Free Republic

What’s really in the Big Beautiful Bill? Depending on who you listen to, the Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) is either an incredible piece of legislation that will codify tax cuts while also unleashing growth and reducing the deficit, OR it’s just another 1,000+ page of pork that maintains the status quo of overspending/ growing the deficit/ increasing the debt. The problem with this situation is that the people pushing these claims are either A) individuals who HATE the President and his agenda or B) individuals who work for the Trump administration and so have a vested interest in getting the...

A Colorado couple who burned a cross in front of a black mayoral candidate’s campaign sign to generate voter sympathy was convicted Friday of conveying false information about a threat. Prosecutors argued that although Ashley Blackcloud, who is indigenous and Black, and Derrick Bernard, who is Black, orchestrated and broadcast the hoax to aid the candidate, their actions still amounted to a criminal threat. The cross burning happened in 2023 during the run-up to the mayoral election in Colorado Springs, the state’s second-largest city. Images and video of the episode were emailed to local news outlets to boost the campaign...

What I learned from debating at Oxford and CambridgeWhen I was growing up, people often said British politics were where America’s would be in five, ten or 20 years. What this meant was that Britain was more to the left of America: more secular, more socially liberal, more environmentalist, more globalized. The assumption was that, over time, the left would always win out, so wherever Britain was now, America would soon be. I traveled to the United Kingdom in May to debate the students and faculty of Cambridge and Oxford Universities in large part because that old assumption is dead...

It's been pointed out over and over to the few crew that these cuts could not be included in the BBB because of rules. It has to be handled via recission packages. It will not be subjectedbto filibuster either. quote: Larry Kudlow asked, “So, rumor has it that we’ve got a big rescission package, an Elon Musk DOGE rescission package coming up, can you confirm it?” Vought answered, “I can. We’ll be sending that up on Monday or Tuesday, whenever the House is back in session, they will get our first rescissions bill. And, again, this has been proposed and...

The movie The Big Short—dramatizing the reckless behavior in the banking and mortgage industries that contributed to the 2008 financial crisis—captures much of Wall Street's misconduct but overlooks a central player in the collapse: the federal government, specifically through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These two government-created and government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) encouraged lenders to issue risky home loans by effectively making taxpayers cosign the mortgages. This setup incentivized dangerous lending practices that inflated the housing bubble, eventually leading to catastrophic economic consequences. Another critical but overlooked factor in the collapse was the Community Reinvestment Act. This federal statute was intended...

A U.S. federal judge has inflicted another blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to end a multiple Biden-era parole program for hundreds of thousands of migrants*** U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani of Massachusetts on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to resume processing applications from those migrants who are seeking work permits or renewing their status. Talwani, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, rejected the Trump administration's claim that suspending the parole programs was within its broad discretion to direct immigration policy. Federal law still requires agencies under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to follow a lengthy process for...

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino promised the release of new video from the cell bay housing sexual predator and human trafficker Jeffrey Epstein around the time of his suicide to prove “no one was there but him.” Epstein’s 2019 death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York City was ruled a suicide, but has been the subject of prevailing conspiracy theories suggesting that he was murdered because of his networking with high-profile celebrities and business people. Bongino’s comments come after he and FBI Director Kash Patel came under fire from the MAGA crowd for having dismissed conspiracy theories about...

Dr. Joe Sansone is a Florida psychotherapist that has been a one-man wrecking ball against the CV19 bioweapon vax. He has lawsuits in Florida and a bill pending in the Minnesota Legislature. Dr. Sansone is lining up other bills at state legislatures to get the mRNA vaccines and other mRNA products pulled off the market. Even though the CV19 vax has a huge track record of death and disability, the shots are still on the market. Why? Dr. Sansone says, “I think with politicians, it comes down to one of three things: cowards, corrupt or out of touch. The bottom...

...Pacific Gas and Electric Company has finally revealed the staggering price tag for dismantling the century-old hydroelectric facility: $532 million. That’s the estimated cost PG&E submitted to state regulators on May 15, a half-billion-dollar teardown that will be funded by PG&E customers, many of whom also risk losing the year-round water supply the system delivers to 600,000 people across Northern California. ...Tony Gigliotti, PG&E’s senior licensing project manager, told SFGATE the half-billion-dollar figure is still a “very high-level estimate,” but it’s meant to reflect the full scope of the task ahead. “We did the best we could with the information...

A Louisiana rapper who was convicted on gun charges is now thanking President Donald Trump for pardoning him, saying he is "giving me the opportunity to keep building -- as a man, as a father, and as an artist." NBA YoungBoy, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, made the statement as Trump issued a number of pardons Wednesday. Last year, Gaulden was sentenced by a federal judge in Utah after he acknowledged possessing weapons despite being a convicted felon. However, he reached an agreement that resolved Utah state charges against him and settled two sets of federal charges against him...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis voiced skepticism about President Trump’s negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, arguing that the theocratic regime can’t be trusted. The Sunshine State governor warned that “trying to cut a deal with Iran” is “hazardous,” and emphasized that Tehran is “not a traditional country” that can be treated in a “traditional way.” “I don’t see them as being good faith actors and in any way, shape or form. And the reality is they cannot be allowed to enrich uranium, period. End of story,” DeSantis told conservative radio host Mark Levin. “They are a militant Islamic government....

On April 28, 2025, in a Parliamentary election in Trinidad and Tobago, the United National Congress (UNC) party won 26 of 41 seats. This was a resounding defeat for the People’s National Movement (PNM) party, which had been in power for ten years. The PNM lost, in large part, because of their unrealistic assumptions about the nature of violence and firearms. The Prime Minister for most of the ten years had been Dr. Keith Rowley. PM Rowley stepped down on March 16. His Successor, PM Stuart Young, called for a snap election on March 18, to be held on April...

"30% of those people who voted Conservative last year... have switched to Reform." Nigel Farage’s Reform Party has taken away the “Johnsonian coalition” that delivered the Tories victory in 2019, says polling expert Sir John Curtice.

Vladimir Putin is demanding urgent potato imports from Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, while he delays supplying the ally with promised notorious Oreshnik horror missiles. Putin has made the shameful admission that he has run out of spuds - one of his country’s leading food staples - amid economic meltdown during his war with Ukraine. It now appears Belarus will not get the lethal missiles until after Lukashenko supplies Putin with new exports of potatoes which have spiralled in prices in Russia. The Minsk tyrant has even cancelled sanctions against imports from the EU to stock up to supply Russia. -snip-...

Daily Readings from the USCCB⁕ (If you celebrate the Ascension in your diocese today, see the reflection below. Otherwise, go to the separate thread for the reflection for Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter) ⁕Jesus said to his disciples: “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in...

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 @RepMTG 👇 The climate change hoax and Green New Deal Scam has created many unnecessary regulations that are having far reaching effects still to this day. For example, currently there is a massive need for a new refrigerant forced on the HVAC industry because of climate hoax lies. R-410A which has been an incredibly reliable and inexpensive refrigerant is being phased out and R-454B is the new refrigerant that everyone has to buy, but can barely find. The shortage and supply of R-454B is driving the cost as high as $1,000 dollars for a 20 pound...

WASHINGTON — The State Department is broadening its review of visa holders at Harvard University beyond the foreign student population, a senior official told The Post on Thursday. The comprehensive investigation will consider F-1 visas for foreign students, B-1 visas for business-related visitors and B-2 visas for tourism, the State Department official confirmed. The probe will also focus on possible threats to security or abuses of the visa system. The wider review was first reported by Fox News after Secretary of State Marco Rubio had announced visa revocations for foreign officials or persons censoring Americans and some Chinese students. Foreign...

Greek authorities in Thessaloniki located and seized 1.6 mln euros worth of cocaine hidden inside a container of bananas from Ecuador. Greek authorities in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki located and seized a significant quantity of cocaine hidden inside a container of bananas from Ecuador, reports MEGA TV. During targeted inspections in the early morning hours of Tuesday at the container terminal (SEMBO), fifty plastic packages containing a total of 57.919 kilograms of the narcotic substance were discovered. The packages were carefully concealed within the container’s refrigeration units. Oddly enough, this is not the first time that a shipment...

Daily Readings from the USCCB⁕ (The reflection below is used when the Solemnity of the Ascension is transferred to the coming Sunday. See today's other Catholic Reflections thread if your diocese celebrates the Ascension today) ⁕So some of his disciples said to one another, “What does this mean that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ of which he speaks? We do not know what he means.”...

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Wednesday that it has used laser weapons to destroy enemy airborne projectiles during the ongoing conflict, a revelation that boosts Israel’s strategic technological advantage. The Jerusalem Post reported: In a historic breakthrough, the IDF on Wednesday announced that an unnamed laser defense system similar to the much celebrated Iron Beam laser system has shot down dozens of aerial threats during the war. … Head of the Defense Ministry’s Directorate of Research and Development Brig.-Gen. Yehuda Elmakayes stated, “During the war, we deployed several high-power laser system prototypes, resulting in significant achievements, culminating in the...