Free Republic

Top White House adviser Steve Bannon is pushing for tax reform to include a new 44 percent top marginal tax rate, hitting people who earn more than $5 million a year, with the revenue paying for tax cuts for the rest, according to three people who’ve spoken to him recently.

Appearing on “Fox & Friends,” Bolton, who is reportedly being considered for a spot in the Donald Trump administration, said that the sanctions package that the Obama administration announced against Russia on Thursday is insufficient to deter future Russian intrusions. “The Russians have walked all over the Obama administration for eight years. It’s really been a pathetic performance,” said Bolton, who served in the George W. Bush administration. --- Asked what the U.S. should do to deter Russia from waging widespread cyber attacks, Bolton said that the government must build up its cyber offensive and defensive capabilities. “How do you...

In his latest controversial statement, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, known for his bloody anti-drug war that has killed thousands, threatened to throw corrupt officials out of a helicopter, saying he has done it before, to a kidnapper, and won't hesitate to do so again. “I will pick you up in a helicopter to Manila, and I will throw you out on the way,” Duterte said in Tagalog in front of a crowd in the Camarines Sur province Tuesday, according to GMA News. “I've done it before. Why would I not do it again?”

TOKYO -- Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga can afford to smile to himself this week, happy in the knowledge that a meeting last month has now turned out to be a goldmine of insight into the policy agenda of the next U.S. administration. Retired American military intelligence officer Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn met Suga while on a visit to Japan in mid-October, when he stressed the need to review and reassess the U.S. security alliance with Japan. Donald Trump wants to pursue a better bilateral alliance, Flynn is alleged to have said to the Japanese government spokesman. --- In...

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday indicated that he was willing to do what Hitler did to the Jews to the country's drug addicts. "Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now, there are three million drug addicts... I'd be happy to slaughter them," Duterte said upon his arrival in Davao City from an official visit to Vietnam."

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has told American special forces to leave Mindanao, blaming their presence in the southern region for the continuing conflict, while signalling his desire to "reorient" the country's foreign policy vis-a-vis the United States. Just days after declaring that the Philippines "will pursue an independent foreign policy", Duterte said on Monday in a rambling speech from the presidential palace.

MANILA, Philippines - President Duterte has threatened to shoot businessmen who practice “endo” or labor contractualization – though he admitted using hyperbole in his speech. Endo is the colloquial term for end of contract. --- “Barilin kita diyan. ‘Dalhin sa punerarya yan.’ (I can shoot you and order someone to bring you to the funeral parlor,” Duterte said. “Painitin mo ang ulo ko (Try to make me angry). I will call you here, then slap you one by one. Eh, sanay akong… talagang naninipa ako ng tao (I am used to kicking people).”

Hillary Clinton has emerged from the F.B.I. investigation into her email practices as secretary of state a wounded candidate with a large and growing majority of voters saying she cannot be trusted, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

China is ready to start negotiations with the Philippines on South China Sea-related issues if Manila ignores an arbitration ruling expected next week on their long-running territorial dispute, the official China Daily reported on Monday.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday urged communist rebels to start killing drug traffickers, adding another layer to a controversial war on crime in which he has warned thousands will die.

A new immigration bill under consideration by the House Judiciary Committee would impose unprecedented restrictions on U.S. citizens seeking to sponsor the immigration of their family members, requiring that all parties submit to mandatory DNA testing as part of their visa applications. H.R. 5203, the Visa Integrity and Security Act of 2016, would require that “a genetic test is conducted to confirm such biological relationship,” adding that “any such genetic test shall be conducted at the expense of the petitioner or applicant.”

Presumptive Philippine president-elect says he’ll offer Cabinet posts to communist guerrillas. -Breaking News-

With Trump sealing the nomination tonight, California Republicans can derail the Dems by voting Sanders in their June primary.

MANILA, Philippines – Trash-talking Philippine presidential favorite Rodrigo Duterte has warned he is prepared to cut diplomatic ties with the United States and Australia after their ambassadors criticized his joke about the jailhouse rape of a missionary. Duterte also told the ambassadors to "shut their mouths," as controversy continued to rage over his comments in which he said he wanted to have been the first to rape the Australian woman who was brutalized and murdered in a 1989 prison riot. "If I become president, go ahead and sever it (diplomatic ties)," Duterte, 71, said on the campaign trial on Wednesday...

"Secretary Clinton appears to be getting a little bit nervous," he told a crowd in Philadelphia. "And she has been saying lately that she thinks that I am 'not qualified' to be president. Well, let me, let me just say in response to Secretary Clinton: I don't believe that she is qualified, if she is, through her super PAC, taking tens of millions of dollars in special interest funds. I don't think that you are qualified if you get $15 million from Wall Street through your super PAC."

Webb said he wasn't sure whom he'd support for president, and said his issue with Clinton was "nothing personal." He also left open the door to support Trump, the GOP front-runner. "A certain group of people are seeing him as the only one who has the courage to step forward and say, 'We've got to clear out the stables of the American governmental system right now,' " Webb said.

Associate Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead of apparent natural causes Saturday on a luxury resort in West Texas, federal officials said. Scalia, 79, was a guest at the Cibolo Creek Ranch, a resort in the Big Bend region south of Marfa.

Marco Rubio's first year of college at a small school in Missouri ended badly. His grades were awful. A neck injury dashed any hopes of achieving greatness on the football field. He was hurting for money. He resolved to go back to Florida and get his life on a path to success. Instead the 18-year-old added to his troubles after returning to Miami for summer break: He was arrested one night in May 1990 for being in a crime-plagued public park after closing time, according to police records and an interview with a friend who was cited with Rubio that...

"Well, of course immigration means change. Immigrants enrich our culture and add to our economic prosperity"... "We need to give those individuals who are already here - after they have passed checks to ensure they are not dangerous criminals- a path to citizenship so they can pay their full taxes, be counted, and become more productive members of our community,"...

"Republican voters nearly mirror independents and the broader electorate in their belief that Cruz cannot hold the White House, with 27 percent of all voters and 28 percent of independents responding he should be disqualified." --- "Only 47 percent of all voters surveyed responded that they thought Cruz is qualified to be president with regard to his citizenship, with 26 percent saying they were not sure."