Free Republic

President Donald Trump's sweeping executive orders have drawn comparisons to Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint aimed at reshaping the federal government under a Republican administration. Newsweek examines the similarities. Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment via email. Why It Matters Project 2025, a 900-page document spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation, set out plans to expand executive authority, replace civil servants with ideologically aligned appointees, limit abortion rights and impose much tougher restrictions on immigration. Democrats have painted the initiative as a road map for Trump's second term in an attempt to portray him as ideologically extreme. Trump...

New data from the Center for Disease Control indicates that more than 25% of young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 experienced suicidal thoughts in the month of June, an elevated statistic likely a result of the coronavirus epidemic. 11% of the Americans in that age category thought “seriously” about suicide, a large contingent of the demographic. “Symptoms of anxiety disorder and depressive disorder increased considerably in the United States during April–June of 2020, compared with the same period in 2019,” the CDC reported on Thursday. The data indicates that a massive 47% of Americans ages 18 to...

Mitt Romney, who was the only Republican senator to break party lines and vote in favor of Donald Trump being impeached at his Senate trial earlier this month, is now attacking the president again. This time, the Utah senator is claiming that the Trump administration is totally unprepared for a potential coronavirus outbreak. As Trump tried to tamp concerns over the coronavirus in New Delhi, saying that the situation was “under control” and is a “problem that’s going to go away,” Romney was confronting officials in Washington D.C. at a private briefing on the virus. As a member of the...

<p>If the tax reform proposal passed by the House of Representatives last week becomes law, 95% of current donors to nonprofit organizations, churches, and colleges will no longer be able to claim a tax deduction for their contribution. The bill passed by the House increases the standard deduction for individuals and families and will drastically reduce the number of tax filers who itemize.</p>

Clinton press secretary Nick Merrill talks about having “friendly” reporters who they rely on to regurgitate their talking points. WikiLeaks Clinton Campaign documents show that Hillary’s campaign has paid journalists regurgitating talking points for them.

There comes a time at most large family gatherings when a heated political argument breaks out. And by “heated political argument” what I mean is “someone just repeats something they heard on Hannity’s radio show that you know to be completely untrue.” You may be the lone liberal in a conservative family, or you may have one right-wing uncle in your left-wing family, but this will happen. What to do? If you have a “smart phone,” just bookmark Snopes now. That’ll take care of the really weird stuff. (Well, not this level of weird, but “I read that airlines don’t...

In his weekly memo for the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA, former White House spokesman Bill Burton signals that the first wave of Democratic attacks against Rick Perry won't be about character, land deals, the HPV vaccine or any of the other early oppo hits on the Texas governor. The early Priorities USA attack line against Perry is simpler: He's too extreme to be trusted with the White House. Burton riffs on Perry's first few weeks on the campaign trail, as well as other episodes from the Texan's recent political history, to call his candidacy a "powerful statement on how...

The Chairman of the Republican National Committee Michael Steele looks to have fallen victim to predatory lending. From The Daily Caller: "According to public documents obtained by Americans for Limited Government (ALG), Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), is as fiscally irresponsible in his personal life as he has been in the management of the RNC. A rough estimate indicates that Steele is obligated to pay 117% of his take-home pay in mortgages and taxes on his $1.7 million home in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. This is no ordinary home, but is a 6,440 square foot mansion with...

Republicans still have time to transform their concern about the explosion in the size of our government into a directed political force that sweeps elections this November. The single person who can now do the most to make this happen is RNC Chairman Michael Steele. How? By resigning. The latest mark against Steele is the apparent exposure of a personal belief deeply at odds with Republican philosophy. Yesterday, Mr. Steele said of the war in Afghanistan that “this was a war of Obama’s choosing.” ... Indeed, major donors have deserted the RNC. The DNC has led the RNC in fundraising....

Who's an Uncle Tom? By Bruce Walker As the Democrats' nomination process descends into the ugly area of racial politics, it may be helpful to explore and to learn about the origin of some of the equally ugly racial mockeries that have become a part of American political life. The term "Uncle Tom" was used extensively during the decade of civil rights reform to describe a black man who simply did what white people wanted. Where did this term come from? The literary reference, of course, comes from Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, the passionate and simple anti-slavery novel...

Egypt (AP) - Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden plans a new video addressing the American people regarding the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, terror monitoring groups said Thursday. SITE Intelligence Group said an Internet announcement of the plan included a photo of the al-Qaida leader from the upcoming video—his beard, which in previous messages had been streaked with gray, was entirely dark.

Stars keep lining up for Proposition 87, a ballot measure that seeks to tax California's oil production to help finance alternative fuel development. The Yes on Prop. 87 campaign started airing a television commercial Monday featuring Bill Clinton that's cobbled together from a speech he gave at a rally in support of the initiative last week at UCLA. Clinton, a popular figure in heavily Democratic California, now joins a list of other big names who have come out in support of the measure. Actress Geena Davis appeared with Clinton at Friday's rally, and Julia Roberts stumped for the initiative at...

 It is sad to watch a once-great company decline. Jobs are sacrificed, historic facilities closed, and an atmosphere of failure and fear usually permeates the surviving operations. When a company needs to sell-off profitable crown jewels to sustain the lagging less profitable pieces, it does not portend future happiness.But when the situation is compounded by hereditary management succession based on family control, and when the hapless scion put into Daddy’s office leads the firm into blunder after blunder, squandering the resources built up by previous generations, elements of tragedy enter the picture. When the bloodline-based boss is both obsessed with a private agenda and...

Defense lawyers for Saddam Hussein released a letter on Thursday that he recently wrote in prison that attempts to persuade the American people to demand a troop pullout because President Bush misled them into the Iraq war. The 5,000-word letter is a rambling treatise outlining what Mr. Hussein asserts are the false reasons that the Bush administration used to justify the war in Iraq, from weapons of mass destruction to Iraqi links with Al Qaeda. Mr. Hussein blames Iran and pro-Israel interests for helping lead the Americans into war. He invokes the specter of Vietnam and the spirit of Mao...

Al Qaeda's Ayman al-Zawahiri, in videotape on Al-Jazeera, says U.S. airstrike against him in Pakistan failed.

Al-Qaida's deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri called U.S. President George W. Bush a "butcher" and a "failure" in a videotape aired on Arab television Monday, his first appearance since an American airstrike that targeted him this month in Pakistan. Al-Zawahri, shown in the video wearing white robes and a white turban, said the Jan. 13 airstrike killed "innocents" and said the United States had ignored an offer from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden for a truce. "Butcher of Washington, you are not only defeated and a liar, but also a failure. You are a curse on your own nation," he said,...

In a remarkable geopolitical meeting of minds, the pre-election address of top global terrorist Osama bin Laden shows he has adopted many of the Democratic Party's talking points. Transcripts of the address released late Friday reveal such stunning similarities that it's obvious bin Laden has been following the U.S. presidential race very closely - and he agrees on issue after issue with domestic critics of the Bush administration. Story Continues Below • Dem Talking Point No. 1: BUSH STOLE THE 2000 ELECTION In bin Laden's version, President George H. W. Bush began planning to steal the 2000 election years in...

A question to ask is how the GOP ended up with a stupid racist like Trent Lott as Majority Leader? Maybe it's because the backup bench of acceptable rightwingers are worse-- Nickles with his anti-civil rights record or McConnell's corporate whoring against campaign finance reform. But the fair-haired choice of the White House appears to be Tennessee's Bill Frist. Who is supposedly the GOP's point person on health care issues. Which is as appropriate as having Trent Lott be their point man on civil rights. Frist is literally the child of corporate medical fraud and union-busting. While he bills himself...