Free Republic

Enrollment in the Affordable Care Act marketplace is projected to fall by nearly 5 million people this year as rising premiums and higher deductibles force many Americans to reconsider whether they can still afford health insurance coverage, according to a new analysis from healthcare nonprofit KFF.The report estimates ACA enrollment could decline from 22.3 million participants in 2025 to roughly 17.5 million this year, representing a drop of more than 20 percent.At the same time, Americans who remain enrolled are paying substantially more out of pocket. According to the analysis, average deductibles have climbed by more than $1,000, while monthly...

Florida homeowners have watched their property tax bills nearly double since 2019 – and they're still waiting for relief. DeSantis just showed up in Brevard County and dared his own party to stop him. He's calling a summer special session to gut Florida property taxes and get it on the November ballot – and he doesn't care who's in his way. The Governor Who Actually Means It For two years, Rick Scott, the House Speaker, and half the Republican establishment have told Floridians that eliminating property taxes sounds great but can't be done. DeSantis walked into a roundtable in Brevard...

The Trump administration this week onboarded more than 80 new federal immigration judges, in its latest push to expedite deportation cases and further its government-wide crackdown on illegal immigration, Justice Department officials said Thursday. The Justice Department, which oversees the U.S. immigration court system, swore in 77 permanent immigration judges and 5 temporary immigration judges, a group that officials described as the largest class of immigration judges in the department's history. The additions come after the ouster of dozens of immigration judges across the country by the Trump administration over the past year. When President Trump took office, the Justice...

The incident – seen in a now-viral video shared on social media and officer body-camera video shared by police – began with a fight Wednesday afternoon between multiple students at Fairfield High School. Fairfield police arrested two students and confiscated two backpacks, which police said contained sharp objects. A video shared on social media, which now has nearly 50,000 views, shows an officer punching the student in the head while they are face-down on the ground.

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe Come on in, we're open Need a place just to hang out? This is it. We serve coffee, tea, conversation and music. I'm thinking something cold and tangy. Our AWESOME military, our AWESOME allies, and their families are welcomed and honored here. Remember those who gave all this weekend.No worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe. Grab a cup and start a conversation. You...

In what would have once been viewed as career-ending rhetoric, a Democrat candidate running for Congress in Texas is now openly discussing prison camps for ideological opponents -- and doing so in a political environment where outrage, extremism, and online performance increasingly generate attention instead of condemnation. Maureen Galindo, a Democrat candidate for Texas' 35th Congressional District, stunned many Americans after comments in which she called for converting the Karnes ICE Detention Center into a prison for "American Zionists" and former ICE officers. Even more chilling, she suggested the facility could also become "a castration processing center for pedophiles, which...

The Senate GOP on Thursday delayed the reconciliation vote to fund ICE and Border Patrol – and Senate Majority Leader John Thune admitted it is a political hit against President Trump. The Senators will be on recess until June. Last week, the Senate Parliamentarian struck down three key provisions of the Senate’s reconciliation bill The House of Representatives previously passed the Senate-approved package to fund the Department of Homeland Security by voice vote, ending the 75-day shutdown. ICE and Border Patrol were to be funded separately through a reconciliation package. Senate Republicans put together a $72 billion reconciliation package to...

The Democratic National Committee has finally released an outside review of 2024 campaign losses that the party says was delivered unfinished and full of unverified claims about problems and solutions. DNC Chairman Ken Martin, facing internal criticism for a decision to shelve the report after he received it late last year, apologized in a Substack post accompanying the report for withholding the document until now. "When I received the report late last year, it wasn't ready for primetime," Martin wrote. "Not even close. And because no source material was provided, fixing it would have meant starting over, from the beginning...

Just days before the case was set to go to trial, a settlement was reached between detransitioner Camille Kiefel and a pair of Oregon mental health providers who she claimed had ignored serious mental health problems and instead referred her for a double mastectomy. A confidential settlement was entered into by the parties days before the malpractice lawsuit, in which Kiefel sought $3.5 million, was set to begin a jury trial in the Circuit Court in Multnomah County, in January, per reporter Benjamin Ryan, who was the first to report the existence of a settlement. Kiefel’s attorneys, Josh Payne, of...

Denmark is one of the few countries in Europe that keeps detailed crime statistics based on country of origin and immigration background. And when you read those numbers, you begin to understand why some politicians across Europe prefer not to open this discussion at all. According to the official data, there are immigrant groups that are significantly overrepresented in violent crime and sex offenses compared to the native population. In the case of Palestinians in Denmark, the rape offense rate is reportedly 12 times higher than that of native-born Danes. Unlike much of Europe, Denmark has adopted stricter immigration policies,...

Two days after progressive lawmaker Chris Rabb pulled off a primary win in Pennsylvania's 3rd Congressional District, the city's like-minded district attorney is calling for new Democratic leadership. ---SNIP--- "The Democratic Party in Philadelphia for far too long has spent more time fighting against progressives, fighting against its future than they have spent fighting against Republicans, fighting against fascists, fighting against Donald Trump," Krasner says in the video.

When a state starts floating an exit tax, it is telling you something more important than any campaign slogan: the people running the place know their model is not working. They may not say it that way. They will call it fairness, responsibility, or making the wealthy “pay what they owe.” But the meaning is the same. If families, entrepreneurs, and investors are leaving, the state can either ask why its policies are pushing them out, or it can try to tax them for escaping. An exit tax chooses punishment over reform. I understand why these proposals resonate with some...

And so, the indictments on the fraud front just keep rolling in, and yes, this is what we voted for. In the latest, 15 people have been indicted in a fraud scheme in (where else) Minnesota, that may have seen the alleged perps defraud the American taxpayers to the tune of $90 million. That is, as someone once said, a big freakin' deal.🚨🚨 Today - 15 individuals have been indicted for over $90 million in an alleged massive healthcare fraud scheme in Minnesota, after a sweeping FBI investigation with @TheJusticeDept and our Interagency Partners.These charges involve the two LARGEST Medicaid...

PHOENIX — A 31-year-old man is accused of breaking into the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office and gaining access to corpses, multiple law enforcement sources tell ABC15.

Every now and then, a story I’d heard before comes roaring back into the headlines. Most of the time, there’s a reason I ignored it initially. I hear plenty of dumb rumors and dubious stories, and the overwhelming majority aren’t worth remembering. Well, this time I was told correctly, and I can’t actually believe it. Damn. Just last week, the Detroit Regional Chamber released a poll about the gubernatorial race here in Michigan, and this is what they found...In response to one potential three-way matchup, about 34% of voters surveyed said they supported Benson, the current secretary of state from...

A Tennessee man who was jailed for more than a month after refusing to take down a Facebook meme poking fun at the assassination of Charlie Kirk will be paid $850,000 as part of a settlement with officials. Larry Bushart, a 61-year-old retired police officer, spent 37 days behind bars under a $2 million bond before authorities dropped the felony charge against him in October. While in jail, he lost his post-retirement job and missed both his wedding anniversary and the birth of his granddaughter, according to a federal lawsuit Bushart filed against Perry County, Perry County Sheriff Nick Weems...

The United States will be sending an additional 5,000 troops ​to Poland, U.S. President Donald Trump said on ‌Thursday. Trump, in a Truth Social post, cited his relationship with Poland’s conservative nationalist president, Karol Nawrocki, as the reason behind his decision ​to send additional troops. The announcement comes two days ​after U.S. Vice President JD Vance told reporters a ⁠U.S. troop deployment to Poland had been delayed.

Seattle’s official LGBT Commission is calling on socialist Mayor Katie Wilson to declare a formal “state of emergency” over what it calls a “trans relocation crisis,” and is demanding the city provide free housing and taxpayer-funded salaries for trans activist groups to support thousands of transgender-identifying individuals allegedly fleeing red states. The commission claims “tens of thousands” of “trans refugees” have fled to Seattle in order to escape “genocidal and vile legislation” passed in Republican states that restrict sex change procedures for minors. In an official statement, the advisory body demanded the city immediately step up with housing “run by...

Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar on Wednesday denied allegations she knew about a widespread fraud scheme, following the Vice President's claims that the Department of Justice (DOJ) was investigating her. Omar's statement to Newsweek also followed an allegation from the purported mastermind of the $250 million meals scam that Omar was in on the conspiracy, adding fuel to ongoing accusations by some within the Trump administration that the Representative has committed various forms of fraud, including immigration. “Any claim that I had knowledge of this scheme is flat-out false," Omar said in her statement shared with Newsweek. "The moment this fraud...

Starbucks SBUX.O terminated a worker-facing AI program for automating inventory counts this week, nine months after deploying it across its North American stores, according to an internal newsletter reviewed by Reuters and two people with direct knowledge of the situation. The tool was part of CEO Brian Niccol’s efforts to fix the coffee chain’s persistent product shortages that he has blamed for hurting sales. “Starting today, Automated Counting will be retired,” read an internal company newsletter from Monday that Reuters reviewed and verified with two employees. “Beverage components and milk will now be counted the same way you count other...