Free Republic

One of the worst kept secrets in Washington is no one actually knows just how much money the United States has spent in support of Ukraine. Over the past year, however, conservatives in Congress have been pushing President Joe Biden and his administration for the real number, and they’re finally getting some answers.In a letter sent to Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young on Tuesday, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, along with Sens. Roger Marshall, Rand Paul, Mike Lee, and twelve other members of Congress, chronicled the immense difficulty Congress has...

Tyranny by the Numbers: The Government Wants Your Money Any Way It Can Get ItThe government wants your money.It will beg, steal or borrow if necessary, but it wants your money any way it can get it.This is what comes of those $1.2 trillion spending bills: someone’s got to foot the bill for the government’s fiscal insanity, and that “someone” is the U.S. taxpayer.The government’s schemes to swindle, cheat, scam, and generally defraud taxpayers of their hard-earned dollars have run the gamut from wasteful pork barrel legislation, cronyism and graft to asset forfeiture, costly stimulus packages, and a national security...

The Federal Bureau of Investigation San Francisco has filed its Internet Crime Report for 2023. They found that these types of crimes cost Californians over $2 billion in 2023. Here on the Central Coast, investment scams and phishing scams cost residents over $5 million. Investment Scams: Monterey County- 33 victims suffered$2,534,214 in reported losses. Santa Cruz County- 37 victims suffered $2,484,283 in reported losses. San Benito County- Five victims suffered $251,801 in reported losses. Phishing Scams: Monterey County- Six victims suffered $13,300 in reported losses Santa Cruz County- 10 victims suffered $500 in reported losses San Benito County- 0 victims...

California spent $24 billion to tackle homelessness over the past five years but didn’t consistently track whether the huge outlay of public money actually improved the situation, according to state audit released Tuesday. With makeshift tents lining the streets and disrupting businesses in cities and towns throughout California, homelessness has become one of the most frustrating and seemingly intractable issues in the country’s most populous state. An estimated 171,000 people are homeless in California, which amounts to roughly 30% of all of the homeless people in the U.S. Despite the roughly $24 billion spent on homeless and housing programs during...

Two Republicans joined Democrats in blocking legislation that would have stopped transgender athletes from competing in girls’ sports in K-12 schools in Nebraska. A bill that would stop student athletes from participating on sports teams for the opposite sex, as well as using locker rooms and bathrooms for the opposite sex, was blocked by a filibuster on Friday in Nebraska, according to a report by Nebraska Public Media. After four hours of debate, 31 state senators voted for the legislation (LB575), but the bill needed 33 votes in order to end the filibuster.

Israel and Hamas on Tuesday were considering a new U.S. proposal for a cease-fire in the war in Gaza and the freeing of some hostages still held by the militant group, but mediators cautioned that the two sides remained far from a deal. The plan, presented by Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns to officials from Israel, Hamas, Qatar and Egypt in Cairo on Sunday, calls for a six-week cease-fire in Gaza, which has faced an intense Israeli military campaign in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks. During the pause in fighting, according to the plan, Hamas would release...

President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice is dragging its feet in prosecuting Nicholas Roske, the man accused of trying to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, leaving legal experts perplexed about the slow-moving pace of the case. Roske was indicted for attempted murder of a Supreme Court justice nearly two years ago in June 2022, after allegedly traveling from his parent’s home in California to the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., with the intent to kill Kavanaugh. Roske, a biological male who identified in some online posts as a transgender woman, was upset over the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion...

Angus Deaton is doing some rethinking. Specifically, the 78-year-old Nobel Memorial Prize-winning economist is re-examining his views on major topics like unions, immigration, and global trade. It's a big statement from someone who's spent over 50 years studying inequality, welfare, poverty, and "deaths of despair," and it comes as he sees economics in disarray. His most recent book, "Economics in America: An Immigrant Economist Explores the Land of Inequality," came out in 2023 — it catalogs, among other topics, the role of economists in the US and tackles some of the problems he's identified. When I asked Deaton what prompted...

CNN just reported the following:For nearly 50 years, only Black men caddied The Masters. One day, they all but vanishedFor Jariah “Jerry” Beard, caddie for 1979 Masters champion Fuzzy Zoeller, it meant he could earn as much in a day as his parents could in a week working at the city’s John P. King mill.So here’s my question: Is it a good thing, or a bad thing, that black people today no longer have these high paying jobs?

A CIA Officer/former FBI official is on an undercover video boasting about using the might of the federal government to ‘jail anyone’ by ‘setting them up.’ Gavin O’Blennis, a Contracting Officer for the CIA told an undercover journalist with Sound Investigations that the FBI “can put anyone in jail…set ’em up!” “We call it a nudge,” O’Blennis said, adding the FBI can put “problematic” right-wing journalists like Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones in jail. O’Blennis said of Infowars founder Alex Jones: The FBI “took his money away,” and ‘chopped his legs off.’ Gavin O’Blennis said at least 20 undercover FBI...

It's at 35°53'23"N 117°40'15"W 2022 and 2023 images had different colorings.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 9, 2024 Phoenix, AZ – Following today’s Arizona Supreme Court’s abortion ruling, Kari Lake released the following statement: “In addition to covering the state of Arizona as a fair and honest journalist for 27 years, I have traveled to every corner of this state on the campaign trail. I speak to more Arizonans than anyone and it is abundantly clear that the pre-statehood law is out of step with Arizonans. I am the only woman and mother in this race. I understand the fear and anxiety of pregnancy, and the joy of motherhood. I wholeheartedly agree...

Despite the countless number of rock songs about lust, this one seems to stand out the most among critics and fans alike. Known for its timeless riff (which Keith Richards literally wrote in his sleep), this song placed #2 on the Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Released in 1965, “Satisfaction” is the song that cemented the already popular Rolling Stones as superstars.

Biden’s policy and treatment of Israel since October 7 demonstrate clearly that despite his words of support for Israel, his administration continues to support Iranian interests over the Jewish state, America’s most important Middle Eastern ally.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says the articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas are “absurd” and that he will “resolve this as quickly as possible.” As reports circulate that Schumer is readying a motion to dismiss articles of impeachment against Mayorkas, the majority leader suggested to the media on Tuesday that he is looking to “resolve” the matter quickly. “We’re going to try and resolve this issue as quickly as possible,” Schumer said. “Impeachment should never be used to settle policy disagreements.”

April 9 (UPI) -- New York Attorney General Letitia James announced on Tuesday that two men will pay $1.25 million for robocalls targeting Black New Yorkers before the 2020 general election discouraging them from voting by mail. Conservative operatives Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman were found liable in March 2023 for transmitting false information to more than 5,000 Black voters in the New York area in a threatening manner meant to discourage them from voting by mail. Some of the claims made by the men, James said, suggested that voting information would be shared with law enforcement, debt collectors and...

The integrity of the American judicial system, predicated on the principle of a fair trial by an impartial jury, faces a monumental test in the upcoming hush-money trial of former President Donald Trump. As Judge Juan Merchan lays out the jury selection questionnaire, probing potential jurors on their political affiliations, rally attendances, and views on Trump, the challenge of assembling an unbiased jury in Manhattan—or anywhere, for that matter—becomes glaringly evident. The questionnaire, as reported, delves into whether prospective jurors have participated in Trump’s rallies, are members of politically charged groups like the Proud Boys or Antifa, or have engaged...

A group of anti-Israel protesters calling for Congress to support a ceasefire and end military aid to Israel shut down the Senate cafeteria. The group of protesters, Christians for a Free Palestine, was captured on video in the Dirksen Senate Office Building and could be heard chanting, “We are Christians for Free Palestine,” “We are here to pray for the food of Gaza,” and “Our Scriptures say, ‘Woe to you! To eat while others go hungry,’ and ‘Woe to you! For there is famine in Gaza.' “Congress and their staff will not eat today,” the protesters can be heard saying...

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee ( D-TX) once sat on the House Science Committee and the House Space Committee. But understanding astronomy seems to elude her. Jackson Lee attended an event at Booker T. Washington High School where the “Trust the Science” party member clearly does not understand the science. Jackson Lee explained to the crowd, “You have the energy of the moon at night.” What?

Explanation: Captured in this snapshot, the shadow of the Moon came to Lake Magog, Quebec, North America, planet Earth on April 8. For the lakeside eclipse chasers, the much anticipated total solar eclipse was a spectacle to behold in briefly dark, but clear skies. Of course Lake Magog was one of the last places to be visited by the Moon's shadow. The narrow path of totality for the 2024 total solar eclipse swept from Mexico's Pacific Coast north and eastward through the US and Canada. But a partial eclipse was visible across the entire North American continent.