Free Republic

During the continuing resolution fight, the drum the Democrats kept beating was that Republicans wanted to gut Medicare - despite the fact that Joe Biden's administration oversaw years of cuts to Medicare Advantage, the plan increasingly chosen by the nation's seniors. Dems won't characterize cuts to Medicare Advantage as Medicare cuts, though, because what they're really trying to do is eliminate Medicare Advantage as a way to push "Medicare for All." Now that we're headed into the reconciliation process, where finding ways to keep Medicare solvent will be a top issue, at least one lefty is on record admitting that...

The Trump administration raised the temperature with Denmark Thursday ahead of Vice President JD Vance’s trip to Greenland — accusing the Danes of “mistreating” Greenlandic people against the backdrop of President Trump openly talking about annexing the island. “The Vice President and Second Lady are embarking on a historic expedition with their visit to Greenland, where the Vice President will emphasize the importance of bolstering [Arctic] security in places like Pituffik Space Base,” a senior White House official said. “Unfortunately, Danish leaders have spent decades mistreating the Greenlandic people, treating them like second class citizens and allowing infrastructure on the...

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) said Thursday that President Trump signed an executive order limiting numerous agency employees from unionizing and instructing the government to stop engaging in any collective bargaining. The OPM memo references an order from Trump that has yet to be publicly posted, but a fact sheet from the White House claims that the Civil Service Reform Act that allows government workers to unionize “enables hostile Federal unions to obstruct agency management.”

Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said Thursday on CNN’s “OutFront” that if Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth does not resign over the Signal chat among senior national security officials, President Donald Trump should fire him. Kelly said, “When you plan a mission, the most closely held information is the timing when you’re going to launch where you’re going. In this case, Yemen, and when you’re going to get there, time on target, weapon systems you’re carrying. In this case, Pete Hegseth shared MQ-9, Tomahawk, F-18. all that information is the most sensitive, sensitive information we have. And any adversary would want to...

CHICAGO — Two white men are accusing the city of Chicago and Bally’s Corp. of discriminating against them, saying they too should be able to participate in Bally’s recent offer of a 25 percent ownership stake in its Chicago casino geared toward women and people of color. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago, alleges the city violated the rights of Richard Fisher and Phillip Aronoff, two white men from Texas, who are unable to invest in Bally’s minority ownership stake because of their race. The American Alliance for Equal Rights, a conservative legal group dedicated to...

A reporter wearing an anti-germ face mask around the White House became a victim of President Donald Trump’s trolling in the Oval Office on Wednesday. Video from inside the Oval Office doesn’t indicate which member of the White House press corps showed up to work on Wednesday with a medical mask, one of the most unforgettable and dystopian signs of the pandemic. Earlier this month the world passed its five-year mark since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, but after all that time, including four years of FDA-approved vaccines and other homeopathic therapies, some masked-up members of the public have...

President Donald Trump’s promised tariffs on softwood lumber risk disrupting the supply chain for something nobody wants to be caught without: toilet paper. The Trump administration plans to almost double duties on Canadian softwood lumber to 27%, with the possibility of additional levies pushing the rate to more than 50%. While Trump advocates for new tariffs partly to bolster U.S. manufacturing, they may also hit the availability of northern bleached softwood kraft pulp, or NBSK, a key component in making toilet paper and paper towels. NBSK constitutes about 30% of standard U.S. bathroom tissue and half of a typical paper...

A Publix shopper has filed a lawsuit accusing the supermarket of using a deceptive pricing tactic to overcharge customers. Florida resident Wendy Koutouzis alleges that the chain’s self-checkout scales inflate the weight of meats and cheese, causing shoppers to pay more than the advertised price without realizing it.(snip) Her lawsuit, filed in a Miami federal court, seeks compensation not only for herself but also for any other customers who may have been unknowingly overcharged. The class-action case could impact shoppers across Florida and other states where Publix operates(snip) Koutouzis claims she was repeatedly overcharged at five Publix locations in Tampa,...

Jordan Peterson sits down with Canadian member of Parliament Pierre Poilievre (and likely the next Prime Minister). They discuss his role as Leader of the Opposition, the untapped energy sector, the real reason Canadians cannot afford homes, how Justin Trudeau has walked the country off a cliff, and what will likely play out in 2025 leading up to the much-needed election.

Three teenagers in Texas have been arrested after allegedly coordinating an attack to kill their mother for turning off their Wi-Fi. According to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, police apprehended three siblings aged 14, 15 and 16, at their home in Houston, after they allegedly chased their mother through the house and into the street with kitchen knives. She was hit with a brick, but not seriously injured. Their grandmother was also pushed over when trying to protect their mother, according to police. (snip) The three teenagers were charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon following their arrest.

Toronto -- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday said that US President Donald Trump’s auto tariffs are a “direct attack” on his country and that the trade war is hurting Americans, noting that American consumer confidence is at a multi-year low. Trump said earlier on Wednesday that he was placing 25 per cent tariffs on auto imports and, to underscore his intention, he stated “This is permanent”. “This is a very direct attack. We will defend our workers. We will defend our companies. We will defend our country,” Carney responded. Mark Carney said he needs to see the details...

Nearly every demographic group moved noticeably rightward in America’s recent election. Even young women — among the most reliably left-leaning voting blocs — moved away from monolithic support for Democrats, but a significant gender gap of over 20 points persists between Gen Z women and men. Trump got only 33% of the 18-29 female vote in 2020; he got 40% in 2024. Compare this with 41% of the male vote in the same age group in 2020 and 49% in 2024. Triumphalism at Trump’s victory should not obscure the long-term challenge posed by that gap. This gender gap is often...

This is an interesting panel discussion with Elon Musk and Seven of his deputies, discussing the DOGE process and touching on some of the more blatant government waste they've discovered.

Despite federal law expressly prohibiting it, national abortion chain Planned Parenthood appears to have pocketed millions of dollars in “Paycheck Protection Program” COVID relief funds, and now Congress wants answers. U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chair Rand Paul (R-Ky) report they have “asked the Small Business Administration (SBA) to share how the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) unlawfully received millions of dollars in funding from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and had 34 loans forgiven by the Biden administration.” “Ernst and Paul...

Pete Hegseth’s ink is making quite a stink. The heavily tattooed secretary of defense was photographed Tuesday working out with Navy SEALs in Hawaii, with the images shared on X. “Kicked off the day alongside the warriors of SDVT-1 at @JointBasePHH. These SEALs are the tip of the spear, masters of stealth, endurance, and lethality. America’s enemies fear them—our allies trust them. Proud to spend time with America’s best,” Hegseth wrote. Then came a closer inspection from Scott Adams, who posted his research on X. “Interesting: Hegseth now bears a bold new tattoo—’Kafir,’ the Arabic word for infidel, inked on...

The drama surrounding President Donald Trump’s top defense team this week is getting a backstage twist. Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar, one of the most polarizing members of the polarizing group known as the “squad,” is shopping plans behind the scenes to launch impeachment efforts as a result of the controversy that’s become known as “Signalgate,” according to the Beltway-centric news outlets Axios. Omar’s targets are some of the biggest names in Trump’s administration, but the online backlash might not be quite what she was expecting. According to the Axios report Thursday, which cited unnamed sources, Omar is trying to convince...

In an embarrassing public meltdown where she practically started shouting, far left Democrat mayor Sheng Thao blamed conservatives for the corruption scandal that ended her political career and led to her being recalled in the deep blue city of Oakland. She was kicked out of office in November 2024, with around 60% of voters supporting her removal due to rising crime, murder, and homelessness in Oakland. For context, in January of 2025, Thao and several co-conspirators were indicted on eight counts of conspiracy and bribery in a federal operation, and she faces almost 100 years of possible prison time for...

It’s a demented feature of our days that if you stand to the right of Che Guevara in the political specter, automatically all the Liberal-Globalists in a choir will call you ‘a literal Nazi’, but when confronted with the real-life, present-day, self-identifying Ukrainian Nazis from the Azov Regiment and other groups like the Right Sector, these same groups in the western societies will stay dead silent. If today the USAID-media is willing to whitewash and even lionize these radicals, it wasn’t always like that: in 2014, The Guardian described Azov as a battalion with far-right, neo-Nazi leanings, openly expressing admiration...

US President Donald Trump hosts an iftar dinner at the White House where he thanks Muslims in America for voting for him in record numbers in the previous election. “I want to extend a very special thanks to the hundreds of thousands of Muslim Americans who supported us in record numbers in the 2024 presidential election. It was incredible. We started a little slow with you, but we came along,” Trump says. “The Muslim community was there for us in November, and while I’m president, I will be there for you.” “We’re keeping our promises to the Muslim community. My...

Shares sagged Thursday in Asia, apart from China, after President Donald Trump announced he will slap 25per cent tariffs on imported cars. Trump said he was raising duties on auto imports to encourage more manufacturing in the US, but the impact will be complicated since US automakers and even foreign manufacturers with factories in the U.S. Source many of their components from around the world. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 1per cent to 37,662.36. Toyota Motor Corp stock dove 3.2per cent, while Honda Motor Co stock dipped 2.8per cent. Nissan was down 2.6per cent. Mazda Motor Corp shares dropped 6.5per...