Free Republic

We’ve been here before: congressional Democrats and Republicans sparring over the future of the Affordable Care Act. But this time there’s an extra complication. Though it’s the middle of open enrollment, lawmakers are still debating whether to extend the subsidies that have given consumers extra help paying their health insurance premiums in recent years. The circumstances have led to deep consumer concerns about higher costs and fears of political fallout among some Republican lawmakers.

During President Trump's first term, the economy was a relative strength of his. During the 2024 presidential campaign, his promises to lower prices in a country grappling with post-COVID inflation propelled him back into office. But toward the end of his first year in office this term, just 36% of Americans approve of his handling of the economy, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll. It's his worst mark in the six years that Marist has been asking the question. The only time in that span that Americans had a similarly negative view of a president's handling of the economy...

SummaryMarjorie Taylor Greene appeared on Alex Jones' show on December 16, 2025, to discuss her legislation, H.R. 3492, the Protect Children's Innocence Act, which aims to criminalize gender-affirming medical procedures (including puberty blockers, hormones, mastectomies, and genital surgeries) on minors under 18, making them felonies nationwide.She stated that the bill is scheduled for a House vote the following day after she delayed the NDAA by voting against its rule to force leadership (Steve Scalise and Mike Johnson) to schedule it. She accused Rep. Chip Roy of attempting to introduce an amendment in the Rules Committee that would limit the bill's...

President Donald Trump said filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner died from "Trump derangement syndrome." Reiner and his wife were found dead in their Los Angeles home on Sunday, and police are investigating the circumstances as an apparent homicide, authorities said. "A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP...

Democrats think they have Republicans on the run on healthcare, but maybe not if the GOP fights back. On Friday House Speaker Mike Johnson offered a better alternative to the Democratic proposal to extend pandemic-era subsidies for ObamaCare: Expanding insurance choices for employers and workers. How dare he. House Republicans plan to vote on their bill this week. The left’s chief criticism is that it doesn’t extend the sweetened ObamaCare subsidies, which expire on Dec. 31. “This so-called plan is the height of irresponsibility,” declared House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. But how is it irresponsible to increase healthcare options at...

Donald Trump has doubled down on his attacks on Rob Reiner after the Hollywood star and his wife were apparently murdered. The President appeared to blame Reiner and Michele's killings on the liberal director's 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' in a Monday post on Truth Social. Hollywood celebrities and Republicans pushed back on his statement, with some calling it 'disgusting and vile.' But the President seemed undeterred in his criticism of the late director. When pressed by a reporter in the Oval Office about his previous statement, he said: 'Well, I wasn't a fan of his at all. He was a deranged...

President Donald Trump doubled down on a statement he issued on social media in response to actor-director Rob Reiner’s death, pointing out that he “wasn’t a fan of his at all.”While taking questions from the press on Monday, Trump was asked about a Truth Social post he made in which he stated Reiner had a “crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.” Trump’s post came after the news broke that Reiner — who directed The Princess Bride, and When Harry Met Sally, and his wife, Michele, were found dead inside their Brentwood home.“Mr. President, a number of Republicans have denounced...

President Trump said Monday morning that murdered actor-director Rob Reiner had “driven people CRAZY” with his opposition to the Republican chief executive in a bizarre, rambling post on Truth Social that prompted outrage from critics of all political persuasions. Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele, 68, were found butchered in their Brentwood, Los Angeles, home Sunday afternoon. Their son Nick has been taken into custody in connection with the crime. ”A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has...

House Republicans released legislation Friday aimed at lowering healthcare costs through expanded insurance options for small businesses and unprecedented transparency requirements for pharmacy benefit managers, setting up a crucial vote next week as enhanced Obamacare subsidies expire at year’s end.The Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, introduced by Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa-01), is the GOP's alternative to Democratic proposals as Democrats push to extend expiring ACA premium tax credits that help 22 million Americans purchase insurance.Speaker Mike Johnson announced the measure would receive a floor vote next week, though GOP leadership indicated moderate Republicans seeking subsidy extensions may...

In the 1980s, the U.S. negotiated the exile of world leaders like Haiti’s Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier to France and Ferdinand Marcos from the Philippines to Hawaii.Now, President Donald Trump wants Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro out of power. Maduro’s “days are numbered,” Trump told Politico in an interview released on Dec. 9. His Administration considers Maduro the head of a government-sponsored cocaine smuggling syndicate. Since September, he’s blown up 22 alleged drug boats off Venezuela’s coastline, parked a carrier strike group in the Caribbean, and flown F/A-18 attack jets near Venezuela’s border. On Wednesday, the U.S. seized an oil tanker...

97 percent of inpatient hospital markets lack meaningful competition....From 2014 to 2026, individual market premiums are up 129 percent, employer-sponsored insurance premiums are up 68 percent, and general inflation is up 39 percent...In 2026, the average deductible for an individual on a bronze plan is $7,476, and the average deductible for an individual on a silver (no CSR) plan is $5,304....The federal taxpayer share of the premium increased gradually from 68 percent of the premium in 2014 to nearly 80 percent in 2020. As a result of the COVID credits, the federal taxpayer share of the premium reached 93 percent...

Former Trump White House official Marc Short told Politico’s Dasha Burns that the Democratic Party will likely dominate the 2026 midterms. In an appearance on CSPAN’s Ceasefire alongside Democratic strategist Adrienne Elrod, Short said that the Republican Party is already set to endure heavy losses in the upcoming elections. “I think it’s going to be a really steep climb, Dasha,” said Short, in relation to GOP midterm efforts. “The reality is that Americans like divided government. They don’t want one party in control. Each time there’s been one party in control, there’s been a backlash.” The once chief of staff...

The nearly two dozen Indiana Republicans who voted against the president’s redistricting plan Thursday are in political jeopardy as Trump allies rally together to take them out. Republicans’ bid to redraw district lines ahead of the 2026 midterms failed after 21 state senators broke with their party and voted with the Democrats to strike the effort down 19-31. Trump claimed on Thursday that he “wasn’t working on it very hard” on the plan, though some have reported the president was making last minute calls to whip votes in favor of the new map. Major GOP organizations like Turning Point USA...

Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, Iryna Zarutska, Jocelyn Nungaray, Ruby Garcia, and Kayla Hamilton. They are just some of the American women who have been murdered in this country in the last few years. All of their deaths, arguably, could have been avoided if Democrats prioritized protecting citizens instead of illegal immigrants. Despite their tragic deaths, you’d be hard-pressed to find any Democrat who expressed as much sympathy, empathy, and concern for their lives as they have about suspected Venezuelan cartel drug traffickers in the Caribbean Sea

My guest today is Andrew Kolvet, who was Kirk’s close confidant. Since the assassination, he’s taken on many of Kirk’s responsibilities, including hosting “The Charlie Kirk Show.” Andrew Kolvet: …“Now, Charlie’s mission was to say: Hey, before us are two roads. You can either go grievance politics, socialism, free stuff populism, Mangione-ism, Mamdani-ism, or you can go MAGA.“ …“I think this is the through line for Israel — is you do not have to support Israel to belong to the team, at least in a traditional historical sense…I’m an American. I’m born in this country. My kids are going to...

Working Americans are going to get “very large refunds” of $1,000 to $2,000 per household early in the new year, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. The checks will come in the first quarter of 2026 as a result of tax cuts in President Donald Trump’s sweeping, budget-focused One Big Beautiful Bill Act, he said. “I think we’re going to see $100-$150 billion of refunds, which could be between $1,000, $2,000 per household,” Bessent said Wednesday.

Kimball highlighted the political dynamics among younger voters: "Ohio voters who did not participate in the 2024 election, most of whom are under 30, are more likely to identify as Republicans rather than Democrats. In addition, 31% of voters under 30 align with independents or Democrats, while 38% identify with Republicans, though this group still breaks for Democrats on the ballot by about 12 points." President Donald Trump's job approval rating in Ohio stands at 46%, with a disapproval rating of 48%. Since August, Trump's approval has decreased by three points, while his disapproval has risen by six points. Gov....

Turncoat Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is earning her “traitor” nickname from President Donald Trump, posing with her new friend Susan “Medea” Benjamin, co-founder of the terrorist allied communist front group, Code Pink. Code Pink last made headlines by ambushing Trump at a D.C. restaurant in September, calling him “the Hitler of our time.”

ATLANTA -- Democrat Eric Gisler claimed an upset victory Tuesday in a special election in a historically Republican Georgia state House district. Gisler said he was the winner of the contest, in which he was leading Republican Mack “Dutch” Guest by about 200 votes out of more than 11,000 in final unofficial returns. Robert Sinners, a spokesperson with the secretary of state's office, said there could be a few provisional ballots left before the tally is finalized. “I think we had the right message for the time,” Gisler told The Associated Press in a phone interview. He credited his win...

Democrats just flipped the Miami mayorship from 🟥🔜🟦. The last time democrats won Miami was 1998. Republicans are completely squandering all of the work we did to win the 2024 elections. It’s especially frustrating as democrats are raising taxes in New Jersey & Pennsylvania.