Free Republic

Yesterday the Trump administration preserved federalism, respected the principle of local control over local schools, and corrected one of the Obama administration’s many lawless and radical executive actions. With a simple, two-page letter, the Departments of Education and Justice withdrew and rescinded two Obama-administration letters that purported to unilaterally redefine Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The Obama administration had expanded Title IX’s explicit ban on sex discrimination in federally funded educational institutions to encompass “gender identity” discrimination and then imposed intrusive “guidance” on every federally funded school in the nation, on matters ranging from pronoun usage to...

State officials across the nation are fighting former President Barack Obama’s last-minute decision to impose federal authority over state-run election systems, The Daily Caller News Foundation has learned. The National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), which includes officials from all 50 states and U.S. territories, appealed to President Donald Trump in a resolution approved Saturday at the group’s winter meeting to overturn the Obama policy, but doing so may encounter unexpected resistance from the new administration.

Homeschooling families throughout the nation are voicing opposition to a Republican-sponsored school choice bill that they say will ultimately result in regulation of homeschooling in the United States. Many parents who homeschool their children, as well as their numerous local and national homeschooling organizations, are protesting the bill, introduced by Iowa Rep. Steve King (R), and calling upon the members of Congress who are its sponsors to “leave homeschooling families alone.” School vouchers created by H.R. 610, the Choices in Education Act of 2017, “would be a slippery slope toward more federal involvement and control in homeschooling,” asserts William Estrada,...

The House voted Thursday to make it easier for states to deny federal family-planning funds to groups such as Planned Parenthood that also perform abortions. A rule imposed by the Obama administration says that states cannot deny funding to clinics for reasons unrelated to their ability to provide basic family planning services. Federal dollars cannot be used to pay for abortions, except in restricted circumstances. Tennessee Rep. Diane Black and other Republicans said the rule, finalized in December, unfairly restricts how states can spend federal family-planning funds. …

Ever since Donald Trump was elected president, California has resembled the busty blonde B-movie actress in a horror film. You know the look. Eyes wide. Red lips parted halfway between a gasp and a scream. Hands frozen in mid-flail. That was the reaction in the scene where President Trump called California “out of control” and said he might have to cut off federal funds. This terrifying prospect has public officials up and down the state looking everywhere for a copy of the U.S. Constitution. It says he can’t do that, right? States have rights. Right? You might think so if...

<p>A Montana lawmaker has resigned as a delegate to the Republican National Convention over the GOP's position on the transfer of federal lands to states.</p> <p>Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke told The (Billings) Gazette that he still plans to give a speech Monday to the convention about national security. But he says he's withdrawing as a delegate because the GOP platform is "more divisive than uniting."</p>

ALBANY - The lead state Senate sponsor of New York's medical marijuana law has written to President Trump asking that the feds allow such state programs to continue. Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island) wrote to Trump on Dec. 9 when he was President-elect encouraging him to direct his Attorney General nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions "to respect the wishes of the citizens and elected officials of 29 states and allow carefully regulated and closely monitored medical cannabis programs to continue without undue interference from the federal government." Despite the growing number of states allowing some type of marijuana use, the drug...

President Trump and the Republican Congress are going to do a lot and will likely act quickly and decisively to help the economy become strong, make the borders secure and the immigration laws effective, protect us from terrorists and rogue nations, and improve our education system. It is vitally important, however, to grasp at the outset that Washington cannot work. Federal solutions always fail. The best thing federal politicians can do is to get Washington out of the lives of ordinary Americans, their businesses, and their communities. This must happen fast, because Washington is crawling with folks who will work...

Automatic voter registration bill dies in Illinois House after veto, but similar legislation could follow SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto of a bill that would automatically register voters across Illinois has held up in the General Assembly, leaving unclear whether such a bill can secure enough votes to become law amid the current political environment. The Illinois State Senate easily topped the total needed to override the veto with a 38-18 vote in favor. The parties, however, were more divided in the Illinois House of Representatives. The bill received 67 yes votes. However, 71 votes were required to override...

What the Dakota Access Pipeline Is Really About The standoff isn’t about tribal rights or water, but a White House that ignores the rule of law. Kevin Cramer A little more than two weeks ago, during a confrontation between protesters and law enforcement, an improvised explosive device was detonated on a public bridge in southern North Dakota. That was simply the latest manifestation of the “prayerful” and “peaceful” protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Escalating tensions were temporarily defused Sunday when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, at the direction of the Obama administration, announced it would refuse to grant...

Will Rauner join Emanuel in defying Trump's plan to end sanctuary cities? CHICAGO - Illinois Republican Governor Bruce Rauner is being challenged by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city council to stand up to President-elect Donald Trump's plan to enforce federal law concerning so-called "sanctuary cities." A committee in the Chicago City Council advanced a resolution Monday calling on Rauner to issue a statement of "support for cities that welcome our undocumented family members and neighbors and condemn any effort to strip the city of Chicago of federal funding." Rauner's office contends that the governor supports immigration policy reform,...

The Los Angeles Times editorial board says the Donald Trump backed, NRA push for nationwide concealed carry reciprocity is bad for public safety, calling it “absurd and dangerous” in a piece published Saturday. Lawmakers have four bills drafted that would make concealed carry reciprocity a federal law allowing gun owners licensed to carry in one state, to be able to carry in any other state. The Times calls it an effort to “dismantle state and local gun-control laws,” driving nationwide concealed carry laws “to the lowest common denominator” by allowing people to get carry permits in states with less...

Immigration Group Claims NC GOP Governor’s Loss Was Due to Illegal Alien Voters Jim Hoft Dec 5th, 2016 2:21 pm 46 Comments North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory conceded the race today in North Carolina to Democrat Roy Cooper. Cooper defeated Governor McCrory by over 10,000 votes. Americans for Legal Immigration blamed Governor McCrory’s defeat on illegal alien voters. Republican North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory conceded his race today after failing to challenge ineligible voters that included illegal immigrant voters that cost him his race against Democrat Roy Cooper. “Governor McCrory won’t be the last Republican victim of illegal immigrant voters...

WND Exclusive Only 4 states can stop vote fraud 'No systematic oversight of the system' exists The raging debate about voter fraud has been hijacked by the left, says a leading expert on the issue, and the left is driving the narrative in a false direction using slick deception. The question is: What will President-elect Donald Trump do about it? When people think about “voter fraud,” they tend to think about the dead voting, people voting in multiple precincts or party machines paying homeless people to cast ballots. While those are all legitimate concerns, the mass fraud happens long before...

Do Illegal Votes Decide Elections? There’s no way to know. But the evidence suggests that significant numbers of noncitizens cast ballots. By Hans von Spakovsky and John Fund Donald Trump’s claim that illegal voting may have cost him a popular-vote majority has touched off outrage. Widespread voter fraud, the media consensus suggests, isn’t possible. But there is a real chance that significant numbers of noncitizens and others are indeed voting illegally, perhaps enough to make up the margin in some elections. There’s no way of knowing for sure. The voter-registration process in almost all states runs on the honor system....

Idaho Trump electors report ‘barrage’ of harassing messages urging them to change votes By Betsy Z. Russell bzrussell@gmail.com (208) 336-2854 MONDAY, NOV. 14, 2016, 3:45 P.M. Idaho’s four presidential electors say they have been getting harassing phone calls, emails and Facebook messages urging them to become “faithless electors” and not cast their votes for Donald Trump in the electoral college. “A lot of ’em use bad, rough language,” said Layne Bangerter, one of the four electors. “Nothing I feel intimidated over. But we’re watching it very closely. They’ve got our home phone numbers, our cell numbers, our emails, our Facebook....

Leaked funding documents reveal an effort by George Soros and his foundations to manipulate election laws and process rules ahead of the federal election far more expansively than has been previously reported. The billionaire and convicted felon moved hundreds of millions of dollars into often-secret efforts to change election laws, fuel litigation to attack election integrity measures, push public narratives about voter fraud, and to integrate the political ground game of the left with efforts to scare racial minority groups about voting rights threats. These Soros-funded efforts moved through dozens of 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) charities and involved the active compliance...

Video: Obama 'encourages illegals to vote' Fox anchor erupts: 'You're not a citizen of this country!' Published: 19 hours ago Joe Kovacs Did Barack Obama just encourage illegal aliens to vote on Election Day, promising no repercussions if they do? A videotaped interview with the president has some saying yes, sparking outrage among at least one major media figure and commenters on Twitter. In an interview with the Latin-oriented YouTube channel mitu, millennial actress Gina Rodriguez asked Obama: “Many of the millennials, Dreamers, undocumented citizens – and I call them citizens because the contribute to this country – are fearful...

EWTN: Donald Trump In His Most Revealing Interview Yet! Irondale, AL, Oct. 25, 2016 -- At 8 p.m. ET, Thursday, Oct. 27, EWTN’s “The World Over” with Host Raymond Arroyo will air an exclusive interview with Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, which will be of interest to people across the United States. “He reveals the reason he switched his position on the life issue, talks about religious liberty, and speaks to women’s concerns about his candidacy. We also spoke about his prayer life, whether he has a favorite saint, and a lot more.” Said Arroyo: “Honestly, this is the most...

States that refuse to help resettle Syrian refugees are guilty of illegal discrimination, a federal appeals court ruled Monday, delivering a judicial rebuke to GOP vice presidential nominee Mike Pence, who as Indiana’s governor had tried to halt Syrian resettlement. Judge Richard Posner, writing for the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, said there’s no evidence that Syrians are more dangerous, and he said even if they are, allowing Indiana to refuse to resettle them would only foist the problem onto neighboring states. “Federal law does not allow a governor to deport to other...