Free Republic

WASHINGTON — President Biden wrongly claimed Tuesday that he lowered the national debt by $1.7 trillion — when in fact the debt grew by nearly $3.7 trillion during his first 23 months in office. Biden made the error while using the terms “deficit” and “debt” interchangeably during remarks touting the slight decline in the annual inflation rate to 7.1% in November. “We’ve done all of this while lowering the federal deficit in the two years we’ve been in office $1.7 trillion,” Biden said before incorrectly adding, “Let me say that again — $1.7 trillion we’ve lowered the federal debt.” The...

Indictment says Daniel Duggan provided military training to the pilots through a ‘test flying academy’ in South Africa between 2010-12 Australian pilot Daniel Duggan – a former US Marine Corps aviator – has been accused of breaking American arms control laws by training Chinese fighter pilots to land on aircraft carriers, according to an indictment now unsealed by a US court. The indictment said the naturalised Australian “provided military training to (PRC) People’s Republic of China pilots” through a “test flying academy” in South Africa between 2010 and 2012. Duggan was arrested by Australian authorities, at the request of the...

Outgoing National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” that society was becoming anti-science because “untruths” are being normalized through social media. Mitchell said, “With the rise of disinformation and misinformation, are we developing an anti-science animus in society?” Fauci said, “The answer is yes. The short answer to your question.

A study shows that New York City has lost 10 percent of taxpayers earning over $750,000 and 6 percent of those who make between $150,000 and $750,000. Nevertheless, leftists emboldened by the midterm elections are calling for even more tax increases on the wealthy: A new city analysis shows that a huge chunk of high-income earners fled in 2020. Yet progressives refuse to hear the alarm bell: They’re pushing to “tax the rich” yet again instead. The study by the city’s Independent Budget Office shows a 10% plunge in taxpayers who made over $750,000, and 6% of those with incomes...

HARRISBURG, PA — Future sales of assault weapons and any multi-burst trigger activator would be prohibited in Pennsylvania under legislation poised to be introduced in the state House. Two Democratic representatives, Benjamin Sanchez of Montgomery County Aerion Abney of Allegheny County, are co-sponsoring the assault weapons bill. Sanchez is sponsoring separate legislation that would prohibit the trigger activators. In a memo to colleagues, Sanchez and Abney noted that high-capacity semi-automatic rifles in the style of or similar to an AR-15 were found at the mass shooting sites of an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas; an Orlando nightclub; an elementary school...

Below is my column in the New York Post on the very public plan to target potential witnesses — and even media — in the Biden influence peddling scandal. It is rare to see such a scorched Earth campaign intentionally made public. When Hillary Clinton’s campaign funded the Steele dossier, it hid its role and even denied the funding when asked by reporters. This was clearly an effort to not only reveal the plan but to specifically declare the potential targets, including key witnesses, against the Bidens. Here is the column: Just when you thought our politics could not get...

Elon Musk is no longer the wealthiest person, according to Forbes, after a decline in Tesla share price meant that LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault knocked him from his lofty perch.Musk held the title of the world’s wealthiest man since September 2021, when he overtook Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Arnault made his fortune building the world’s largest luxury conglomerate, which includes brands like Louis Vuitton but also Tiffany, Tag Heuer, and Celine. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is no longer the richest person in the world. He ceded that title to LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault at the close on Monday,...

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand on Tuesday passed into law a unique plan to phase out tobacco smoking by imposing a lifetime ban on young people buying cigarettes. The law states that tobacco can’t ever be sold to anybody born on or after Jan. 1, 2009. It means the minimum age for buying cigarettes will keep going up and up. In theory, somebody trying to buy a pack of cigarettes 50 years from now would need ID to show they were at least 63 years old. But health authorities hope smoking will fade away well before then. They...

A law signed by Gov. Tom Wolf on Nov. 3 encourages doctors to test pregnant women, and children up to 2 years old, who they believe have been exposed to lead. Act 150 is a smart move, but it doesn’t go far enough. Lead is everywhere — especially in industrial regions with older housing, which means Pittsburgh and vast swaths of Pennsylvania. Sen. Lisa Baker, R.-Luzerne, wanted Act 150 to make testing mandatory, but it was watered down in the amendment process. Now she’s reintroducing a bill to switch “encourage” back to “require,” making lead testing mandatory for all young...

WHAT STARTED ON THESE PAGES IN FEBRUARY HAS BECOME A FULL BLOWN HUMILIATION FOR THE BIDEN WHITE HOUSE. Joe Biden’s transgender nuclear energy hire has been fired from his role after being implicated in a series of luggage thefts. Brinton’s role in the Biden government was first revealed here, by The National Pulse, in February. “Sam Brinton is no longer a DOE employee. By law, the Department of Energy cannot comment further on personnel matters,” a spokesperson for the Department of Energy said on Monday. According to the New York Post: The 35-year-old Biden administration deputy assistant secretary for spent...

Cambridge Dictionary is being criticized by conservatives on social media for altering the definitions of the words “man” and “woman” to include people who identify as a gender other than their biological sex. The definition of woman, which previously represented the longstanding view on sex, now states that a woman is “an adult who lives and identifies as female though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth.” Similarly, a man is now defined as “an adult who lives and identifies as male though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth.”...

(NewsNation) — Grocery shoppers have become resourceful amid America’s ongoing record inflation, which has spiked grocery prices by 13% over the last year. According to a September Food Dive study, six out of 10 of the 2,000 surveyed consumers reported buying foods close to the expiration date due to affordability, with 46% saying they disregard the printed expiration date altogether. While discount grocery shopping isn’t new, the report did find this eye-opening stat: 16.6% of those shopping for bargains started doing so this year. Just ask Ron Rojas — the owner of Chicago, Illinois, discount grocery store Continental Sales Lots...

President Joe Biden invited a drag queen who performs for children to the White House on Tuesday to witness the signing of the “Respect for Marriage Act,” which enshrines same-sex marriage into law. Drag queen activist Marti Cummings celebrated the invite on Twitter, and though he keeps his account private, the Libs of TikTok account shared Cummings’ status. “To be a non binary drag artist invited to the White House is something I never imagined would happen. Thank you President & Dr. Biden for inviting me to this historic bill signing. Grateful doesn’t begin to express the emotions I feel,”...

Blahblahblah Hillary's evil, etc., etc. But here's the meat from Musk: “Twitter isn’t using Perkins Coie. No company should use them until they make amends for Sussman’s attempt to corrupt a Presidential election,” Elon Musk (@elonmusk)posted on Twitter on December 9, 2022.

Electromagnetic emissions from 4G and 5G base stations pose only minimal health risks, as they are far below the standards stipulated by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday. Since the auction of 5G licenses two years ago, more than 35,000 5G base stations have been built across the nation, covering 94 percent of the population, NCC Commissioner Wang Cheng-chia (王正嘉) told a news conference. However, some people are still worried about potential health risks, Wang said. Workers install 5G antennas on a rooftop in Hong...

England’s National Health Service (NHS) banned puberty blockers for minors outside strict clinical trials and advised against social transitions for kids, arguing that most children who think they’re transgender are going through a phase they will outgrow, according to The Telegraph. The NHS is developing plans to restrict cross-sex medical treatments for children due to “scarce and inconclusive evidence to support clinical decision-making,” according to The Telegraph. As England moves to limit transgender medical interventions for children, the Biden administration has been championing child sex changes and publicly criticizing state level efforts to restrict those procedures as harmful to transgender...

Nancy Pelosi’s daughter, Alexandra, is a documentary filmmaker for HBO. Her 14th documentary, ‘Pelosi in the House,’ is about her mother and will be released December 13. In one scene, Nancy was filmed during a tense phone call with former Vice President Mike Pence during the height of the pandemic in 2020. According to the documentary, Pelosi made some smartass comments to Pence before turning to her daughter and asking “Am I a b*tch?” If you have to ask…Reporters for Politico got a sneak peek at the film and described the scene: NANCY PELOSI listened from home as Vice President...

Lawmakers in several conservative-led states—including Montana, Wyoming, Missouri, and Mississippi—are expected to consider proposals to provide a year of continuous health coverage to new mothers enrolled in Medicaid. Medicaid beneficiaries nationwide are guaranteed continuous postpartum coverage during the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency. But momentum has been building for states to extend the default 60-day required coverage period ahead of the emergency's eventual end. Approximately 42% of births nationwide are covered under Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for low-income people, and extending postpartum coverage aims to reduce the risk of pregnancy-related deaths and illnesses by ensuring that new mothers'...

EL PASO — Officials in Texas took steps on Tuesday to all but close an international crossing in El Paso, as state police began conducting commercial vehicle inspections of every truck entering the United States. The move resembled one ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott this spring, an effort that resulted in traffic jams that severely interrupted the flow of goods into the United States, with lines of trucks stretching back miles into Mexico. In protest, some Mexican truckers created a blockade to further impede traffic and seek an end to the Texas inspections. Mr. Abbott presented that effort as a...

Two constables were shot dead Monday night while investigating a missing person report in stringently gun-controlled Australia, and a third person was shot and killed when he heard the shots and went to investigate. The New York Post reports that the shooting occurred after police went to an address in “Wieambilla in Queensland” in response to a tip regarding the whereabouts of 46-year-old Nathaniel Train. Two constables–26-year-old Matthew Arnold and 29-year-old Rachel McCrow–were shot and killed as they approached the residence, and a third member of law enforcement was shot and wounded