Free Republic

New York City provided 720,765 residents cash assistance last year — the most it’s ever awarded in welfare checks in at least a decade. To handle the surge, a staggering $2.46 billion in federal, state and city funds was budgeted by Mayor Adams this year to provide cash assistance to adults unable to work or pay their bills and for their children. The city previously budgeted $1.99 billion during the fiscal year that ended June 30, and $1.57 billion in fiscal 2022.

The number of gun sales estimated using the National Instant Background Check System, or NICS, for December of 2023 was about 1.74 million guns. This was the fourth-highest number of gun sales for December in the NICS system. The number of background checks was about 2.73 million. This was the sixth-highest December for NICS background checks.December showed a slight drop in the trend for 2023 but is maintaining what has become the new normal of gun sales, which arguably started in 2011 when annual sales passed the 10 million mark.2023 had the fourth-highest total for gun sales of any year...

Thursday, during an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) criticized the U.S. government’s approach to Ukraine. Hawley said there was an anticipation by those proponents to continue “writing checks to Ukraine” forever. “[A]t some point, the American people will have their say on this and four more years of Biden, without a doubt, means four more years of war for the United States,” host Laura Ingraham said. “Is that what Americans want — four more years of war?”

California Democratic state Sen. Steven Bradford is warning African Americans not to get their "hopes up" for massive reparations payments from the state. Bradford’s message comes after the California Reparations Task Force recommended over the weekend that the state pay up to $1.2 million in reparations to each eligible Black resident. The state lawmaker, who served on the task force, claimed that it’s possible that Black residents could receive cash payments "if the money’s there," but argued that receiving million dollar checks in repayment for historical discrimination is "not happening." The reparations panel held a public meeting in Oakland, California,...

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara issued a 112-page opinion Thursday afternoon in which she claimed that the government's proposed judicial reforms would cause "serious damage to the system of checks and balances" between the three branches of government. Baharav-Miara submitted her position to Justice Minister Yariv Levin and the Knesset Constitution Committee. In her opinion, the attorney general wrote: "Each of the proposed reforms, and certainly their accumulation, will lead to serious damage to the system of checks and balances between the authorities. Each of the proposed reforms raises substantial difficulties, which go to the root of the principle of the...

Officials from the World Health Organization (WHO) are recommending that COVID-19 mitigation methods like masking on planes be reemphasized for regions like North America and Europe in response to the spread of the XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant, which is believed to be significantly more transmissible than previous mutations. Catherine Smallwood, senior emergency officer for the WHO, was asked during a briefing on Tuesday whether travelers from the U.S. should be subject to travel checks due to the spread of XBB.1.5. More than 70 percent of cases in the Northeastern U.S. are currently attributed to the subvariant.

The leftist government of New Zealand will begin handing out millions of checks in an attempt to fight inflation, despite government spending typically being a key contributor to inflation. In order to supposedly combat inflation, which has risen to a 30-year-high in New Zealand, Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced on Thursday that the Labour Party-controlled government would be issuing 350NZD ($225/£180) in checks to some 2.1 million Kiwis in weekly payments over the next three months.

Seniors and other people who rely on Social Security benefits could next year see their biggest cost-of-living adjustment since 1981, with an advocacy group for older Americans forecasting an 8.6% hike. The typical monthly Social Security check is about $1,658, which means beneficiaries could see an increase of $142.60 per month in early 2023, bringing the average check to about $1,800, according to a new forecast from the Senior Citizens League.

Roughly a dozen states are proposing sending tax rebate checks to their residents to offset the highest inflation in four decades, with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle pointing to high gas and food prices as prompting their actions. Among them is Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, who on Wednesday signed a law to send checks of up to $500 to state residents. The reason, he said in a statement, is to soften the impact of inflation on household budgets — and also return some of money amid a record state budget surplus.

Americans already faced searing inflation when gas prices surged to an all-time high earlier this month. Now, some lawmakers want the federal government to offer stimulus payments or rebate checks to help reduce the pain at the pump. Families with two children could get as much $300 per month as long as the nation's average gas price exceeds $4 a gallon, according to one new bill proposed by Reps. Mike Thompson of California, John Larson of Connecticut and Lauren Underwood of Illinois. All three lawmakers are Democrats

Illegal aliens in the sanctuary state of New Jersey could get another round of stimulus checks, paid for by the state’s taxpayers, in addition to the checks they received last year. Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) is proposing another $53 million in the state budget to fund one-time $500 stimulus checks for more than 100,000 illegal aliens. Nearly half a million illegal aliens currently live in New Jersey.

I’ve been documenting a less high-tech threat emerging in recent months: a surge in stolen checks. Criminals are targeting U.S. Postal Service and personal mailboxes to pilfer filled-out checks and sell them over the internet. The buyers alter the payee and amount listed on the checks to rob victims’ bank accounts of thousands of dollars. While banks typically bear the financial burden and reimburse targeted accounts, criminals can use the checks to steal victims’ identities, which can have severe consequences. For the past two years, we’ve been surveilling 60 black market channels on the internet to learn more about the...

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) office backtracked on Monday after the governor announced the state would provide millions of dollars in support to counties complying with her mask rules, as well as state inspectors to conduct “spot checks” for coronavirus mandate compliance in businesses across the state. “I want to focus on the counties doing the right thing, and that have been our allies in making sure that we ensure that people are compliant with our protocols related to masks,” Hochul said on Monday.

On this episode of the Resistance Library Podcast, Sam and David discuss gun background checks. Prior to 1968, most adults in the United States could purchase a firearm without state interference. Guns were available in local retail stores, as well as mail-order catalogs, and as long as you hadn’t been convicted of a felony and you had the funds, there weren’t any questions asked. Things are different now. Depending on where in America you are and what type of gun you want to buy, there’s a good chance you’ll need to pass a NICS-mandated background check to complete your purchase....

President Joe Biden claimed Monday that Americans wanted to go back to work, even as he warned workers against collecting expanded unemployment checks if they were actually offered a job. “Americans want to work … I think the people who claim Americans won’t work even if they find a good and fair opportunity underestimate the American people,” said Biden at a speech on the economic recovery at the White House.

Washington has gone nuts. The inmates are running the asylum! pic.twitter.com/51pYXXtTIK— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 6, 2021

Nearly 200,000 eligible illegal aliens in New York could receive a one-time payment of $15,600 in taxpayer-funded benefits thanks to a budget deal approved by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). This week, as Breitbart News reported, state Democrats and Cuomo struck a budget deal that shifts $2.1 billion in taxpayer-funded benefits to illegal aliens who lost their jobs during the Chinese coronavirus crisis. The aid to illegal aliens is $1.1 billion more than tax credits and grants authorized for small businesses in the state.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that President Biden’s name will not appear on stimulus checks that will be sent to many Americans after the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill is passed.The decision represents a break with the previous administration, as former President Trump's name appeared on stimulus checks sent by the Internal Revenue Service to millions of Americans.“We are doing everything in our power to expedite the payments and not delay them, which is why the president’s name will not appear on the memo line of this round of [stimulus] checks,” Psaki told reporters at an afternoon...

Susan Sarandon says President Biden and the Democrats are pulling a 'bait and switch' by promising $2,000 stimulus checks then sending out $1,400 to Americans. 'Where are the $2K checks you promised? At a time when only 39% of Americans could afford a $1,000 emergency & over 15 million have lost employer-sponsored health insurance, the diff between $1,400 & $2K is a matter of survival,' she tweeted. Biden's administration initially promised $2,000 per check to Americans. In December, $600 checks went out under the final stimulus from Trump.

After a group of 10 Senate Republicans duly trudged to the White House on Monday to show their “bipartisanship” on yet another COVID-19 stimulus bill, President Joe Biden did the predictable: He looked at their outreached hand of political comity and spat on it. Just as well, since the only thing the Democrats’ plan will “stimulate” will be more debt. Biden and his party were never really interested in bipartisanship at all, despite their claims to the contrary. The whole point of this choreographed Kabuki political theater was to humiliate the Republicans, who foolishly took Biden and the Democrats at...