusaded against a big central government. But the maverick GOP lawmaker and presidential contender also has represented a congressional district that is consistently among the top in...

In the pantheon of dumb Army Corps of Engineers boondoggles, a $112 million flood-control scheme in Missouri's southeast bootheel ranks among the dumbest. It would drain more wetlands than all American developers drained last year, and the Corps has admitted that the town it's supposed to protect will flood just as often (once every 10 years) if and when it's completed. The Corps also admitted that its original economic rationale depended on a math error. In private e-mails, even the agency's top lobbyist described it as "an economic dud with huge environmental consequences." Now a federal judge has made it...

If you know anything at all about the federal student loan program, you will not have been surprised by the scandal of recent months. The only amazing thing is that it has taken so long to arrive. Here's how the program works: Banks and other private companies lend money to students. The federal government pays part or all of the interest—currently 7 percent or 8 percent. The government also guarantees the loans. What is wrong with this picture? Well, the government itself borrows the odd nickel to finance the national debt. This borrowing, obviously, is also guaranteed by the government....

Like their counterparts in the House, the Senate has larded its version of an “emergency” war spending bill with nearly $20 billion in pork-barrel outlays, including $100 million for the two major political parties’ 2008 presidential conventions. The $121 billion bill includes $102 billion for the troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as $14 billion for Hurricane Katrina aid and more than $4 billion for “emergency farm relief.” “Congress will have to make the choice between booze and balloons or bullets and body armor,” John Hart, a spokesman for Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., told The Examiner on Monday....