Free Republic

California Democrats and their labor union allies are embracing anti-democratic principles to thwart the will of the people.In his first inaugural address in January 1911, California's progressive Gov. Hiram Johnson detailed a far-reaching "people's reform program" that would help wrest control of the state's government from what his contemporaries called "The Octopus"—a reference to muckraker Frank Norris' 1901 novel about the outsized power of Southern Pacific Railroad. As Norris explained, the Cyclopean sea monster was a "symbol of a vast power, huge, terrible, flinging the echo of its thunder over all the reaches of the valley, leaving blood and destruction...

Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) has made good on his promise to begin his effort to “decriminalize all drug use” step by step with the introduction of several bills at the start of the new legislative session. Senate Bill 57 creates “safe injection sites” where drug addicts can use illicit drugs under medical supervision. Senate Bill 73 lowers the criminal penalties on users and dealers of heroin, opiates or opium derivatives, salts, cannabis, phencyclidine (PCP), and other dangerous drugs. Still promised, but not yet introduced, is a bill Wiener says will legalize all psychedelic drugs such as LSD and magic...

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Friday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is sending the article of impeachment against former President Trump to the Senate on Monday, paving the way for a trial. The House of Representatives this month voted to impeach Trump for the second time in his presidency for "incitement of insurrection" after a mob of his supporters besieged the Capitol on Jan. 6 in a failed attempt to stop the certification of then-President-elect Joe Biden's electoral college win. "I've spoken to Speaker Pelosi who informed me that the article will be delivered to the Senate on...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has from the start said his coronavirus policy decisions would be driven by data shared with the public to provide maximum transparency. But with the state starting to emerge from its worst surge, his administration won’t disclose key information that will help determine when his latest stay-at-home order is lifted. State officials said they rely on a very complex set of measurements that would confuse and potentially mislead the public if they were made public.

It's easy to guess the states people are leaving. Can you guess the top states where people are headed?Top Outbound StatesTop Inbound States The above numbers are on a percentage basis of inbound to outbound moves, not absolute numbers. The report is from North American Moving Services.Key Takeaways from the 2020 Migration ReportPeople are fleeing California for Texas and IdahoIllinois, New York, and New Jersey are the three states with the most outbound moves. The top five inbound states in 2020 are Idaho, Arizona, Tennessee, South Carolina, and North Carolina, with Tennessee overtaking South Carolina from the 2019 results. Florida,...

Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, was one of only a handful of Republicans who voted to impeach Trump over his role in inciting the Capitol riot. More than a majority of GOP House members have since indicated they'd support ousting Cheney from her leadership spot, while at least two other Republicans have lined up to replace her, Politico reports. At least 107 House members — more than half the caucus — privately support removing Cheney from power, multiple GOP sources involved in the effort told Politico. Meanwhile New York Reps. Elise Stefanik and Lee Zeldin, who defended...

A federal lawsuit was filed against social media giant Twitter on Wednesday on behalf of a teenager, who claims that the company waited for days to remove sexually graphic videos of himself and another minor posted to its platform by sex traffickers. The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California is done so on behalf of the minor, who is identified in the legal filing as a 16-year-old Florida resident. Withholding the child’s real name for privacy concerns, the plaintiff is referenced in the filing by the name John Doe. Doe is being represented...

Twitter refused to take down widely shared pornographic images and videos of a teenage sex trafficking victim because an investigation “didn’t find a violation” of the company’s “policies,” a scathing lawsuit alleges. The federal suit, filed Wednesday by the victim and his mother in the Northern District of California, alleges Twitter made money off the clips, which showed a 13-year-old engaged in sex acts and are a form of child sexual abuse material, or child porn, the suit states. The teen — who is now 17 and lives in Florida — is identified only as John Doe and was between...

Today, U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio (OR-04) introduced the Wall Street Tax Act, legislation to create a new tax on financial transactions that would generate billions in revenue, while reducing speculative trading and volatility in the market. “High-frequency traders front-run the market and drive up prices for individuals, pension funds and other value investors,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio. “Some days high-frequency traders trade billions of shares that they sometimes hold for only seconds or less. They reap enormous financial benefits for themselves and their privileged elite investors but add no value to our economy. Congress needs to rein in excessive speculative...

On October 13, 2020 The Pivtorak Law Firm filed a class action and taxpayer lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against the heads of one of California’s largest state agencies, alleging that they created racially discriminatory policies and practices that are steeped in Critical Race Theory. The suit alleges that Wade Crowfoot, the Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency and Charlton Bonham, Director for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, implemented policies that create racial preferences in connection with recruiting, hiring, and other conditions of employment for state employees and which overtly treat people as racial categories rather...

CNN’s Manu Raju asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi if pursuing impeachment against former President Trump at the start of the new Congress would undermine efforts to create unity with colleagues from across the aisle. “No, I’m not worried about that,” Pelosi said during her weekly news conference. “The fact is, the President of the United States committed an act of incitement of insurrection. I don't think it's very unifying to say, oh, let's just forget it and move on. That's not how you unify," she continued. When Pelosi said, “just because he is now gone,” she paused to say “thank...

California is "starting to see the decline" in new cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations have stabilized and are "declining somewhat," the state's top health official said on Tuesday. California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said during a video conference that the current number of hospitalizations, 20, 263, is down 8.5% over the past two weeks. Admissions at hospital intensive care units are down 2.8% over the past week, he said. COVID-19 test positivity rates, another key indicator tracked by health officials, have come down to 11.6% for the past two weeks from 12.7% earlier in January.

The number of shooting victims in South Los Angeles rose 742 percent during the first 16 days of 2021 as compared to the first 16 days of 2020. LAPD Headquarters tweeted about the surge in shooting victims, noting there were 59 such victims by January 16, 2021, whereas there were only seven by the same time in 2020.

The future Hall of Fame? quarterback is calling it a careerWhile the world awaits what's expected to be a retirement decision from Drew Brees, another NFL legend has opted to make his decision quickly. Philip Rivers, 39, recently noted he'd consider retirement but was also open to returning to the Indianapolis Colts for a second year, if they'd have him. Just over one week after being eliminated from the playoffs at the hands of the Buffalo Bills in an AFC wild-card game, Rivers is instead going to hang up his cleats -- he told The San Diego Union-Tribune -- ending...

Three Beverly Hills residents are facing federal charges in Washington, D.C. in connection with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, officials said. Gina Bisignano, 52, John Strand, 37, and Simone Gold, 55 are expected to appear in federal court in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday, according to the FBI. Bisignano, owner of Gina’s Eyelashes and Skincare in Beverly Hills, was arrested Tuesday, while Strand and Gold were taken into custody Monday. The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday shared stills of the three defendants obtained from video reviewed by investigators. The photos show the individuals both outside and inside...

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Sunday marked the 27th anniversary of the deadly 1994 Northridge earthquake. The 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck on Jan. 17, 1994, at 4:31 a.m., jolting San Fernando Valley residents awake. The earthquake killed 57 people and injured thousands more in the Los Angeles area, also causing billions of dollars in damages. Find more details about how to prepare for an earthquake, and what to include in your disaster kit, on L.A. County’s preparedness site. The ShakeAlert smartphone app will give you the heads up before a potentially dangerous earthquake. It is available for download in the iOS...

(CNSNews.com) – Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that there was a “bicameral, bipartisan effort” to look at censuring President Donald Trump, which she said would hold him accountable and prohibit him from holding office again, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) wouldn’t bring it up for a vote. “Well, one of the things, one of the options that was on the table last week when we were going through the impeachment, getting up to D.C. for that, was that there was a bicameral, bipartisan effort to look at censure as an option. That would...

Many journalists and political commentators have been pessimistic about the possibility of statehood for the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. This seems to be primarily because, despite the recent Democratic victories in Georgia, moderate senators like Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), Diane Feinstein (D-Calif), and Angus King (I-Maine) continue to support the legislative filibuster. It is impossible to imagine Republican senators voting to give Democratic-leaning areas full representation, so the issue must be dead on arrival in the upper chamber. But in a recent CNN interview, Manchin himself provided evidence for why this thinking is all wrong......."

A new strain of the coronavirus – different from the highly contagious UK variant – has appeared in California, where the total number of cases approaches 3 million, according to a report. The state’s Department of Public Health said it’s unclear whether the variant, which has popped up in a dozen counties, is highly contagious or is just being identified more frequently as lab work becomes increasingly sophisticated, the LA Times reported. Researchers have linked the strain to several large outbreaks in Santa Clara County, according to the newspaper.

The Los Angeles Times published an analysis of President-elect Joe Biden’s forthcoming policies and concluded that he wants to “make America California again.” Not the Ronald Reagan version: rather, the contemporary left-wing bubble.