Free Republic

A Queens liquor store owner was arrested after “accidentally” shooting one of two alleged robbers who entered his store Monday around 7:45 p.m. The New York Post reported that two 20-year-old men, Kevin Pullutasi and Edwin Poaquiza, entered Franja Wines and Liquors and allegedly tried to steal some alcohol. Fifty-three-year-old Francisco Valerio and his brother were able to force the suspects out of the business “but Pullutasi turned back around and the argument got physical.” At this point, Valerio pulled a 9mm handgun, which he claimed he intended to use to pistol whip Pullutasi. However, Valerio ended up shooting Pullutasi...

For anyone who thought 2024 was going to be free and fair, please disabuse yourself of that idea immediately.The progressive Democrats constantly tell us that illegal aliens are not voting in our elections, because of course it’s illegal. Well, so is crossing the border illegally, but we’ve seen how that has gone—how many tens of millions of illegals are actually living here? (I suspect Ann Coulter is right when she puts that number around 50 million.)Yet, those very same progressive Democrats have been teaching “non-citizens” how to participate in what should be, American elections. The District of Columbia Board of...

Despite national attention and thousands of protesting parents, a federal court is refusing to allow parents to opt their children out of LGBT courses in school. The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided on Wednesday that Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Maryland does not have to allow parents to opt their children out of LGBT-themed lessons. Judge G. Steven Agee, a George W. Bush appointee, claimed that the parents seeking to opt their children out of the lessons in question did not provide sufficient evidence to justify a preliminary injunction.In March of last year, MCPS added nearly two...

Former FBI Director James Comey was on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Tuesday and warned that Trump, if given a second term, would "use the power of the DOJ and the FBI to target his enemies."

One tax table is focused on taxing Americans on their ordinary income, the income you earn from your job or your business. The other tax table is focused on taxing your long-term capital gains, meaning assets that have grown in appreciation such as stocks or your business value held more than 365 days. * * * According to a report issued by the Treasury Department, led by Secretary Janet Yellen, Biden’s proposed fiscal year 2025 budget would increase the top marginal rate on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends to an astonishing 44.6%. Today, that top marginal long-term capital gains...

Fifteen incumbent Republican legislators, including Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise; Sen. Scott Herndon, R-Sagle; and Rep. Julianne Young, R-Blackfoot; lost their re-election bids Tuesday, according to unofficial primary election results released by the state and counties. Winder, the highest ranking member of the Idaho Senate, lost to Republican challenger Josh Keyser in the District 20, Idaho Senate Republican primary election. With 100% of Ada County precincts reporting, Keyser secured a 281-vote victory over Winder, according to the Ada County Elections Office.

A University of Pennsylvania student who claimed she was left “homeless” when administrators kicked her off campus for participating in an anti-Israel encampment is the daughter of a wealthy Filipino family. Eliana Atienza, 19 — who told the Philadelphia Inquirer she had nobody to turn to for help in the US after she was kicked off campus in early May — is the daughter of Kim Atienza, a prominent media personality in the Philippines who is partial to showing off his extravagant lifestyle online. Her mother, Felicia Atienza, graduated from the Wharton business school and has served as the president...

In several German states including Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, and Hamburg, around three-quarters of benefit claimants are either first- or second-generation migrants, suggesting that mass immigration of low-skilled workers is not a net benefit to Europe's largest economy.. Nearly two-thirds of German residents receiving unemployment benefits have a migration background, new figures from the Federal Employment Agency have revealed. The statistics published by the federal agency and cited by the Die Welt broadsheet showed that 63.1 percent of those in receipt of the so-called citizen’s income, or “Bürgergeld,” are of migrant origin, and “most do not have a German passport.” The German...

The United States has long had the world’s biggest defense budget, with spending this year set to approach $900 billion. Yet this spending is rapidly being eclipsed by the fastest-growing portion of federal outflows: interest payments on the national debt. For the first seven months of fiscal year 2024, which began last October, net interest payments totaled $514 billion, outpacing defense by $20 billion. Budget analysts think that trend will continue, making 2024 the first year ever that the United States will spend more on interest payments than on national defense. ... Just two years ago, interest payments were the...

An independent group of McDonald's franchise owners have spoken out about the the chain's $5 meal bundle planned for this summer. The US's biggest fast food chain is trying to lure back customers fed up with its price hikes. Customers will get a total of four items - either a McDouble or McChicken sandwich, small fries, small soft drink and four McNuggets - for $5. 'The fact remains that in order to provide the consumer with more affordable options, they must be affordable for the owner/operators. 'McDonald's vast resources and financial investment are essential to any sustainable affordable strategy,' the...

Fani Willis on Tuesday won the Democratic primary in Georgia for her Fulton County District Attorney seat, which she has held since 2020. Willis won with 89 percent of the vote at the time the Associated Press called the race. Polls closed at 7 p.m. ET and the AP called the race shortly before 7:40 p.m. The result came as Willis seeks to continue her election interference case against former President Donald Trump. Willis indicted Trump and several other co-defendants for charges relating to the 2020 presidential election results in the state and violations of the state's Racketeer Influenced and...

On Tuesday, both of the New Jersey gym owners who had been fighting a legal battle over their defiance of the Garden State's COVID-19 lockdown orders were finally cleared of all charges. A controversial New Jersey gym owner who defied the Garden State’s COVID-19 restrictions was cleared of more than 80 charges relating to a series of pandemic-era confrontations with police — and he celebrated by posting on social media that the governor could “suck his d–k.” Ian Smith and Frank Trumbetti — co-owners of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr — racked up the summonses after they kept their workout spot...

“The sad part, though, for all of them is it doesn’t matter how many times they attack me. I am not going to be broken,” Willis says Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis criticized the investigation Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio., launched into her office as "disgusting" and called him a clown.“He continues his attacks to try to interfere in a criminal investigation. All while his jurisdiction has one of the worst crime rates, has poverty issues, and not one time has he used his position to try to investigate people who are attacking me and others who are attacking others...

An exhibit filed today by Donald Trump in a motion to suppress evidence seized during the FBI’s August 2022 raid of Mar-a-Lago revealed shocking new details about the bureau’s plans to use deadly force and even engage the former president and his security detail that day if necessary.

Klaus Schwab, founder and chairman of the World Economic Forum, will be stepping away from his leadership role at the organization after more than 50 years in the position, Semafor reported Tuesday. The WEF said the change in management structure has been years in the making. “Since 2015, the World Economic Forum has been transforming from a convening platform to the leading global institution for public-private cooperation,” WEF told CNBC in a statement. “As part of that transformation, the organization has also been undergoing a planned governance evolution from a founder-managed organization to one where a President and Managing Board...

Customers of one of the nation’s largest rental car companies are feeling the sting after renting Teslas only to pay hundreds in gratuitous fuel fees — and then being denied refunds.

'You know why? One of them will always love you. Not the same one. One of them is always going to be on your side,' Biden says President Biden explained why he advises young men to marry into families with 5 or more daughters."I say to every young man thinking of getting married, marry into a family of five or more daughters. I did. My wife is the oldest of 5 sisters," Biden said during a speech on Tuesday in Nashua, New Hampshire."You know why? One of them will always love you. Not the same one. One of them is...

Business groups are pushing back against a new Biden administration rule that would allow third-parties, including union representatives, to accompany federal inspectors of job sites. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the final rule earlier this year, but critics say the rule goes beyond safety needs and panders to unions and their recruitment efforts. The rule would apply even to job sites where workers have not unionized. The National Federation of Independent Businesses, along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, are helping lead the charge against the new “walkaround” rule, which takes effect May 31...

Coal and natural gas plants provide 60% of the U.S.’ affordable, reliable, and baseload power. In a time of increased electricity demand, America needs to double down on harnessing these sources—not abandon them.The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s recently finalized Clean Power Plan 2.0 (CPP) rule, however, takes the country in the wrong direction. Under this regulation, one that is arguably illegal, existing coal and new natural gas power plants will be mandated to install emissions control technologies that aren’t yet commercially viable. Plants that don’t comply risk permanent closure. This unrealistic mandate is advanced under the guise of reducing greenhouse...

The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it will sell off 1 million barrels of gasoline held in case of emergencies — with the Energy Department explicitly citing an interest in keeping gas prices low over the summer driving season ahead of the November election. The fuel will be released from the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve, a component of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve that was established in 2014 after Superstorm Sandy disrupted gasoline supplies in the New York City area. “The Biden-Harris Administration is laser focused on lowering prices at the pump for American families, especially as drivers hit the road...