Free Republic

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pledged Tuesday that Republicans would fill a Supreme Court vacancy in 2019 or 2020, arguing the dynamic is different now than when the party held open a seat in 2016. Asked during an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt if Republicans would support filing a vacancy on the Supreme Court in 2019 or 2020, McConnell said "absolutely." McConnell has earned fierce pushback for blocking Merrick Garland, President Obama's final Supreme Court nominee, from getting a hearing or a vote. But he's said that Republicans would fill a vacancy ahead of the 2020 presidential election....

The news that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was treated for pancreatic cancer raised the possibility of a Supreme Court opening within the next year. The 86-year-old Ginsburg's health has been declining for years, to where the last year has felt like a bad remake of the 1989 Weekend at Bernie's movie. Instead of enjoying her golden years in retirement, Ginsburg has been propped up and hidden in the hopes of holding the seat until a Democrat is elected. The always elegant Michael Moore, who previously placed a Ginsburg doll atop a Christmas tree, summed up the Democrat zeitgeist when he tweeted,...

If you’re President Donald Trump, you’re feeling pretty good. While polling hasn’t been your best friend, Mr. President, you should take note of the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. It nukes the core of the 2020 Democratic agenda. Two of the Left’s major pieces for their 2020 election goodie bag, Medicare for all, health care for illegals, and slave reparations, totally trashed. On the former, even minority voters aren’t sure about Medicare for all, with 46 percent saying it’s a good idea to 49 percent who disagree. As of now, more voters think that Democrats would take this country in the...

The Trump administration has not installed a single mile of new wall in a previously fenceless part of the U.S.-Mexico border in the 30 months since President Trump assumed office, despite his campaign promise to construct a “big beautiful wall.” In a statement last week, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency overseeing border barrier construction, confirmed that all the fencing completed since Trump took office is "in place of dilapidated designs" because the existing fence was in need of replacement. The agency said that it had built 51 miles of steel bollard fence with funding that was set...

Another day, week, month, year of “can you believe what Trump said?” Another news cycle trying to convince those who don’t already despise the president that THIS time it’s different because THIS time he’s gone too far. “He’s violating the standards of decency! He’s a global embarrassment! He’s a poor role model for our children!” Yep, we’ve heard it all. It’s almost getting boring to say it, but let’s try it again. Donald Trump didn’t happen in a vacuum. He happened as a response, a response to the norm-breaking, divisive, anti-American left-wing culture and party who set today’s politics...

Tom Fitton: The Left Has Gone Off the Deep End on Illegal Immigration!

White House officials announced a draft immigration reform plan which could become the centerpiece of a post-election 2021 push in Congress. President Donald Trump publicly endorsed the plan during a cabinet meeting attended by reporters. The plan is “compassionate [and] … the best of everything,” Trump said. “Our country really has a tremendous immigration gap.” NPR reported: “While this plan doesn’t make every needed change or fulfill every campaign promise, it offers the country a viable path forward in the face of Democrat immigration extremism,” said RJ Hauman, the government relations director at FAIR, which advocates for stronger immigration enforcement....

The White House projects that the federal deficit will surpass $1 trillion this year, the only time in the nation's history the deficit has exceeded that level, excluding the four-year period following the Great Recession. "The 2019 deficit has been revised to a projected $1.0 trillion," the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) wrote in its midyear review. As a candidate, President Trump promised to wipe out not only the deficit but the entire federal debt, which has surpassed $22 trillion. Republicans cast aside projections that their 2017 tax reform law would add $1.9 trillion to the deficit...

Trumps end goal with the Citizenship question is to reduce the number of Democrats in Congress by removing illegals from Congressional Apportionment. As things stand illegal aliens currently receive Congressional representation. They are included in the counts of total population that are used for Congressional Apportionment. So states with high numbers of illegal immigrants receive extra seats in Congress at the expense of states with lower numbers of illegal aliens. California alone has an extra 5-6 seats in Congress as a result of illegal immigration. That is the main reason that Democrats push illegal immigration and provide sanctuary cities/states. Illegals...

It's not clear if President Donald Trump can win the legal battle to include a citizenship question on the 2020 census, but he's already won in the court of public opinion. A ScottRasmussen.com poll found that 73% of voters nationwide believe it is appropriate for the U.S. Census Bureau to ask residents whether they are citizens of the United States. Just because a question might be considered appropriate doesn't mean it should necessarily be asked. But an Economist/YouGov poll found that most Americans (53%) think the citizenship question is one that should be asked by the Census Bureau. Just...

“Beneath the dignity of the office” is a term tossed around a lot President Trump's critics. Something he said or tweeted is deemed by the media or beltway class of pundits as “punching down” and not worth the attention it’s given. I used to be inclined to think that way. I really don’t anymore. Mostly because I know there’s no such thing as punching down or – despite what Mrs. Obama says about going high when others go low – the left can and does go low. They punch down all the time. How many examples? Countless. It’s not...

Democratic presidential hopefuls face a challenge as they gather in Miami for the opening round of primary debates: presenting immigration ideas that go beyond simply bashing the Trump administration. Most of the proposals that the contenders have advanced combine long-held Democratic priorities — such as a pathway to U.S. citizenship for millions of people in the country illegally — with lofty rhetoric and plenty of knocks on President Donald Trump. But many of the candidates have simply scratched the surface of a far deeper issue. Immigrant advocates say they worry that the Trump administration’s hard-line tactics, including a publicized but...

"The next major priority for me, and for all of us, should be to lower the cost of healthcare and prescription drugs, and to protect patients with preexisting conditions." President Donald J. Trump OFFERING WORKERS BETTER COVERAGE: President Donald J. Trump is expanding Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), opening new coverage options for American workers. The Trump Administration has finalized a rule to expand HRAs, giving businesses a better way to offer health insurance coverage. Under the rule, employers will be able to provide their workers with tax-preferred funds to pay for the cost of health insurance coverage that workers purchase...

President Donald Trump said he would be rolling out a 'phenomenal' new healthcare plan within the next two months, and says healthcare will be a primary focus leading up to his 2020 election campaign. Trump has repeatedly called for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, colloquially known as "Obamacare," and has promised to pass a bill that would offer " insurance for everybody." In 2017, Republican lawmakers made serious efforts to replace Obamacare with an updated version called the American Health Care Act, or ACHA, however the bill was ultimately tabled. Speaking to ABC News in an interview which...

One thing you can say about the left, they do get high marks for message discipline. Some functionary in the propaganda department comes up with a talking point and immediately, the entire herd -- from senior Democrats in the United States Senate to weekend anchors on MSNBC and everyone in between -- all of them shamelessly repeat in verbatim, like it's an original thought. You've heard a lot of lines like that. One of them we've heard a lot recently is about Donald Trump and the law. The president, Democrats will tell you again and again, believes he is "above...

I received wonderful news Monday. Talkers magazine -- the Bible of America's radio industry -- named me to their Heavy Hundred list of the top 100 talk radio hosts in the United States. I made my debut at No. 62. And of course, No. 1 in Las Vegas. Think of the numbers involved. I Googled "radio stations." There are about 5,000 AM stations alone (which generally means "news and talk"). Assume the typical station has at least three hosts in its lineup. That's 15,000 radio hosts in America. I just made the top 100 out of 15,000 hosts in a...

Majorities of likely Iowa Democratic caucus participants say any candidate who hopes to win their support must favor a woman's right to abortion, recognize climate change as humanity's greatest threat, and support restoration of a ban on assault-style weapons, according to a new CNN/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll. Other issues, including recent campaign touchstones such as support for Medicare for All, free tuition for public four-year colleges and restoration of felon voting rights are must-haves for less than half of caucusgoers, regardless of whether they plan to participate virtually or in person.

It just takes a cursory look at the ages of current Supreme Court justice to notice that Democrats have a distinct disadvantage, for now. That’s because its two oldest justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg at 86 and Stephen Breyer at 80, are both long past the time when normal working folks typically trade in their work boots for fedoras and beach sandals.But SCOTUS is no ordinary job, and these are not ordinary times. Both Ginsburg and Breyer know the politics behind any potential retirement plans, and both are doubtless planning to cling to their jobs like a pair of good dentures until...

The economy added a healthy 263,000 jobs in April, firmly beating analyst expectations of 190,000, according to Friday’s monthly snapshot from the Department of Labor. The nation's unemployment level fell to 3.6 percent, the lowest since 1969, and average hourly earnings grew by 0.2 percent, for an annual gain of 3.2 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Democratic congressional leaders said they held a constructive meeting with President Trump on Monday at which they agreed to seek a deal on a $2 trillion infrastructure bill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) left the meeting at noon sounding a decidedly positive note, calling the meeting with Trump at the White House constructive and good. They said they had not agreed on how to pay for a $2 trillion bill to improve the nation's roads, bridges, waterways and broadband, but that they had agreed to meet in another three weeks. And they said the...