Free Republic

The Teamsters’ political committee has donated $45,000 to the Republican National Committee for the first time in 20 years, according to a report. The donation came the same day former President Donald Trump met with the Teamsters’ leadership for the second time in January, according to the Washington Post, which reported the donation on Wednesday. Although the powerful organized labor group has historically supported Democrats — it sent the Democratic National Committee $135,000 in December as well as $15,000 in March 2023 — the donation to the RNC is the first one since it last donated $15,000 in 2004, according...

The United States has for the first time paid people who were injured by COVID-19 vaccines. Three people received compensation for their injuries through the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program (CICP), run by an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, officials said in a new update. One person who suffered severe allergic shock received $2,019, according to the agency, the Health Resources and Services Administration. One person who suffered heart inflammation, or myocarditis, received $1,582. Another who suffered myocarditis received $1,032. The manufacturer of the vaccines was not made public. Information about the people who received the payments...

If you receive Social Security benefits, there's an important letter coming to you in the mail this month. The Social Security Administration is sending out letters throughout December with information on beneficiaries' cost of living adjustment coming in January. Don't throw out the letter and don't lose it. You may need it for a number of reasons, including proof of benefit amount when applying for loans or energy assistance. So keep that letter in a safe place. The letter notifies beneficiaries of their new 2023 benefit amount, according to the SSA, which will increase by 8.7% in January. Those who...

A judge late Wednesday signed off on the settlement between the IRS and hundreds of tea party groups, closing out the last major legal battle over what all sides now agree was unwarranted and illegal targeting for political purposes. The IRS agreed to pay $3.5 million to groups that were wronged by the intrusive inspections, and insists it’s made changes so that political targeting can’t occur in the future. A few issues are still being fought over in the courts — including whether former IRS senior executive Lois G. Lerner will be allowed to forever shield her deposition explaining her...

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi doubled down on her claim that a $1,000 bonus is just “crumbs” for middle-class Americans. “There’s a little mouse trap who’s got a little piece of cheese on there and there’s a mouse about to take it and that’s called the middle class,” Pelosi said of workers getting bonuses as a result of the GOP tax cuts. “And around it are fat cats, they look a lot like elephants but anyway, around there. And that’s the thing. Get this little thing and we get this big bonanza. You get the crumb, we get the banquet.”

Scottish singing sensation Susan Boyle lives like a pauper -- although she's sitting on more than $15.7 million in the bank, according to a stunning report yesterday. Boyle's managers have such a tight financial leash on the "Britain's Got Talent" star that she's allowed to spend only $471 a week, has no credit cards and travels by bus, the British paper News of The World reported. "When Susan realized she can't just walk into a bank and take out her own money, she had a fit because she thought she was down to her last few quid," her brother Gerry...