Free Republic

As an immigrant, I’m disgusted by the behavior being revealed in Tim Walz’s Minnesota… But whatever is going on there, the corruption in Gavin Newsom’s California is a thousand times worse. Our Employment Development Department paid out at least $20 billion in fraudulent unemployment benefits during the pandemic — over a billion alone in the names of state and local prisoners, even inmates on death row. The corrupt “homeless industrial complex” grabbed $24 billion in state spending, as crony nonprofits and developers pocketed taxpayer cash while homelessness increased. Working families who pay into the system cannot afford groceries, rent or...

“He’s a fighter, that’s what we need!” a top-tier producer, and reliable Dem ATM over the decades, told Deadline of Newsom. “I just wish more Democrats, like Schumer and the leadership (in Congress), would emulate him, not take any sh*t from Trump,” the producer added of Newsom and his Trump 2.0 strategy of throwing punches online and off line at the authoritarian “loser” White House. With legislation like the January 1 effective ICE unmasking “No Secret Police Act” and his landslide Proposition 50 redistricting victory last month mentioned, admiration for Newsom’s fightin’ ethos is a sentiment echoed throughout town time...

A ridiculous bill was really just legislation about guns that look scary to the Assemblywoman from Berkeley Four people including three children are dead, and 19 in total were shot in Stockton, California Saturday night, at a family event inside of a banquet hall, ABC 10 reported. California Democrats have imposed the strictest gun laws in the U.S., but on lawful citizens and legal gun owners. Rather than focusing on those who commit violent crime, Democrats obsess over guns. And it’s not really working, is it? When guns are outlawed, only the outlaws have guns, as this horrific shooting in...

Although the legal and clinical definitions may differ, popular conception defines “insanity” as repeating the same behavior and expecting different results. By that definition, leftist voters in New York City, California, and elsewhere recertified themselves as insane last week. Year after year, election after election, voters in “blue” cities and states follow the same recipe that has brought self-imposed economic and demographic decay for decades: bigger government, higher taxes, more regulation, unsustainable benefits, and sprawling public-sector obligations. They keep repeating their behavior, even as jobs evaporate, families leave, and businesses take investment elsewhere. Decades of left-leaning politicians and public policies...

The Encinitas Union School District withdrew its appeal of a ruling in a gender ideology lawsuit. Instead, the San Diego County district will comply with a lower federal court decision and notify parents and provide opt-outs for parents in gender ideology lessons and programs, according to district officials and lawyers representing the plaintiffs. The lawsuit, filed September 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, alleges that the school district violated parents’ and students’ First Amendment rights by compelling students’ speech. A copy of the initial complaint said the district violated parents’ First Amendment right to...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will hold a rally in Texas on Saturday opposing the state’s redistricting efforts alongside local Democratic lawmakers, days after Golden State voters backed a measure to redraw their own congressional districts. Texas was the first of several red states that followed President Trump’s directive to change their congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterms. Though some blue states considered redrawing their maps through the legislatures, Newsom elected to have voters choose if California should proceed with his plan. “California stepped up. Now, we are taking this fight across the country — helping Democrats in other...

During his first month in office, Mayor Daniel Lurie achieved something remarkable: He received near-unanimous approval from San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors to make himself more powerful. The board voted to broaden Lurie’s power to dole out contracts related to homelessness, mental health and drug abuse, and to reduce its own control over the process. In interviews with over a dozen people who work in city politics, most agreed that the new administration is a sea change from former Mayor London Breed’s way of doing things, which was marked by interdepartmental animosity, bad blood with supervisors, and corruption. “There’s a...

As mail-in ballots began arriving for California's redistricting plan, voters in some counties have found a strange feature in their ballot envelopes: A hole that shows if they voted "no." Check it out: VIDEO AT LINK............. And lest anyone think this is just a bunch of conspiracy theorists overreacting, the Los Angeles Times addressed the issue with a statement from the California Secretary of State. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber on Monday pushed back against a torrent of misinformation on social media claiming that mail-in ballots for the state's Nov. 4 special election are purposefully designed to disclose how...

The decision, which hinges on an exception to the Gun-Free School Zones Act, does not say whether that law is consistent with the Second Amendment. A couple of years ago, Gabriel Metcalf was charged with a federal felony because he stepped onto the sidewalk in front of his house in Billings, Montana, while holding a shotgun. Metcalf, who had armed himself because of a dispute with a neighbor who was subject to a restraining order, was not violating state law. But because Metcalf lives across the street from an elementary school, prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District...

Halfway into a recent weeklong backpacking trip through California’s Sierra Nevada, nine members of a scout troop and their scoutmaster came across a man standing alone in a meadow deep in the Emigrant Wilderness. He appeared disoriented and didn’t have any hiking or camping gear. The California Highway Patrol confirmed the man was Douglas Montgomery. The group soon learned the 78-year-old was an experienced outdoorsman and former scoutmaster himself. The group also learned that he was stranded after veering 15 miles off his intended route, had lost his backpack, and had been battling hypothermia for two days. “We started very...

On July 1, 2025, United States District Court Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo granted summary judgment to Firearms Policy Coalition members to obtain California Concealed Carry Permits. Judge Bencivengo ordered the Plaintiffs and Defendant to submit proposed orders within 30 days. From the order: For the above reasons, the Court grants Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment as to their facial challenge pursuant to the Second/Fourteenth Amendment and denies the request for relief pursuant to the Privileges and Immunities Clause. The parties are ORDERED to meet and confer and submit a proposed order for an injunction consistent with this order within 30...

Homicide detectives and a tactical squad of California sheriff deputies captured and jailed on Friday the parents of a baby boy they claimed was kidnapped, which authorities now allege was a lie. Jake and Rebecca Haro were arrested on murder charges at their Cabazon home after Rebecca Haro, the mother of seven-month-old Emmanuel Haro, had claimed her son was abducted outside a sporting goods store a week ago in Yucaipa, about 70 miles west of Los Angeles. San Bernardino Sheriff’s homicide detectives now say the kidnapping never happened and believe the child is dead.

A man was shot to death and another man was wounded when the two attempted to foil the attempt of men trying to steal their parked vehicle in an alley in the South Los Angeles area, authorities said Sunday. The shooting was reported at 9:20 p.m. Saturday in the 8000 block of South Hooper Avenue, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The victims were alerted to an alarm sound from their vehicle, which was parked in an alley, and saw three suspects attempting to steal it. “When they confronted the suspects, a fourth suspect, standing near the south...

Top O' the Briefing Happy Friday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. The Sine Qua Non Sequitur is participating in an Ayahuasca cheese-rolling "Weekend of Discovery" somewhere in Great Britain. In yesterday's Briefing we took a broad look at the current moribund state of the once-formidable Democratic Party. The contributing factors that have brought the Democrats to this point are many, but one really stands out — the mind-numbing mediocrity of its major players. We've often discussed the fact that the Democrats are out of ideas and have nothing to offer the disaffected voters who they've been pushing away for over...

Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga discovered and named the Sacramento Valley and the Sacramento River in either 1799 or 1808; accounts vary. Moraga wrote, “Canopies of oaks and cottonwoods, many festooned with grapevines, overhung both sides of the blue current. Birds chattered in the trees and big fish darted through the pellucid depths. The air was like champagne, and (the Spaniards) drank deep of it, drank in the beauty around them. ‘Escomo el sagrado sacramento!’” (It’s like the Holy Sacrament.)

Democrat lawmakers in California thought they could get away with a reckless bill that would allow for the trafficking of children, but they thought wrong! On Tuesday, thousands of people rallied against it at the state’s Capitol and online, as RLN Founder and Calvary Chapel Chino Hills Senior Pastor Jack Hibbs encouraged all those opposed to keep fighting for children. While the advancement of AB 495 is delayed, RLN’s Daniel Cohen exposes the danger and why it’s imperative to stay vigilant until it’s officially put on ice. Video is 4 minutes long

California Pastor Jack Hibbs called on his congregation at Calvary Chapel Chino Hills to voice opposition to an “unthinkable” new bill that would have disastrous repercussions for children in the state. “For years, we have been telling you about bad bills that they have been doing—this takes the cake,” Hibbs underscored during the Wednesday night study at his church. Those who introduced the bill have branded AB 495 as a response to family separations faced by illegal immigrants detained and deported by ICE agents. AB 495, titled the “Family Preparedness Plan Act of 2025″ by its authors, streamlines the process...

Hilton Edges Out Democrat Katie Porter by 1% in Early Polling as 2026 Race Begins to Take ShapeConservative political commentator and former Fox News host Steve Hilton is now leading the race for California governor, according to newly released early polling. Hilton holds a narrow 1-point lead over Democrat Katie Porter, capturing 19% of support compared to Porter’s 18%.The early-stage poll also shows former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco each pulling in 6% of likely voters. While the election is still over a year away, the poll is the first major indicator of voter...

Remember Gavin Newsom’s first visit to the sites of devastating fires last January in Los Angeles, when he vowed to streamline California’s paralytic regulations so people could quickly rebuild their homes? In that interview, while undulating his shoulders in a weird shimmy that will undoubtedly come back to haunt him as he ramps up his presidential campaigning, Newsom also promised to “prevent opportunistic investors from exploiting vulnerable residents by offering below-market prices.” It’s hard to say which promise has been more thoroughly violated. As celebrity author Adam Carolla posted on 7/14, there is virtually no work going on along the...

In this powerful and timely discussion, Pastor Jack Hibbs sits down with Steve Hilton—former Fox News host and political commentator—to talk about Steve's run for California governor. With deep concern for the state’s future, the two dive into pressing issues affecting everyday Californians. Steve shares his vision for addressing California’s energy crisis, biological boys competing in girls’ sports, abortion, and housing. Whether you're a seasoned or first-time voter, a parent, an elderly individual, or a young person just starting adulthood, this is a must-hear conversation filled with clarity, conviction, and hope for real change. Video is 43 minutes long.