Free Republic

resident Biden's latest proposal to hike the top capital gains tax rate to its highest level in more than a century is facing heavy criticism from experts who warn such an action could significantly harm the U.S. economy. According to a report issued by the Treasury Department, led by Secretary Janet Yellen, the president's proposed fiscal year 2025 budget would increase the top marginal rate on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends to a staggering 44.6%. A capital gains tax hike of that magnitude would take the rate to its highest level since it was first introduced in the early...

The Justice Department notified Congress on Thursday that it will not comply with a subpoena for audio recordings of President Biden’s interview with former Special Counsel Robert Hur. In an 11-page letter, Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte rejected claims from House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) that the recordings contain information relevant to the Republican-led impeachment inquiry into the 81-year-old president. Jordan and Comer have threatened to launch contempt proceedings against Attorney General Merrick Garland if the DOJ does comply with the subpoena. Uriarte argued that the DOJ has complied, by releasing transcripts of...

Chicago Bears have released some stunning AI-generated images of a new stadium that could be built on the city waterfront - but not all residents in The Windy City are impressed. The NFL team shared the pictures on Wednesday afternoon, before Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson led a press conference about the proposals. According to FOX32 Chicago, the stadium will cost around $3.2billion to build with the Bears paying for $2billion themselves. It would hold 65,000 people with a target opening of 2028. The stadium will not only host sporting events - music concerts will be held there as well and...

A flying car company made history this week by taking the world’s first car flight with a passenger in what could be the future of transportation. Legendary French electronic musician Jean-Michel Jarre became the first to hitch such a ride, soaring twice through the Slovakian skies in KleinVision’s AirCar in front of captivated onlookers. “One second you speak to the driver, and next, you are up there in the air. An amazing experience,” Jarre, 75, told Sky News. Video released by the company shows the sleek, winged sportscar speeding down the runway on four wheels before suddenly, like something out...

For many of us in the legal community, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case against former President Donald Trump borders on the legally obscene: an openly political prosecution based on a theory even legal pundits dismiss. Yet Monday the prosecution seemed to actually make a case for obscenity. It wasn’t the gratuitous introduction of an uncharged alleged tryst with a former Playboy Bunny or expected details on the relationship with an ex-porn star. It was the criminal theory itself that seemed crafted around the obscenity standard that Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously described in 1984’s Jacobellis v. Ohio: “I...

Keith Olbermann offered ESPN an ultimatum: silence Stephen A. Smith or fire him. Olbermann uploaded a video detailing his orders Monday, including a meandering 393-word caption. In short, he called upon ESPN to take immediate action after Smith appeared on Fox News last week. "WHY ESPN MUST EITHER SILENCE OR FIRE STEPHEN A. SMITH: Its longstanding policy - no, you can't be a sportscaster on one station and an advocate for a presidential candidate on another station - is right. I know: I helped to author it because the day when you (or I) could straddle both worlds is long...

Former President Trump would better serve the interests of Israel and the Jewish people amid its war with Hamas and amid regional tensions with Hezbollah and Iran than President Biden, according to an Israeli government minister, who said he wished he could vote for the presumptive Republican nominee. Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli said Wednesday that Biden was "harming Israel" and his policies were weak in the face of growing threats. He also said he would vote for Trump if he was allowed to participate in American elections. "The U.S. is not projecting strength under [Biden’s] leadership, and...

PHOENIX — Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs quashed another 10 measures Tuesday sent to her by the Republican-controlled Legislature, including: — Legislation that could have barred students from other states, attending college in Arizona, from voting in elections here; — Defining who can shower with whom in public schools; — Setting up new procedures to deal with squatters invading homes; — Requiring enhanced sentences for those convicted of multiple incidents of “organized retail theft.’’ But Hobbs found more areas of agreement with GOP lawmakers than disagreements on Tuesday, signing 12 measures. Still, the day’s vetoes brought the number of bills she...

Special counsel Jack Smith on Monday implored the judge in charge of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago documents case not to force the government into complying with defense discovery motions. In January, attorneys for the 45th president accused Smith and his office of myriad discovery violations in a rambling defense filing that also asserted that the genesis of the federal Florida case could be traced to “politically motivated operatives” within President Joe Biden’s administration who launched a “crusade” against their client to hamstring his chances in the 2024 presidential election. In the government’s response in opposition, Smith aims to methodically...

No need to make a stink: Controlling bovine flatulence could be key to helping curb global warming. New research suggests that breeding dairy cows to fart less — and, therefore, release less methane — could cut down on greenhouse gases. The team from Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute in Australia combed through 27 reports, drawing conclusions about various ways to curb methane emissions in the dairy and beef sectors in the country. Food production is one of the leading causes of climate change — livestock farming accounts for about 10% of greenhouse gas emissions — with one 2020 study finding...

You've met America's 'worst mayor' Tiffany Henyard, and now meet the woman who may be the country's worst sheriff. Rochelle Bilal is currently the deputy sheriff for the City and County of Philadelphia, and has been for the last four years - but she has recently been embroiled in scandal, including frivolous spending, maintaining a secret 'slush fund,' and allegedly losing 76 guns from her department. Bilal's campaign team also came forward and acknowledged that 30 fake positive 'news' stories posted to their site were generated by ChatGPT after the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that outlets could not find the stories...

That’s not constituent service. A Minnesota state senator was arrested early Monday on suspicion of first-degree burglary — hundreds of miles from her home turf. Nicole Mitchell, a 49-year-old first-term Democrat who reps the Twin Cities suburbs of Woodbury and Maplewood, was taken into custody after a homeowner called police in Detroit Lakes — 220 miles to the northwest — to report an intruder, according to local reports. Mitchell, a former TV and radio meteorologist and a commander in the Air National Guard, was booked into the Becker County Jail, where she remained as of Monday afternoon, according to online...

This is a ruff take! City-dwelling dog owners are marking their “colonial” territory with pooches who are “gentrifying” neighborhoods, critics say in a bizarre online debate. Sparking the controversy was a story in The Cut that delves into the growing hostility between dog owners and the dog-free in New York. The article quotes Mia, of Prospects Lefferts Gardens, the proud owner of two terriers, who noticed a growing anti-dog sentiment brewing on her community Facebook group. One post about picking up dog poop eventually spiraled into bonkers accusations that the pooches of PGL were “gentrifying the neighborhood.” Mia, a New...

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis received an award from Democrats on Friday night as she prosecutes the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump. Trump, the presumed GOP presidential nominee, and 18 co-defendants were indicted in August 2023 for allegedly conspiring to overturn President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory in Georgia. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has claimed the case is politically motivated. On Friday night, Willis was honored with the Woman of Influence award at the Cobb County Democratic Committee annual fundraising gala. The gala serves as the largest fundraiser...

Hidden away in the Colorado Rockies, a Sicilian resort, or a Utah ski lodge are some of the most exclusive events a billionaire can hope to attend. Attendee lists are so all-star that even the Goldman Sacks chief executive is a 'third-tier guest' and if you have to ask, you're not invited. Between discussions topics like 'can you marry a robot?' quizzes on tech trends and performances by celebrities, deals are made and executives are hired. More and more of these elite getaways are popping up as guests crave time away from the spotlight with few cameras and everything is...

The Orthodox rabbi at Columbia University and Barnard College sent a message recommending Jewish students leave campus and go home, as anti-Israel agitators have continued an "encampment" on campus and participants were caught on camera espousing full-on support for terrorism and supporting violence towards Jewish students. In a WhatsApp message sent to hundreds before the start of Passover, Rabbi Elie Buechler, director of OU-LJIC at Columbia/Barnard, told students to leave "as soon as possible" until the situation improves, noting that "what we are witnessing in and around campus is terrible and tragic." "The events of the last few days, especially...

A New York Democratic congressional candidate celebrated the House passing a $60 billion bill to fund Ukraine while hoping for the death of the MAGA movement, a message posted to X shows. "Slava Ukraine," New York congressional candidate Nate McMurray posted to X Saturday afternoon. "Die MAGA die. You lose," he added of former President Trump's supporters and those who agree with the "Make America Great Again" platform. McMurray's tweet followed the U.S. House passing a bill Saturday that provides $60 billion to Ukraine amid the nation's ongoing war against Russia. The aid package passed 311 to 112, with more...

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is illegally collecting data of every citizen who invests in the stock market, according to a new lawsuit. The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) filed the suit Tuesday against the SEC claiming that the agency, through its “Consolidated Audit Trail,” or “CAT,” program, is collecting mass amounts of personally identifiable data by forcing brokers, exchanges, clearing agencies and alternative trading systems to capture and send detailed information on every investor’s trades in U.S. markets to a centralized database. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is illegally collecting data of every citizen who invests in...

Anti-Israel activists at Yale University in Connecticut set up a "liberation zone" in solidarity with Columbia University in New York City on Saturday. This comes after protesters at Columbia University were heard shouting pro-Hamas slogans, resulting in more than a hundred arrests as they set up an encampment on campus Thursday that continued into Friday. Protesters at Yale were also seen setting up an encampment, laying down a banner that read, "Liberated Zone." The video starts out with students holding the banner and placing it on the ground in front of several students. Surrounding the students are other banners that...

Special counsel David Weiss urged the judge overseeing the Delaware-based federal gun case against Hunter Biden not to allow the defense to delay proceedings in a pointed motion filed late Friday. On Wednesday, attorneys for President Joe Biden’s son asked to indefinitely stay proceedings pending the outcome of an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit — imploring U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika not to “plow ahead in scheduling a trial.” In that request, the younger Biden characterized the government’s efforts to move forward with the case as “unlawful and illogical.” On Friday, Weiss shot back...