Free Republic

With the cost of raising a child to age 18 reaching well over $300,000, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on the Best & Worst States to Raise a Family in 2025, as well as expert commentary, to highlight the states that are affordable, safe, well-educated and enjoyable for families to live in.WalletHub compared the 50 states across 50 key indicators of family-friendliness. Our data set includes factors like the median annual family income, housing affordability, health care quality, crime rate, and school quality.Best States for FamiliesWorst States for Families1. Massachusetts41. Arizona2. Minnesota42. South Carolina3. North Dakota43. Louisiana4....

On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” Washington Post Associate Editor and MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart said that incoming Trump Border Czar Tom Homan’s proposal that families who have parents who are in the country illegally need to decide between either being in detention and then leaving the country together or separating is “not where we should be going as a country.” And is “no choice at all, not for those families. That’s why they’re living in fear right now.” After New York Times columnist David Brooks argued that the border has to be secured to get people to support immigration, Capehart said,...

Outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken finally expressed remorse that the Biden administration had not done more to protect the 13 US troops who were killed in an ISIS-K suicide bombing during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. “I think today, especially of the 13 heroes that we lost at Abbey Gate. And I deeply regret we did not do more and could not do more to protect them,” Blinken said as he testified Wednesday on Capitol Hill. “And to those families who are here with us today, you’re in my thoughts and my prayers.” Blinken, 62, mixed a...

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN International’s “Amanpour,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) said that he wants more federal help finding and deporting immigrants who commit crimes “But when it comes to going after hardworking, de facto American families that are a critical part of our economy, whether it’s in the agriculture sector, the construction sector, we want to do everything within our legal means to protect our economy and our prosperity and push back.”

Migrant families and immigration advocacy groups are preparing for millions of families to potentially be separated from each other during the mass deportations planned by President-elect Donald Trump. In states like Arizona, Colorado and Pennsylvania, mixed-status families, asylum-seekers and advocates say they are planning for scenarios where children could be separated from their parents. In Pennsylvania, Lillie, a U.S. citizen who did not want to use her last name out of concern for her family’s safety, has been married to her undocumented husband from Honduras for 10 years. Last week, she took her U.S.-born children to get their passports and...

Family members of the 13 US service members killed in the chaotic August 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan were underwhelmed Tuesday by President Biden’s brief tribute to their loved ones before the United Nations General Assembly. Biden, 81, defended the fiasco as “a hard decision, but the right decision” during what was likely his final address to the global body. “Thirteen brave Americans lost their lives, along with hundreds of Afghans in a suicide bomb. I think [of] those lost lives — I think [of] them every day,” the president said, stumbling over his prepared remarks. Relatives of the fallen Americans...

NBC News’ Meet the Press admitted Sunday that anchor Kristen Welker had been incorrect to say that Vice President Kamala Harris had met the families of Americans killed in Afghanistan — though it also botched the correction. In an interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Welker challenged the Republican over former President Donald Trump’s visit last week to Arlington National Cemetery to pay his respects to the 13 fallen American soldiers on the third anniversary of the terror attack on Abbey Gate at the international airport in Kabul. The Harris/Walz campaign accused Trump of politicizing the memorial, amid controversy over...

Here’s video of several different military families defending Donald Trump and criticizing Kamala Harris over the recent incident at Arlington National Cemeteryhttps://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1830045970911867154Darin Hoover, Father of Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover… https://t.co/CHNRzcTa0J pic.twitter.com/ANQaSfjcUs— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2024https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1830044938148442601Coral Doolittle, Mother of Corporal Humberto A. Sanchez… https://t.co/CHNRzcTa0J pic.twitter.com/dz3UfvhVLB— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2024https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1830044664688165285Jaclyn Schmitz, Mother of Lance Corporal Jared Schmitz… https://t.co/CHNRzcTa0J pic.twitter.com/MeACvB310r— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2024https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1830044423079530939Steve Nikoui, Father of Lance Corporal Kareem M. Nikoui… https://t.co/CHNRzcTa0J pic.twitter.com/e7uRJo8ViA— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 1, 2024https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1830044131021762757Mark Schmitz, Father of Lance Corporal Jared M. Schmitz… https://t.co/CHNRzcTa0J pic.twitter.com/pRLF9tS7Jn— Donald J. Trump...

Incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris closed out what was already a terrible week with a desperate flail trashing 13 Gold Star families that then blew up spectacularly in her stupid and incompetent face. First, let’s review the last seven days. As I said last week, Kamala Harris is running a terrible presidential campaign. After six of the best weeks any presidential candidate has ever enjoyed, six weeks filled with billions and billions of dollars in free corporate media cheerleading and propaganda, it all fell apart at the Democrat National Convention.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked a program launched by President Joe Biden's administration allowing undocumented immigrants a pathway to U.S. citizenship, NBC News reports. The 'Keeping Families Together' program, which allowed undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens to apply for green cards without leaving the country, was blocked by U.S. Eastern District of Texas Judge J. Campbell Barker on Monday (August 26). The program would provide a "parole in place" to undocumented spouses who could prove they've lived in the U.S. continuously for at least 10 years. Undocumented immigrants married to U.S. citizens typically need to leave the country...

A new analysis from the U.S. Census Bureau found that the number of young children in America’s largest cities is “rapidly shrinking” at an alarming rate. Economic Innovation Group researcher Connor O’Brien reported that the number of children from birth to four years had declined 18% in New York City, 15% in Cook County, Illinois (Chicago), and 14% in Los Angeles County from 2020 to 2023. The number of children under five is also falling by double-digit percentage points in counties making up most or all of San Francisco, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and St. Louis. Several of America’s largest cities of...

In an ironic twist of events, the Pound Cake speech in which Bill Cosby famously (or, perhaps, infamously) criticized the black family and black neighborhood for what he deemed unsavory behavior was used to open the comedian to public scrutiny surrounding sexual assault allegations against him.

Families of students killed in the May 24, 2022, Uvalde school shooting filed numerous wrongful death lawsuits Friday in Texas and California, targeting AR-15 maker Daniel Defense, Meta Platforms, and Activision — the maker of the “Call of Duty” video game. Meta is the parent company of Instagram. CBS News reported that the “lawsuits were filed by attorney Josh Koskoff.”

Reports confirm Washington has created a vicious cycle for struggling families, not to mention the federal government as a whole.It took a hot second, but even entities on the political left have begun to discover how Washington’s uncontrollable spending has made life worse for American families.In recent weeks, both The New York Times and International Monetary Fund (IMF) — no raging conservatives — have analyzed how persistent budget deficits caused by Washington’s spending have exacerbated inflation woes. The moves suggest a solution underpinned by a return to basic common sense: namely, that if Washington finally gets its own fiscal house...

A report published by Politico claims that wanting the human race to reproduce is now a “far right” position to take. Yes, really. Leftists are so obsessed with identity politics, they’re arguing that human reproduction, and being in favour of people having babies is now right wing. The article focuses on a recent natal convention , and states that “The far right is so obsessed with making babies, they just held a whole conference about it.” The far right is so obsessed with making babies, they just held a whole conference about it. They are even using a political term...

[...] To say Caitlynn cares for — and loves — her little sister would be a huge understatement. "My sister is my best friend in the entire world, and I tell people that all the time," she says proudly. "I don't think I could make it day to day without her. She's the person I turn to for everything." This genuine love and kindness doesn't stop with her sister. She feels the same about her little brother, who's also still in high school. A few years ago, she seriously considered moving with him to Los Angeles to help support him...

New York City will give debit cards to migrant families for food and baby supplies. The first cards will be distributed to families on Monday, sparking fear that the new program could lead to fraud or abuse as well as speculation that the city will be prioritizing migrants over current citizens. As many 180,000 migrants have arrived in the city over the last two years with 65,000 now in shelters. “A family of four is expected to receive up to $350 per week under the program, which will last six weeks, city officials said. The program will begin with 10...

A mom of three given nearly $11,000 in a taxpayer-funded program for impoverished families has admitted blowing most of it on a luxurious five-day trip to Miami — even getting a $180 glow-up to not look like a “working” mom while there. Canethia Miller, 27, was one of 132 mothers in Washington, DC accepted last year into the “Strong Families, Stronger Futures” pilot program designed to help those living around the poverty line, according to the Washington Post. She chose to take a no-strings-attached $10,800 lump sum, rather than $900 monthly payments — and immediately spent more than $6,000 on...

Local families in the predominantly black Roxbury neighborhood of Boston are furious after the city shut down the local community center to instead use it to house more of President Joe Biden’s illegal border crossers. Roxbury’s Melnea A. Cass Recreational Community Center, which was once a meeting place for Little League ball players, volleyball games, and other sports and community events, has now been dedicated to rows of cots for illegal border crossers, CBS, WBZ-TV Boston reported. WBZ interviewed pre-teen Jeremiah Rodriguez who showed up at the community center on Feb. 17 under the mistaken impression that his community baseball...

Former President Obama stood by President Biden’s commitment to the NATO alliance on Wednesday, days after former President Trump sparked concern around the globe by saying the U.S. should not defend NATO allies who fall short of their defense spending targets. “President Biden is absolutely right,” Obama wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “The last thing we need right now is a world that is more chaotic and less secure; where dictators feel emboldened and our allies wonder if they can count on us. Let’s keep moving forward.” Obama was responding to a statement from Biden saying the NATO alliance keeps...