Free Republic

Republicans and Democrats finally stopped squabbling long enough to spend an estimated $2 trillion on what they claim is emergency coronavirus relief. Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly of the bill. The Good 1. Payroll Tax Deferral Employer-side payroll tax payments are suspended through the end of the year, to be paid half by year-end 2021 and half by year-end 2022. This will increase business liquidity by about $700 billion. While I would have preferred a cut to a deferral, this will significantly lessen the near-term tax burden on business payrolls, encouraging businesses to retain and restore jobs....

Left-wing director Rob Reiner emphatically declared on Tuesday that President Trump is “causing people in NY to DIE” as the coronavirus pandemic rages on in the United States. The actor-director told his 924k Twitter followers on Tuesday that Trump is effectively causing individuals to die in New York — one of the country’s hotspots for the virus. Singer Cher, who recently declared the president was a “liar” and “murderer,” appeared to agree with Reiner, retweeting his declaration on Wednesday. New York has over 30,000 confirmed cases of the virus. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has continued to press the importance of social...

Nine women escaped from a South Dakota jail where a fellow inmate tested positive for coronavirus, authorities said. The inmates broke out of the minimum-security Pierre Community Work Center late Monday by walking out an exterior door, the South Dakota Department of Corrections said Tuesday. Three of the women — identified as Kelsey Flute, 30, Jordan Wakeman, 27, and Pamela Miller, 28 — were apprehended Tuesday after a search that included aircraft operated by the South Dakota Highway Patrol, corrections officials said. The women left the jail on the same day the South Dakota Department of Health announced a confirmed...

Like most of the country, you probably forgot that CW’s Roswell, New Mexico was renewed for a second season. After the first season’s obnoxious political leanings, unfortunately, season two seems to be ramping up the politics, if this episode is any indication. From an alien abortion to praising nationalized healthcare to slamming the border wall, it’s an out-of-this-world cocktail of leftist issues. The March 23 episode “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space” covers a lot of issues recently introduced in last week’s season premiere. The biggest one, however, is Isobel (Lily Cowles) discovering that she is actually pregnant...

Prince Charles’ coronavirus diagnosis may not be serious, but his loved ones within the royal household are said to be worried, one palace insider is alleging. The 71-year-old, who is first in line to the British throne, has tested positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic after displaying mild symptoms, his office announced. “The Prince of Wales has tested positive for Coronavirus. He has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual," a rep from Clarence House told Fox News in a statement Wednesday morning.

Fox Corporation and iHeartMedia have teamed up to provide entertainment and support for Americans during the coronavirus pandemic with a special event on Sunday night hosted by music legend Elton John. “FOX Presents the IHeart Living Room Concert for America” will air on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on all FOX platforms and iHeartMedia radio stations nationwide. The special concert event will pay tribute to front-line medical professionals working to treat coronavirus patients, first responders, and local heroes while soliciting donations from viewers and listeners.

For those wondering how long they'll have to be in quarantine because of the COVID-19 respiratory disease, the question for those in the US may not be how long, but how many times. Work posted on the medRxive pre-print server Tuesday by a group of researchers at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston suggests that multiple targeted periods of "social distancing" of various kinds will likely be necessary for the US before any vaccine is found for the disease. There's a tension in fighting COVID-19: So-called herd immunity needs to be built up, which requires that the...

The Daily Mail, the popular British tabloid widely read in the United States, has published dozens of articles in recent months about coronavirus that were based on stories originating from People’s Daily, the communist party’s official newspaper, and other Chinese propaganda mills. A Daily Caller News Foundation investigation found that the Daily Mail has published thousands of articles in recent years as part of a content-sharing agreement with People’s Daily. On Monday, the Daily Mail published a story with the headline: “Beijing’s leading doctor warns of a NEW coronavirus outbreak in China after the country reported its first case of...

Status of COVID-19 As of 19 March 2020, COVID-19 is no longer considered to be a high consequence infectious diseases (HCID) in the UK. The 4 nations public health HCID group made an interim recommendation in January 2020 to classify COVID-19 as an HCID. This was based on consideration of the UK HCID criteria about the virus and the disease with information available during the early stages of the outbreak. Now that more is known about COVID-19, the public health bodies in the UK have reviewed the most up to date information about COVID-19 against the UK HCID criteria. They...

McCaul says China must do more to control animal markets © Stefani Reynolds Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), the top Republican on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, says China must do more with its markets to prevent the outbreak of diseases like the coronavirus. In a Monday letter to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization (WHO), McCaul argues that China should do more to prevent the sale and trade of exotic animals, which he said contributed to the coronavirus pandemic. “While I welcomed the announcement last month that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has permanently banned...

Doctor, former Kansas governor says coronavirus patients 'doing better' in testing with anti-malaria drug Dr. Jeff Colyer on the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 President Trump calls the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine a ‘game changer’ in treating the coronavirus; reaction and analysis from former Kansas governor, practicing surgeon Dr. Jeff Colyer. Anti-malaria drugs ike hydroxychloroquine -- which are being used to treat coronavirus (COVID-19) patients -- are showing positive results, former Kansas governor and practicing surgeon Dr. Jeff Colyer said Wednesday. Appearing on "America's Newsroom" with host Ed Henry, Colyer said that data from testing at the University of Kansas...

HANOVER TOWNSHIP- A grocery store lost over $35,000 after a woman pulls a sick prank. The manager said that a woman, who the police know to be a chronic problem in the community, came in to the store and purposely coughed on the store's fresh produce, and a small section of the bakery, meat case and grocery. "While there is little doubt this woman was doing it as a very twisted prank, we will not take any chances with the health and well-being of our customers," said Fasula. "We had no choice but to throw out all the product she...

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) announced late Wednesday night that he expects the chamber will pass an economic relief bill in response to the coronavirus later in the week in a way that won’t require all members to travel back to Washington. Hoyer wrote in a letter to colleagues that he expects the House will pass the legislation on Friday morning by voice vote. Many lawmakers are fearful of having to travel back and forth between Washington and their communities, as well as congregate with each other in the Capitol. But they are also under pressure to quickly act...

Priti Patel has called for UK borders to be closed to stop people arriving from coronavirus hotspots. The Home Secretary is seeking support for her plans to stop passengers being able to fly in to the UK from countries with high levels of infections such as Iran, the US and China. Mrs. Patel believes flights from virus hotspots should not be allowed when the country is on lockdown to prevent its spread, The Daily Telegraph reported. The lack of a travel ban in the UK is in stark contrast to policies in the EU and the US, which have closed...

Video description: I was born in a socialist country Cuba and thankfully I was able to leave and come to the United States in 2010, I would not wish Socialism to my worse enemy. It destroys Family, Culture, Peace. It is a horrible thing and I am very saddened by the youths support for Socialism. This must stop.

March 26 2020 Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent Reading 1 Ex 32:7-14 The LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once to your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, for they have become depraved. They have soon turned aside from the way I pointed out to them, making for themselves a molten calf and worshiping it, sacrificing to it and crying out, ‘This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ The LORD said to Moses, “I see how stiff-necked this people is. Let me alone, then,...

A major source of information upon which government leaders have relied to urge or order the canceling of public events, shut down of businesses and sheltering in place has proved to be inaccurate. The Federalist's Madeline Osburn points out many members of the media and state officials are relying on an online mapping tool called COVID Act Now. The site, with a map of catastrophic forecasts for each state, boasts of enabling "political leaders to quickly make decisions in their Coronavirus response informed by best available data and modeling." "But a closer look at how many of COVID Act Now's...

A minister who has been leading a weekly Bible-study group for members of President Trump's Cabinet has posted online his belief that amid the coronavirus, America is not experiencing God's "forsaking wrath" but, rather, his "consequential wrath." "Some leading evangelicals believe and teach that America is now experiencing God's judgment," wrote Ralph Drollinger, a former NBA player and the founder of Capitol Ministries, which provides Bible studies, evangelism and discipleship to political leaders. "If that is the case, as a public servant who is sacrificing so much in your attempt to turn our nation around, it would stand to reason...

Bring lots of toilet paper.