Free Republic

U.S. senators have left town for a week-long recess, leaving themselves only five days to pass the six remaining federal government funding bills. Four of those massive bills, which are also the thorniest, have not even passed the lower chamber, though House leaders hope to advance them in a package next week while the Senate is off. If Congress fails to meet the deadline – which many, including the National Governors Association, anticipate – they face a partial government shutdown. In that instance, the only way lawmakers could prevent a shutdown would be by punting the deadline via a Continuing...

It might surprise you to learn that the Trump administration has restored millions of dollars in funding to pro-abortion groups, including Planned Parenthood. Last spring, federal monies designated for the “Title X Family Planning Program” had been frozen — a move widely celebrated by pro-life advocates. The federal program, which dates to 1970, is a welfare subsidy that ostensibly offers “family planning services” to low-income individuals. Groups who facilitate these offerings include the abortion giant Planned Parenthood. Advocates for the program claim that the federal funds provide critical services for the poor — birth control, sexually transmitted disease testing, cancer...

@RandPaul The Senate just passed a bloated $176.4 billion “minibus” spending bill by a vote of 82–15. 46 Republicans joined Democrats after promising voters they’d rein in Washington’s reckless spending. See if your senators voted for this disaster....

They Designed a System You Can Never EscapeWatch here Every country on earth is in debt. The US owes $38 trillion. The planet owes $315 trillion. But if everyone owes money, who is owed? The answer will change how you see the entire financial system. WHY WATCH THIS VIDEO: (15 Mins) This video reveals the documented history of how four bankers across three centuries engineered a system where debt can never be repaid. You'll discover: ✓ How William Paterson's 1694 Bank of England charter made government debt permanent for the first time in history ✓ Why Nathan Rothschild's bond market...

“Mr. Trump has promised working-class tax cuts and protection for working-class social insurance, such as Medicaid,” Hawley wrote. “But now a noisy contingent of corporatist Republicans — call it the party’s Wall Street wing — is urging Congress to ignore all that and get back to the old-time religion: corporate giveaways, preferences for capital and deep cuts to social insurance.” Hawley has consistently spoken up about his opposition to the House plan to use Medicaid cuts to pay for the party-line megabill. The House Energy and Commerce Committee has been charged with finding at least $880 billion in federal spending...

The threat of a U.S. government shutdown surged on Friday, as the U.S. Senate rejected a short-term funding bill to keep federal agencies operating after September 30 and then left town for a week-long break. The lawmakers voted 44-48 to defeat a stopgap spending bill that would have kept federal agencies operating at current funding levels through November 21. The measure faced near universal opposition from Democrats, who demanded increased healthcare funding. Republicans said they could vote again on September 29, just a day before funding is due to expire, when senators return from a break.

When Shahnaz went into labour, her husband Abdul called a taxi to take them to the only medical facility accessible to them. "She was in a lot pain," he says. A 20-minute drive away, the clinic was in Shesh Pol village in Afghanistan's north-eastern Badakhshan province. It was where their two older children were born. Abdul sat next to Shahnaz comforting her as they drove over gravel tracks to reach help. "But when we reached the clinic, we saw that it was closed. I didn't know it had shut down," he said, his face crumpling with agony. The clinic in...