Free Republic

‘Completely unworkable,” “irresponsible,” “happy talk,” “a disservice to the political process.” That’s just a sampling of what tax experts, most of them right of center, told me they think of one of the most popular lines from Ted Cruz’s stump speech, his promise to abolish the Internal Revenue Service. Senator Cruz has been talking about the idea for a couple of years now, but it got a bit more attention when he mentioned it in the speech he gave at Liberty University to officially launch his presidential campaign. You can expect the idea to get even more popular in light...

Dr. Warren Weinstein, an American aid worker held hostage by al Qaeda, was accidentally killed in a U.S. counter-terrorism operation, as was an Italian hostage, Giovanni Lo Porto, and another American who was an al Qaeda leader, the White House announced on Thursday. Officials also announced that a separate operation killed Adam Gadahn, another American who became a prominent al Qaeda member. The White House said it was unaware the four were present at the sites. President Obama was set to make a statement after 10 a.m. ET. "The operation targeted an al-Qa'ida-associated compound, where we had no reason to...

A security video showing a mob of students brutally beating two high schoolers in a Philadelphia subway station on Tuesday is being investigated by the city’s transportation officers. “It’s an outrageous event. This is so dangerous, it’s not even funny,” Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority Police Chief Thomas J. Nestel III told Philly.com. “We have operating trains down there. There are passengers waiting for the train ... it’s horrendous.” The video, which was time-stamped around 3:15 p.m., shows about a dozen teenagers either participating in a one-minute assault on two male students, or cheering it on. One of the assailants falls...

The precipitous fall in oil prices in recent months has led to a lessening of demand for fracking services. Where once there were more than 60 companies engaged in hydraulic fracturing, there are now 41. And one industry expert expects that number to halve over the coming year as demand slides even further. Bloomberg: Half of the 41 fracking companies operating in the U.S. will be dead or sold by year-end because of slashed spending by oil companies, an executive with Weatherford International Plc said. There could be about 20 companies left that provide hydraulic fracturing services, Rob Fulks, pressure...

Clinton charities will refile YEARS of tax returns after misreporting tens of millions of dollars in donations from foreign governments A Reuters investigation uncovered errors in tax returns filed by the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Health Access Initiative For 3 years, the Clinton Foundation reported it had received nothing from foreign and U.S. governments - despite receiving millions previously It will now refile its tax returns from 2010, 2011 and 2012 but has not ruled out reviewing tax returns extending back as many as 15 years The Clinton Health Access Initiative is refiling forms from at least 2 years...

It's early in the Republican presidential primary process, but at this point former Florida governor Jeb Bush is a slight favorite. However, the latest CNN/ORC poll indicates that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is closing in on Bush. In a large GOP field that features archconservatives and outright crazies, Walker is the most disturbing because his stock-in-trade is mobilizing the resentment of working-class white voters. According to the CNN/ORC poll, the ranking of Republican presidential candidates is Jeb Bush (17 percent), Scott Walker (12 percent), Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (11 percent), Florida Senator Marco Rubio (11 percent), former Arkansas Governor Mike...

The White House says U.S. counterterrorism operations killed American and Italian hostages held by Al Qaeda, as well as two Americans who were working with the terror organization. It says the U.S. recently concluded that American Warren Weinstein and Italian national Giovanni Lo Porto, hostages held by Al Qaeda, were killed in a January operation in a border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The White House says it also believes two other Americans were recently killed in a counterterrorism operation in the same region.

Austrian lawmakers' decision to condemn as "genocide" the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I will have "unfavourable repercussions" on Turkish-Austrian relations, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday. "The adoption of this declaration will inevitably have unfavourable repercussions on bilateral relations," he told his Austrian counterpart Sebastian Kurz by telephone, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Turkey on Wednesday recalled its ambassador to Austria over the lawmakers' condemnation. Earlier Wednesday, the leaders of Austria's six major parties issued a statement recognising the killings for the first time as "genocide" and calling on Turkey to...

As two of Virginia's top Democrats weigh running for governor in 2017, potentially against each other, they are embracing traditionally liberal issues in a way that would have been politically toxic just years ago in the Upper South state. The bet that both Attorney General Mark Herring and Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam are making is not only that the strongest possible progressive record would help win a Democratic primary, but that it will also help in the general election. Nationally, Democrats have grown emboldened on cultural issues over the past few years, and Virginia—where demographic shifts have widened their path...

The hits against Americans by the Internal Revenue Service, which has been weaponized under the tutelage of the most authoritarian regime in U.S. history, continues unabated, this time with an abuse of taxpayer money that should get your blood boiling. As most of us know tax season is upon us, and despite the passage of April 15 – the annual deadline for filing last year’s taxes – millions are still struggling to get their returns completed. Many are frustrated simply because they can’t get through to the IRS, which is supposed to be there to lend assistance to taxpayers so...

MADISON, Wis. – The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Patrick Marley confirms he was the mysterious reporter Cindy Archer spotted as armed police swarmed her home during a dramatic September 2011 police raid, one of several in the Milwaukee district attorney’s secret war on conservatives. “I was the one who was there. I arrived an hour or two after the raid began,” Marley told Wisconsin Watchdog on Wednesday. Who tipped him off? “I don’t reveal sources, and I typically don’t help those trying to figure out my sources by telling them who my sources aren’t,” Marley said. Marley’s appearance at what was...

Naomi Campbell, Connie Britton, Jane Fonda, and Lucy Liu will be among the high-wattage stars lending a touch of Hollywood to the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on Saturday. The annual soiree — which not long ago attracted tabloid sensations such as Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan — has in recent years been a bit more understated. But the lineup for events surrounding the correspondents’ dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel is anything but low-key; more than two dozen happenings are being held across the city throughout the weekend.

Paternal grandmother of U.S. President Barack Obama attended an exhibition detailing the life of the Prophet Mohammad at the end of a pilgrimage in the Saudi city of Makkah, local media reported Wednesday. Sara Omar, who is in her 90s, arrived in Makkah - considered in Islam to be the holiest city - with her son and grandson Saeed and Mousa Obama. Unlike the Hajj pilgrimage - a trip to the cities of Makkah and Madinah which every able-bodied Muslim is expected to undertake at least once in their lifetime - Umrah can be undertaken at any time of the...

So now Hillary Clinton, champion of the middle class, says she wants to "reshuffle" a deck stacked in favor of the rich and "topple" the wealthiest 1% — the latest grenade launch in her class-warfare campaign. 'There's something wrong," the former secretary of state declared last week in Iowa, "when CEOs make 300 times more than the American worker." This from a woman who makes more in an hour on the speaker circuit (her fee is about $200,000 per speech) than the average worker who waits on the tables at her fundraising galas makes in three years. A sweet deal...

A dozen A-10 attack jets have been deployed to the Middle East in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the Air Force announced this week. The deployment of 350 airmen and the 12 "Warthogs" come as Congress and the Pentagon battle over whether to retire the popular aircraft, which provides close air support for troops in combat. This is the second deployment of an A-10 unit in the fight against ISIS. Air Force leaders say the service can't afford to maintain the attack jet under defense budget constraints and that other aircraft can conduct the close...

Faithful readers of this blog will recall a recent post about low morale in the Army. Go here to read about it. Now we have this story which succinctly demonstrates why the morale is plummeting. On Monday, Army ROTC cadets at an Arizona State University campus were reportedly pressured into participating in an event allegedly designed to promote awareness of sexual violence against women, the Washington Times reported. The event, according to reports, required cadets to walk around campus wearing red high heel shoes.Last year, the Times said, the Army encouraged cadets to voluntarily participate in what was billed as...

The TV network Al-Jazeera was off the air in India on Thursday following a 5-day suspension ordered by the government over maps of the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. India is deeply sensitive about how Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both, is portrayed on maps. A government report said that in the Al-Jazeera maps a portion of Kashmir had “not been shown as a part of Indian territory.” The suspension began Wednesday and is to last until next Monday. …

The feminist groups "Pussy Division" and "Feminist Apparel" are now posting signs over Philadelphia proclaiming that the area is a "no catcalling" zone. Signs like these are under stop and parking signs in the city: Pussy Division and Feminist Apparel are proud of their work, asking people on the signs to follow them on twitter @PussyDivision and @FeministApparel. Feminist Apparel has a picture of another mass-produced sign that they've put up, which features stick figure men yelling at a cat and grabbing their crotch: They also have another tweet about another sign featuring a cat, this time with it driving...

Repeated concessions by the Obama administration during ongoing nuclear talks with Iran have all but guaranteed that the Islamic Republic will emerge as a nuclear threshold state that could build a weapon with little effort, according to arms control experts who testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday.Stephen Rademaker, national security adviser for the Bipartisan Policy Center and former assistant secretary of state for arms control, international security, and nonproliferation during the George W. Bush administration, said during the hearing that the recent preliminary deal “fundamentally signifies acceptance by the international community of Iran as a nuclear weapons...

I ran, Victor Pinchuk, and the Clinton Foundation? Did you miss the story of Erika Smalley? Where to begin as the fairy tale image of Hillary Clinton begins to dissolve under the white heat of a presidential campaign? The smoldering began yesterday afternoon on Sean Hannity’s radio show when Hannity tipped breaking news by saying, “I have sources, and I am telling you that maybe even as early as tomorrow there is going to be a huge, massive blow-up for the Clintons. You might hear this figure: 100 million dollars. And you might hear a country that is named Iran....