Free Republic

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Gov. Ron DeSantis sure seems to be acting like a candidate again — and he’s picking new fights with the most powerful Republican in America.During a lengthy call last week with more than 200 pledged delegates to his former presidential campaign, DeSantis shot down any speculation that he’d be Donald Trump’s vice president, warned the former president against using “identity politics” in choosing a running mate and blamed Trump’s campaign team for relentlessly attacking him before the governor dropped out of the presidential race in January.DeSantis held the call the same week he traveled to Indiana and...

In fiscal 2022, 70 percent of the largest cities in the U.S. did not have enough money to pay their bills. In the latest comprehensive analysis of the fiscal health of the 75 most populous cities in the U.S., 53 did not have enough money to pay all of their bills, according to a Truth in Accounting analysis of the latest annual comprehensive financial reports from 2022. In its eighth annual Financial State of the Cities report, TIA found that the 75 largest cities in the U.S. had $307.4 billion worth of assets available to pay bills but their debt,...

A California moving company that uses student athletes as movers is being sued for violating age-discrimination laws. Meathead Movers, a company that prides itself on using clean-cut youthful workers, is being pursued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The Fresno based business is said to have failed to recruit and hire workers over 40 into positions within the company. Employment lawyers and trade groups have said the case will shine a light on how the agency plan to approach antidiscrimination laws, after President Biden appointed commissioners to tackle the problem. Many of the allegations from the EEOC say that...

Its May 21st and Biden still refuses to budge on paring back his massively bloated budget of green energy payoffs. Yet Biden laughingly stated it isn’t his fault if the US defaults on its debt. It is absolutely 100% Biden’s fault and he should be impeached if he fails to meet Republicans half way. (Bloomberg) Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US is unlikely to reach mid-June and still be able to pay its bills, underscoring the urgency of the White House reaching a deal with Republicans to raise the debt limit. “Well, there’s always uncertainty about tax receipts and...

The Trump administration is set to pare desk jobs at the top of the intelligence community, invoking the argument that its staffs are too large and duplicative, knowledgeable sources say. One of the first targets is the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), where Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador to Germany and a favorite of President Trump, arrived as acting director in February. Mr. Grenell has brought in Kash Patel, once a close aide to Rep. Devin Nunes, California Republican. Mr. Patel principally wrote the 2018 Nunes memo that exposed the FBI’s reliance on the discredited Christopher Steele...

In the movie, "The Martian," Matt Damon was a fictional astronaut stranded on Mars. In reality, the head of NASA says astronauts could set foot on the Red Planet within the next twenty years. "We think we're on the right trajectory to get humans to Mars in the 2030's," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told CNBC's "On the Money" in an interview this week. He should know: Prior to assuming NASA's top job in 2009, Bolden was himself an astronaut for 14 years, commanding two space shuttle missions during that time. The U.S.'s top space official says he's confident the agency's...

More than nine out of every ten employees at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are considered "non-essential" and have been furloughed in the federal government's shutdown. Reuters obtained an EPA guidance in which the agency said it would "classify 1,069 employees, out of 16,205, as essential,"...

Warren Buffett will host a fundraiser for President Obama next month in New York City, the Berkshire Hathaway CEO told CNNMoney on Thursday. With the 2012 election season just around the corner, the campaign to put Obama back in the White House for a second term is well underway -- and it's not unusual for the campaign to boost the president's drawing power by allowing him to share the stage with a well known benefactor. Billed as an "Economic Forum Dinner with Warren Buffett," the fundraiser will be held at the Four Seasons restaurant in New York and moderated by...

Debt Crises: What a sorry spectacle to watch Greeks rioting in the streets in reaction to austerity measures. As if tantrums can change reality. It's Exhibit A of how socialism infantilizes citizens. The only cure is free markets. As Greece's legislature heads for a vote Wednesday to cut the size of its government by $40 billion in exchange for the last $17 billion of a $156 billion International Monetary Fund bailout on July 3, the world's television screens are flooded with images of young "indignantes" calling a riotous 48 hour-strike in Athens. Steeped in socialism for decades, these Greeks see...

More than two-thirds of New York City's public school students will begin getting more nutritious free or low-cost school lunches under First Lady Michelle Obama's pet project to get kids to eat well and exercise. President Obama signed into law Sunday the $4.5 billion Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which expands the free lunch program and requires that schools provide more nutritious lunches. "We've seen the connection between what kids eat and how well they perform in school," he said. Some 680,000 out of 1.1 million New York children participate in the school lunch program - a big chunk of the...

Cook County's 'country club' hospital Oak Forest Hospital is virtually empty -- and far overstaffed May 17, 2010 BY LISA DONOVAN AND ART GOLAB Staff Reporters Cook County-owned Oak Forest Hospital is known by doctors and nurses in the public health system as the "country club." They aren't referring just to the 340 rolling acres the hospital sits on, or the pond that beckons geese, ducks and brown-bagging staffers. » Click to enlarge image On a given day, more than two-thirds of Oak Forest Hospital's beds are empty, and about a fifth of its buildings are vacant. An entrance by...

The political odyssey of health care reform in many ways is the story of Ted Kennedy, and as President Obama signed the historic bill into law Tuesday, Kennedy's gravesite was a place of quiet celebration and poignant reflection. The late senator's widow, Victoria Reggie Kennedy, spent hours Sunday at the simple white cross at Arlington National Cemetery marking where her husband was laid to rest only seven months ago. Ted Kennedy's youngest son, Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.), visited on Monday morning and left a hand-written note that read: "Dad, the unfinished business is done." And on a dreary...

WASHINGTON — Whether it's over health care, climate change or most other big Washington battles this year, Congress keeps debating the same underlying issue: Is the federal government getting too big and intrusive? The subject bitterly divides Republicans from Democrats, and the public's mood seems ambivalent. Polls show public majorities think the government's rapidly growing cost is worrisome. Most want better health care and curbs on global warming — but they're wary of giving government too much power to do either.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – President Barack Obama on Wednesday promised to save American taxpayers 40 billion dollars a year by slashing waste in government contracting, with a special eye on bloated spending on defense. "I reject the false choice between securing this nation and wasting billions of taxpayer dollars," Obama said on a day when he signed a presidential memorandum reforming the contracting system across the entire government. "In this time of great challenges, I recognize the real choice between investments that are designed to keep the American people safe and those that are designed to make a defense contractor rich,"...

An inconvenient truth: eco-warrior Al Gore's bloated gas and electricity bills · Household consumption 20 times national average· Supporters claim smear campaign after Oscars win Ed Pilkington in New York Wednesday February 28, 2007 The Guardian (UK) Al Gore knows a thing or two about the vicissitudes of public life. Six years ago he was virtually written off as a has-been vice-president after he won the popular vote only to lose the 2000 race for the White House. On Sunday night his rehabilitation was completed as he was crowned the moral mouthpiece of Hollywood, receiving an Oscar for his global...

Dan Quayle took time out from participating in the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship in Stateline, Nev., on Friday to attend John Mellencamp's concert only to run into a political statement. He then made a statement of his own by walking out during Mellencamp's rendition of ``Walk Tall.'' Before launching into the song, Mellencamp told the Harveys casino crowd, in effect, that it was dedicated to everyone hurt by policies of the current Bush administration.

A multibillion dollar tax windfall has eased the strain of California's perennial state budget debate and handed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a chance to buy off Democrat and Republican critics as he heads into his re-election campaign. Stock gains, home sales, business profits and taxes on rising gas prices are expected to bring in revenue at least $5 billion above forecasts from just two months ago. The money already has allowed the Schwarzenegger administration to pledge that it will give more to public education and appease the state's teachers union, which has been critical of the governor's spending. "It really helps...

Microsoft Vista: Not 'People Ready' Daniel Lyons, 03.22.06, 11:45 AM ET Steve Ballmer Boston - The new version of Microsoft Windows, called Vista, has slipped again. It was originally going to ship in 2003. Then 2005. Then 2006. Now in early 2007. I'm not surprised, having seen a demo of Microsoft's new programs at an "event" for tech buyers in New York last week. The new programs are phenomenally complex, with scores of buttons and pull-down menus and myriad connections among various applications. A Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) VP zipped through a demo, moving information from...

MIDI - TEENAGER IN LOVE It's really not my fault 'cause our parents we can't pick With headlines I've read lately, I am becoming sick I think I'm in a world that's gone mad I'm hoping Cape Cod Orca Ted's not my dad When there's excessive drinking, don't drive your Oldsmobile If you are on a bridge, don't try to cop a feel I think I'm in a world that's gone mad I'm hoping Cape Cod Orca Ted's not my dad That blowhard is scum...he failed lifeguard class And in the Senate, he's really such an *ss When mother...

Teacher Group Sues Over School Funding By Chris Schutz The Oklahoman Oklahoma's public schools are underfunded by about $1 billion a year and have about $3 billion of infrastructure needs the state should pay for, the state's largest teacher union charged in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Oklahoma County District Court. The lawsuit by the Oklahoma Education Association names the state of Oklahoma, Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Morgan and House Speaker Todd Hiett as defendants. Joining the OEA as plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the Western Heights, Jenks and Foyil school districts. The lawsuit was filed "on behalf of...