Free Republic

Inver Grove Heights residents clashed Monday night over the Minnesota state flag. It's the latest community divided over the statewide symbol. Plus, a DFL lawmaker has introduced a bill that would penalize cities refusing to fly the official state flag. Ashley Grams reports from Inver Grove Heights where city officials opted to display the old design.

It’s One Big Beautiful refund. Americans are rolling in the dough this tax season thanks to a bevy of new reforms passed by the Trump administration that have boosted returns by double digits. More than 53 million taxpayers cashed in after taking advantage of new deductions included in President Trump’s signature “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” including tax-free tips and overtime, cheaper car loan interest and senior write-offs. The tax breaks translated to a surge in refunds — as filers in 2026 took home, on average, $3,462, or 11.1% more than last year, IRS data shows. The numbers are even...

On June 26, 2025, Governor of Rhode Island (D) Dan McKee signed into law a ban on the manufacture, purchase, sale or transfer of certain firearms. The firearms affected were semi-automatic shotguns with fixed magazine capacity exceeding six rounds, shotguns with revolving cylinders, and semi-automatic rifles with fixed magazine capacity exceeding ten rounds. In addition, the ban covers semi-automatic rifles which can accept a detachable magazine and which have any one or more of the following characteristics:folding or telescoping stockbayonet mountgrenade launchershroud which protects the non-trigger hand, except an extension of the stock on the bottom of the barrelpistol grip...

Rep. Riley Moore, R-West Virginia, is once more calling on Congress to pass his bill to enshrine Easter Monday as a federal holiday. “In just seven years, we mark the 2,000th anniversary of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That milestone will be one of the most significant moments in the history of the world. We should be preparing for it,” Moore wrote in an April 6 social media thread. “More than 80% of Americans — Democrats and Republicans — celebrate Easter,” Moore said. “Most other Western nations already observe Easter Monday as a public holiday. The U.S....

U.S. Senate Republicans rejected a bill to halt the war against Iran in an early show of support for Trump’s campaign. The resolution, which failed 47-53, demanded congressional approval before any further attacks. A twin bill in the House also faces an unlikely path against a GOP majority when lawmakers vote on it Thursday morning.

The powerful House Oversight Committee dropped footage Monday of its hours-long sworn depositions of Bill and Hillary Clinton last week in New York as part of its probe into late sex predator Jeffrey Epstein. Both of the Clintons vehemently denied any knowledge of Epstein’s sex crimes, with Hillary insisting she didn’t even know the notorious financier and the 42nd president stressing he “did nothing wrong.” “I saw nothing that ever gave me pause,” the former president told members of the Oversight panel during a deposition in the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center last week. 4 hours HRC deposition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siiAk6WXc0M Back in...

FIRST ON FOX: Former President Barack Obama once declared that his presidential center would be a "gift" to Chicago, but taxpayers are on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in hidden costs related to the beleaguered project. A Fox News Digital investigation shows taxpayers are now stuck footing the bill for surging public infrastructure costs required to support the project — and no government agency can provide an accounting of the total public cost, despite months of queries and FOIA requests. "Illinois Republicans saw this coming a mile away. Now, right on cue, Illinois Democrats are leaving taxpayers...

Since its creation in 2001, the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation has raised close to $2 billion from a vast global network that includes corporate titans, political donors, foreign governments and other wealthy interests, according to a Washington Post review of public records and newly released contribution data. The total, representing cash and pledges reported in tax filings, includes $262 million that was raised in 2013 — the year Hillary Rodham Clinton stepped down as secretary of state and began to devote her energies to the foundation and to a likely second run for president. The financial success of...

Hillary Clinton has accused Donald Trump of an Epstein files 'cover-up' - and attempted to downplay her husband Bill's friendship with the pedophile.......But seconds later, the 78-year-old added: 'We have a very clear record we're willing to talk about. My husband has said he took some rides on [Epstein's] airplane for his charitable work.'

The New Hampshire legislature is considering a Campus Carry bill, HB1793, to restore rights protected by the Second Amendment to public colleges and universities in New Hampshire. The bill has been introduced by Rep. Sam Farrington, R-Strafford. Here is the heart of the bill.From legiscan.com:I. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, no public institution of higher education shall enact rules, policies, or similar prohibitions restricting the possession, carry, storage, or lawful use of firearms or non-lethal weapons on campus.II. No state or institutional permit or license shall be required for such carry on campus.159:30 Remedies. Any individual aggrieved...

South Dakota – SB 2 has been introduced in the South Dakota legislature. It removes silencers from the list of “controlled weapons” in the state statutes. This bill effectively removes state regulation of silencers, but not federal regulation. From sdlegislature.gov: Introduced by: Senator Crabtree: An Act to provide that a firearm silencer is not a controlled weapon. The Bill removes silencers from the definition of “Controlled weapon”. The definition is Section 1. § 22-1-2 (8). The bill creates a new definition which removes silencers. Here is how the new definition would read:(8) “Controlled weapon” includes machine gun and short shotgun...

Seven Democrats voted with Republicans on Thursday to pass a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spending bill, despite opposition from their own leadership over unmet demands for additional guardrails on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. The DHS bill will be bundled alongside three other spending bills, totaling a combined $1.2 trillion in federal spending. The entire package’s passing is a significant step toward averting a government shutdown come Jan. 30. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives voted on two separate packages on Thursday afternoon. One groups together three spending bills to fund the departments of War, Education, Labor, Transportation...

The United States Virgin Islands legislature is considering a bill that imposes extreme infringements on rights protected by the Second Amendment. The Bill is number 36-0144, which amends chapter 13 of the Virgin Islands Code Title 14. From legvi.org: Lawmakers considered Bill No. 36-0144, an act amending Title 14 Virgin Islands Code, chapter 113 to define and prohibit assault rifles, ban suppressors and silencers, and requiring safety training for licensed rifles and shotgun holders, prohibiting large-capacity magazines and preventing the illegal sales of firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition. The Attorney General of the U.S. Virgin Islands is Gordon C. Rhea,...

On August 29, 2025, Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, reintroduced the “Safe Students Act”. The Safe Students Act (H.R. 5066) repeals the Gun Free School Zone Act of 1990. From H.R. 5066: (3) The Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 (18 U.S.C. 921 note, 922 note; section 1702 of Public Law 101-647; 104 Stat. 4844-4845) is repealed.Thomas Massie has issued a press release to notify people about the reintroduction of the bill. From the press release:The “Safe Students Act” (H.R. 5066) repeals the “Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990,” (GFSZA) eliminating GFSZA’s one-size-fits-all federal ban on guns in...

a Democrat whistleblower told the FBI in 2017 that Adam Schiff okayed leaking classified documents with the intent to harm President Trump. This same Democrat whistleblower told the FBI agents from the agency’s St. Louis office again in 2023 that he personally attended a meeting at which Schiff authorized leaking classified information. The FBI brass did nothing. Chris Wray did nothing. The FBI under Chris Wray allowed these criminal acts to take place. Chris Wray has a long record of allowing the bureau to engage in criminal acts under his direction. Here are a few of Chris Wray’s notable lawless...

Bill Cosby said that when he learned of the death of Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who played his son on "The Cosby Show," he spoke with Phylicia Rashad, who played the mother. "We were embracing each other over the phone about a dearly beloved friend ... Malcolm was always embracing relationships with everybody he worked with," Cosby told "CBS Weekend News" anchor Jericka Duncan in an interview. Warner's death shocked the entertainment world Monday when it became known that the performer drowned in Costa Rica the day before during a family vacation. The 54-year-old was apparently pulled out to sea by a...

A man was arrested by Capitol Police on Sunday after interrupting the Senate debate on President Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill," shouting from the Senate Galleries that the lawmakers are "horrible." Allen D. Rogers, of Florida, was arrested for unlawful conduct after he refused to obey officers' orders to stop the disruption, according to police. "At approximately 7:00 p.m., our officers arrested a man who started being disruptive in the Senate Galleries," police said in a statement. The interruption happened between speeches by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on the Republican-backed spending bill. Rogers...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed a bill Sunday to ban all THC consumables, allowing the booming market flush with THC-infused vapes, gummies and other products to continue to be sold across the state. Abbott, a Republican, waited until the final moment to veto the bill in what would have been one of the most restrictive THC bans in the country and a significant blow to the state’s billion-dollar industry. The law would have made it a misdemeanor to own, manufacture or sell consumable THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, products and was the latest push by states to regulate THC after a 2018...

I’m not voting for the development of skynet and the rise of the machines by destroying federalism for 10 years by taking away state rights to regulate and make laws on all AI. Forcing eminent domain on people’s private properties to link the future skynet is not very Republican. Also, AI is going to replace a vast array of human jobs, everything from media to manufacturing to even construction through AI computer systems and robotics That means in my manufacturing district, that currently has a 2.8% unemployment rate, AI will replace many human jobs. And my district with the one...

Elon Musk has warned "if the massive deficit spending continues," there will be no money for Social Security, health care or defense, as he continues opposition to President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill." The tech billionaire and former head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) made the comment about Trump's spending package on his Truth Social website in the early hours of June 4. Newsweek contacted Musk for comment via the SpaceX and Tesla press offices outside of regular office hours on Wednesday. Why It Matters The House narrowly passed Trump's budget package on May 22 in a 215-214...