Free Republic

WASHINGTON, DC, Feb 12 – “We’re not giving up on our efforts to eliminate the unfair income tax on Social Security benefits. The Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act is being reintroduced and the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC] will be doing what it takes to encourage lawmakers to support the measure,” says Bob Carlstrom, president of AMAC Action, the association’s senior advocacy affiliate. The original Social Security and tier 1 railroad retirement benefits were specifically exempted from income taxes when they were created in the mid 1930s. “After all, workers pay for them with taxes that are taken out...

And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent. 1 Samuel 17:54 America just has gone through a fake impeachment to hide a fake election hidden by a fake media which resulted in a fake President who is using this fake election to turn this country into a Communist dictatorship. Since we wasted six months catering to the Democrat Communist Party it is time to realize nothing, we have watched during fake pandemic house arrest has been true it is time to break down the most sacred of...

The British economy suffered its biggest decline in more than 300 years in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic closed shops and restaurants, devastated the travel industry and curtailed manufacturing.The economy shrank 9.9% last year, more than twice the figure for 2009 at the height of the global financial crisis, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. The drop is the largest since 1709, when a cold spell known as the Great Frost devastated what was then a largely agricultural economy.

Opinions needed on best King Cake from a commercial bakery. So far most impressed with Paul's. Just ordered a Haydel's and the filling was placed in blobs on the top. So not really a "filling" and unevenly spread. Would have DIYed but in a cast this year.

Prayers up for continuing progress and success!! FR is funded solely by contributions made by the liberty loving patriots who love and use it. We are beholden to no political party. No advertisers, no outsiders, no sugar daddies, no corporate string pullers. Definitely no government subsidies or tax breaks. No 501c or other IRS non-profit status. This means no commercial ads. No annoying pop-ups. No ad tracking. No mail campaigns. No spam. No third-parties -- not even the IRS -- trying to control what we do or say. We are self-funded, fiercely independent and enjoy our freedom to speak plainly...

We know a lot more on February 12 than on January 6. First, it is clear that the assault on the Capitol has become the most damaging event of Donald Trump’s political career. Combined with forfeiting the Senate in the January run-off elections, the lethal storming of the federal legislature by Trump’s most unscrupulous and foolhardy supporters the next day has now overshadowed a surprisingly strong performance for then-President Trump and the GOP last fall, in a year where everything went wrong.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told fellow GOP senators via email Saturday morning that he will vote to acquit President Trump when his impeachment trial comes to a vote.

It was only when Attorney General Letitia James faulted the state’s nursing-home data that the Cuomo administration’s stonewall started crumbling. And it took a court victory by the Empire Center, and a judge’s order, to finally flush out the full truth on behalf of more than 15,000 long-term care residents who died — and 15,000 families who lost loved ones. DeRosa’s implausible apology came Feb. 10, which was also the deadline for the state to comply with the court order. That’s probably no coincidence. The bottom line: Cuomo and his administration deceived New Yorkers as long as they could and...

Does the national mask mandate make you feel safe? Candidate Joe Biden's promised plan to control the COVID-19 pandemic featured everybody wearing a mask for 100 days. Former CDC Director Robert Redfield said it might take only four, six or eight weeks (up to 56 days), and later up to 12 weeks (84 days). Now we not only have an Executive Order for mask wearing on federal property and for federal employees and contractors, but the CDC has declared it a federal crime not to wear a mask on public transport or in transportation hubs. There was no constitutional amendment...

Good morning my conservative FRiends. I am reaching out to hopefully get an answer to my lifelong question of a central belief in the Christian faith, especially the Roman Catholic faith. Background: I grew up in a very Roman Catholic family. I am number 10 of 13 children, 8 boys, 5 girls. Mom also had 2 miscarriages which in truth, she became pregnant with 10 boys rather than the 8. Mom had 15 pregnancies in 17 years. We went to Mass every Sunday and all the holy days. Mom actually taught Catechism to the community and was a very loving...

What is in a word definition? For example, when you say you love your country, what's embedded in that? What does that mean? For me, the 51 constitutions of the states and the U.S. Constitution come to mind. That's not at all what comes to mind to a progressive. If you actually listen to the progressives, they'll tell you. In May of 1918, Theodore Roosevelt wrote the following: Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President or any other public officialYou've seen this quote before. You may have even used it yourself....

As I have written before, Critical Race Theory has become the central doctrine in the Democrats’ push to fundamentally transform the United States from a constitutional republic dedicated to protected the rights and liberties of Americans into a despotic fascist state where the government uses its coercive powers to distribute benefits and privileges among officially favored and disfavored social groups. The far left disguises this toxic doctrine as an outgrowth of the civil rights movement by using words such as “equity” (i.e. equality of outcomes rather instead of equality before the law and equality of opportunity) and “diversity and inclusiveness”...

When I worked as a consultant, I would occasionally speak with employees who were frustrated at the lack of guidance they would get from supervisors and managers. The remark uttered by their superiors, when employees would ask about benchmarks, goals, end results, and other factors was maddening: “I’ll know it when I see it.” This comment angered me on the employees’ behalf. It is unfair and manipulative in so many ways. It was impossible to tell whether the manager had no clue about how to do the work, was unwilling or unable to be specific, or whether the manager was...

Last summer I read an engrossing book entitled "1421: The Year China Discovered America" by Gavin Menzies, a retired British submarine lieutenant commander turned amateur archeologist. The book documented his efforts to demonstrate how a Chinese fleet of hundreds (perhaps thousands) of ships set sail in 1421 and circumnavigated the world, touching base everywhere from the Americas (North and South), Australia, Africa, Greenland, Europe, and all points between. The purpose of the expeditions, according to Menzies, was to chart the waters of the globe, impress and intimidate foreign rulers, and bring the entire world into China's "tribute system." ...during the...

OUR WASHINGTON DISPATCHES. WASHINGTON, Tuesday, Feb. 12. The Peace Conference adjourned over to-day awaiting the report from the Committee on propositions for adjustment. It is expected that they will submit something to-morrow. A very general feeling continues to prevail that something will be agreed upon satisfactory to a large majority of the Convention, though the delegations are so divided in opinion that it is impossible to form any definite idea as to what form the measures will take. A prominent Northern anti-compromise member says to-night that he should not be surprised if the Convention finally agreed upon a National Constitutional...

Currently residential real estate is predominantly taxed based on its estimated market value. Ad valorum taxation stems from the colonial era when an acre of land far from the Atlantic Ocean was worth less than an acre of land near the Atlantic Ocean. Ad valorum taxation made sense when getting agricultural goods from the hinterlands to coastal city markets was very difficult and expensive. In 2021, ad valorum taxation creates a great incentive for local governments and others to make residential real estate very expensive. This is clearest in California, where it may cost $700,000 to add a new apartment...

The Democratic House impeachment managers are charging that President Trump incited violence by urging supporters to "fight like hell." In response, Trump defense lawyers on Friday played a video montage of dozens of Democratic leaders using the same words. For example, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who launched both impeachment campaigns, said: "I just don't even know why there aren't uprisings all over the country. Maybe there will be." And she said, "You've got to be ready to throw a punch." Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said, 'I think you need to go back and punch him in the face." Joe Biden...

I could find another thread on today's events in the Senate Chamber.

Biden has abandoned bipartisan compromise and pushed full-steam-ahead to pass his entire sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 spending package. The president’s proposal includes $1,400 “stimulus” checks for more Americans, $350 billion to bail out state and local governments, a renewal of super-charged unemployment benefits through September, money for vaccine distribution, a federal $15 minimum wage, and much, much more. Democrats in Congress are determined to mark up the bill over the next few weeks and pass it by early March. But the state of the economy doesn’t support this spending bonanza—not even close. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is projecting a...

7.1 earthquake off coast of Japan. Two counties in Japan are without power.