Free Republic

A proposal by Senate Democrats to lower the income cap for COVID-19 stimulus checks would leave out nearly 12 million Americans, according to a new analysis. Under the latest proposal, individuals earning up to $75,000 per year would receive $1,400 checks, but the payments would decline sharply up to $80,000, where they would phase out completely. About 200 million Americans would get the stimulus checks under the new Senate plan, which is 11.8 million fewer than a relief bill passed by the House last week, according to estimates from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. That bill sets a...

<p>Wait, what? We’re supposed to fall in love with them without ever thinking about who they are, and yet they’re all Muslim.</p>

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has requested a meeting with President Biden to discuss the rising numbers of unaccompanied migrant children at the U.S.-Mexico border, in a letter sent on Friday. Why it matters: Biden is facing criticism from the right and the left as agency actions and media reports reveal spiking numbers of migrant children overwhelming parts of the U.S. immigration system. Recent data shows an average of 321 kids being referred to migrant shelters each day, as Axios reported.

Texas and Mississippi followed Florida’s lead this week and announced they would lift key business restrictions and end statewide mask mandates, but many popular retailers plan to continue requiring customers to wear face coverings in their stores.

Edie Falco will star as Hillary Clinton in the upcoming FX series “Impeachment: American Crime Story.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, the former star of “The Sopranos” will join Sarah Paulson, Clive Owen and Billy Eichner about former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial and his scandal with Monica Lewinsky. There is no release date as of right now for “Impeachment: American Crime Story.”

Washington Post national correspondent Philip Bump made a wild argument to try to pressure Congress to pass a massive $1.9 trillion stimulus bill that his own newspaper said may be “mismatched.” Bump’s March 4 story, updated March 5, kicked off with a gross headline: “While the Senate read the coronavirus relief bill, nearly 900 Americans may have died from the virus.” Bump decried how the Senate vote on the bill was delayed because “Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) decided to force the chamber to read the 628-page bill in its entirety.” Bump praised how the bill included “financial support for millions...

Cruise ship operator Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NYSE: NCLH) sought to take advantage of a rebound in its stock price with a public offering of 47.58 million shares. The cruise operator's ships are still stuck in port, but its stock has quadrupled from its year-ago low point on hopes of returning to the high seas soon. Shares have nearly doubled in the past six months and are up 50% over the past month. Yet because Norwegian priced its offering at $30 a share, an almost 10% discount to where shares had closed the day before, the cruise line stock was...

ABC legal analyst Sunny Hostin said on Friday’s broadcast of “The View” that Republicans are “pearl-clutching over language” by objecting to President Joe Biden, saying scrapping mask mandates is “neanderthal thinking.” In a video, when asked about Texas and Mississippi lifting mask mandates, Biden said, “There’s a mistake. I hope everybody’s realized by now these masks make a difference. We are on the cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease because of the way in which we’re able to get vaccines in people’s arms. We have been able to move that all the way up...

House Democrats passed H.R. 1, the so-called “For the People Act,” on Wednesday. The bill would radically change American democracy, nationalizing elections and making permanent changes to voting rules that would virtually ensure Democrats never lose another election. The bill is 791 pages long — a massive piece of legislation, adopted with little examination or debate. Some provisions — like expanding access for voters with disabilities, improving election security, and ensuring that all voting machines use in U.S. elections are also manufactured in the U.S. — are uncontroversial. Others are potentially explosive.

This week, MSNBC host Joy Reid stated that “people on the right would trade all the tax cuts for the ability to openly say the N-word like in ‘the good old days,’” adding that those same people’s inability “to be openly racist and discriminatory without consequence is oppression. Trump is the avatar for this ‘freedom.’” Reid’s comment came after former New York Times writer Bari Weiss published a column on Tuesday titled, “The self-silencing majority: In red America and blue America, an epidemic of self-censorship is threatening democracy.” In the column, she states, “I know a lot of people who...

“And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.…. Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God” (Hebrews 3:18-19,12). Hebrews warns the New Testament church to heed Israel’s example. Consider what happened to the unbelieving generation who were turned back into the wilderness. God told them pointedly that his hand would be against them. From then on, all they would know is distress and leanness...

Microsoft has teamed up with a number of tech and media companies to create a system of tracing content around the internet that could destroy online privacy and anonymity, radically transforming the nature of the web.

An appeals court ruled Friday that a lower court erred in dismissing a third-degree murder charge against the former Minneapolis police officer accused in the killing of George Floyd, clearing the way for the Minneapolis attorney general's office to try to have the charge reinstated. Derek Chauvin, who was seen on a bystander video kneeling on Floyd's neck for several minutes, faces second-degree murder and manslaughter charges. His trial begins Monday.

“He will draw near to you” (James 4:8). God will come near to the truly humble, who have by faith sought to be close to Him. One of the greatest promises in the Bible is that God responds to the humble and draws near to them. Such people will yearn for a closeness to God by which they can know Him, love Him, learn His Word, praise Him, pray to Him, and fellowship with Him. In summary, the humble will be true worshipers, those who “worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:23). John 4:23 concludes with the statement,...

U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX) reported the apprehension of approximately 10,000 migrants in the last seven days in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. He said agents apprehended 2,500 in the past two days alone. “We are weeks, maybe even days, away from a crisis on the southern border. Inaction is simply not an option,” Congressman Cuellar said in a written statement. “Our country is currently unprepared to handle a surge in migrants in the middle of the pandemic.” The Laredo congressman said the illegal border crossings are “potentially exposing border communities to the coronavirus and putting us at risk. Right...

The Biden administration has declined to release virtual visitor logs for the White House after promising to do so during the 2020 campaign season. President Obama first instituted the practice of releasing visitor logs for the White House, but the Trump administration ceased doing so. While the current administration has made records of in-person visits to the White House available, it has declined to do so for virtual meetings. “For the sake of clarity—The Biden-Harris Administration will return to the policy of releasing White House visitor logs,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki wrote on Twitter on January 15. Psaki...

If you have been paying attention to the corporate media’s narrative you will understand that the “mostly peaceful” protests that rocked this nation for much of last year are over. They were directed at the racist, homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic regime of President Trump and the oppressive, colonialist system he represented. Trump is gone. Biden is in. It is all better now. Except, of course, none of that is true. None of that was ever true. The perhaps $2 billion in property damages suffered across the nation in 2020 were not the product of spontaneous, peaceful demonstrations designed to call attention...

PITTSBURGH — A record 745,000 Americans filed for jobless benefits for the first time last week. With so many people seeking financial help, the city of Pittsburgh is trying a new approach: handing out money. Pittsburgh is one of 30 cities across the country participating in a pilot program that provides free money to certain families who are struggling. “The best way to break the cycles of poverty is to give people money,” said Mayor Bill Peduto (D-Pittsburgh). 100 low-income African American women, who are working and have families, will receive $500 every month for two years. No tax dollars...

Build Back Better. This is the slogan of the New World Order – aka the Great Reset. You hear it often these days intoned — in the manner of dutiful Stepford Wives — by everyone from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Prince of Wales to Canadian blackface artiste Justin Trudeau and, inevitably, Joe Biden who has adopted it as his campaign slogan. About the only leader you won’t hear using it is Donald Trump because he recognises its true significance. Build Back Better is the code phrase for one of the most terrifying and dangerous, globally co-ordinated assaults...

The IDF has completed the construction of the underground concrete wall between Israel and the Gaza Strip, as part of the effort to prevent terrorists from crossing into Israel via cross-border tunnels. The concrete wall is just one component in the 60 km.-long barrier, which also includes a fence above the ground, advanced sensors both above and underground, and cutting-edge technologies meant to tackle the tunnel threat and stop terrorist infiltrations. Senior IDF sources told The Jerusalem Post that almost 95% of the barrier has been completed, and that it will be operational in the near future. Hamas is believed...