Free Republic

>The conclusion of an agreement to normalize diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba has the White House treading cautiously, especially after bipartisan condemnation from Cuban-American Senators Marco Rubio and Bob Menendez. The latter, who chaired the Foreign Relations Committee until yesterday, accused Barack Obama of “vindicat[ing] the brutal behavior of the Cuban government” and of “set[ting] an extremely dangerous precedent.” Menendez is of course a Democrat and ostensibly an ally of the White House on foreign policy.In anticipation, at least one official in the Obama administration has decided it’s better to share the credit, and preferably with someone whose...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) People without insurance are running out of time to avoid the hefty ObamaCare penalties that the IRS will be handing down in 2016. Consumers face a Feb. 15, 2015, deadline to buy insurance, after which those without coverage could be hit with fines of $325 per adult or 2 percent of family income, whichever is higher. Uninsured people looking to escape the penalties are turning to the exchanges before they close, while insurance companies and tax preparers are seizing on the looming tax hit as a business opportunity. One recent mass mailer from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield obtained by The...

FULL TITLE: Cardinal Burke receives petition signed by 30,000 supporters: says, ‘do not give way to discouragement!’ On Thursday, LifeSiteNews presented Cardinal Raymond Burke with a handsomely bound book signed by over 29,000 people who had expressed their thanks for the cardinal’s Vatican service, and pledged to pray for him and to follow his example.The cardinal expressed his “deepest gratitude” for the show of “support and most of all for your prayers.”An online petition of support for the Cardinal Burke, one of the most unequivocal pro-life and pro-family voices in the Catholic Church, was launched in November by LifeSiteNews after...

Korean Air will be punished with a flight ban or fines after the daughter of its chief executive delayed a flight with a tantrum over being served macadamia nuts she had not asked for. Cho Hyun-Ah, a former senior executive with the carrier, forced the chief cabin crew member off a New York-Seoul flight after she took exception to the snack - and the fact it was served in a bag rather a bowl. The 'nut rage' incident caused a national uproar in South Korea - and triggered sales of macadamia nuts to soar.

Republican leaders are so far refusing to telegraph their strategy for combating President Obama’s unilateral action on immigration. But they’re under enormous pressure from the right to act fast. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) have no shortage of options. The question is whether any of them would stop Obama in his tracks. Aides to GOP leadership say one weapon in their armory would be for Republicans to sue the president, either by expanding the GOP’s current lawsuit against him on ObamaCare or bringing new legal action. Republicans, who will take...

Back around Halloween we once again narrowly missed a chance to drag confessed pedophile and child rapist Roman Polanski back to the United States to face justice for his monstrous crimes when Poland refused to honor our requests. That was undoubtedly a frustrating experience for many observers, but it won’t hold a candle to how most of us will feel if celebrity attorney Alan Dershowitz has his way. He is seeking to throw the case out entirely so that the known sex offender can freely travel back and forth to America. Alan M. Dershowitz, a lawyer whose celebrity clients...

Fourteen states cut taxes in 2014, including six traditionally blue states, according to a new report by the American Legislative Exchange Council. To make the group’s list, a state must substantially lower taxes at the state level in a broad and neutral manner that does not pick winners and losers, and is not offset by other tax increases. 2014 includes the blue states of New York, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota and Maryland. “The types of tax changes that were passed in 2014 suggest that many states are setting the stage for broader and more fundamental tax changes in the...

Republicans clinched their 247th U.S. House seat on Wednesday when GOP challenger Martha McSally officially unseated Rep. Ron Barber (D-Ariz.), bringing to an end the final unresolved congressional election of the midterms and handing the GOP its largest majority in the chamber since the Great Depression. McSally's narrow win, which came after a recount, means that House Republicans will begin the 114th Congress with a 247-188 advantage over Democrats. It is the largest GOP majority since Republicans claimed 270 seats in the 1928 election.

Only eight days prior to the horrendous slaughter of children and school staff in Pakistan, Barack Obama released Pakistani Taliban leader, the second in command of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). This is the exact group claiming responsibility for today’s massacre in Peshawar, leaving 141 dead. Senior TTP commander Latif Mehsud (pictured above) was handed over to Pakistani authorities according to the source there. This was not the first time Obama has handed over Taliban leaders to Pakistan authorities who then have released them into the main populace. It is not without merit to wonder if today’s attack has any relation to...

High in the catalogue of social pathologies afflicting marriage and the family in America stands our system of family law, the central purpose of which is to enforce no-fault divorce. In a letter to the Holy Father and the recent Extraordinary Synod on the Family, almost fifty international scholars and religious leaders joined us in urging the Church to consider the effects of no-fault divorce, along with other barriers to faithful, lifelong marriage. State laws on divorce began to be implemented in the late 1960s, but today have been absorbed into the legal and cultural mainstream nationwide. The logic of...

On the teetering economy and possible economic collapse, Dr. Roberts says, “We know something serious is wrong. The only provision of Dodd-Frank that has any teeth is the provision that says if the big banks are going to be casinos and gamble on derivatives, they cannot do that in the depository institution where depositors have their accounts. They have to farm it out into subsidiaries. So, if the subsidiaries get into trouble, the subsidiaries have no access to depositors’ money. This is the only real reform part of Dodd-Frank. Citigroup got put into the recent spending bill, the repeal of...

ROME — Pope Francis had quite a 78th birthday. between Cuba and the United States — and the disclosure that the Argentine pope played a key role as broker. Francis is being credited for helping bridge the divide by first sending letters to President Obama and President Raúl Castro of Cuba, and then having the Vatican host a diplomatic meeting between the two sides in October.

Democratic New York Congressman Charlie Rangel said on MSNBC’s “Ronan Farrow Daily” that in the aftermath of the normalization of relations with Cuba, he has “never been more proud of being an American.” (RELATED: Raul Castro Urges Obama To Use ‘Executive Action’ To Overrule Congress)Rangel, who was in Havana for some reason, said the Cuban people were ecstatic. ”This is a tremendous, historic event, the people in Havana are dancing in the street with glee, there’s always been a love between the Cuban people and the American people, notwithstanding the problems our governments have had.”

Gov. Rick Snyder is touting his handling of the Detroit bankruptcy to media outlets around the country. While the bankruptcy went smoothly compared to other municipal proceedings, there is a difference between emerging from bankruptcy and fixing the city government’s problems. Whether Detroit will be successful remains to be seen. The city emerges from bankruptcy having reduced its debt burdens, including large cuts to its retiree health insurance and to its pension benefits. City debts had been looming to take two-thirds of city operating revenue. While easing these burdens was necessary, there is a lot more that needs to be...

Tuesday on NewsMax TV's "MidPoint," Rev. Jesse Jackson addressed accusations of race-baiting by black leaders such as himself and Al Sharpton by comparing them to race baiting allegations from infamous segregationist George Wallace towards civil rights icon Rev. Martin Luther King. "I will tell you there are people who have appeared on this show before, who every time we discuss the leaders of the black movement in this country, they take your name and they put it in the same sentence as Al Sharpton and they say the two of you, people have said this on our show, are race...

Sen. Marco Rubio is expressing concern and frustration with the Obama administration’s plans to restore relations with Cuba. “Today’s announcement initiating a dramatic change in U.S. policy toward Cuba is just the latest in a long line of failed attempts by President Obama to appease rogue regimes at all costs,” Rubio said in a statement Wednesday morning. The Florida lawmaker, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba in the 1950s, said he was pleased that American Alan Gross have been freed from captivity in Cuba. But Rubio sounded a negative tone about what the U.S. gave up in order...

President Barack Obama's historic move to loosen the U.S. embargo on Cuba opens a political minefield for Republicans with presidential aspirations. The announcement immediately threw two Florida politicians -- Sen. Marco Rubio and former Governor Jeb Bush -- into the spotlight and served as another reminder of the state's enduring importance in presidential politics. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, quickly took a hardline position, vowing to block any nominee the administration might put forward to be an ambassador to Cuba. He called Obama's announcement "truly outrageous and counterproductive" because there has been no "democratic opening" in Cuba. It is...

ROME — Pope Francis had quite a 78th birthday. The pontiff began Wednesday with prayers and a birthday celebration with tango dancers near St. Peter’s Square. His day ended with a historic diplomatic breakthrough between Cuba and the United States — and the disclosure that the Argentine pope played a key role as broker. Francis is being credited for helping bridge the divide by first sending letters to President Obama and President Raúl Castro of Cuba, and then having the Vatican host a diplomatic meeting between the two sides in October. “The Holy Father wishes to express his warm congratulations...

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ) slammed the Obama administration for exchanging imprisoned aid worker Alan Gross with Cuba for three Cuban spies. Menendez calls it a dangerous precedent and one that absolves the Castro regime’s behavior. “Let's be clear, this was not a ‘humanitarian’ act by the Castro regime. It was a swap of convicted spies for an innocent American,” the New Jersey Democrat said in a statement. “President Obama's actions have vindicated the brutal behavior of the Cuban government.” Menendez — whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba — stressed that there is no “equivalence”...

'It's all about us being the No. 1 enemy of these people' PALM BEACH, Florida – With the announcement Tuesday by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush that he plans to “actively explore” a run for president in 2016, radio host Rush Limbaugh says the real reason Jeb is seeking the White House is to choke the influence of tea-party conservatives out of the Republican Party. “You want to know why Jeb Bush is thinking about running?” Limbaugh asked on his top-rated program Tuesday. “He’s … being looked at as savior by the big-money donor class and the consultant class –...