Free Republic

$900B COVID-19 Aid Bill Will Give Illegal Aliens $1,800 Checks While U.S. Citizens Get Only $600The bipartisan $900 billion coronavirus aid bill is just one giant F-you to American taxpayers."Family members of unauthorized immigrants are now eligible to get stimulus checks under the $900 billion deal reached last night," the Wall Street Journal's Michelle Hackman reported Monday. "That eligibility is retroactive, so adults excluded last time could get up to $1800 now."But wait...there's more! The Stimulus Bill:The gov't closes the economy. You lose your job. You face eviction.$600 for all your troubles. Meanwhile they send:$135 million to Burma$85.5 million to...

Federal spending on the Obamacare website healthcare.gov, a source of tremendous frustration for the public and embarrassment for the White House, will soon cross the $1 billion mark as the administration continues to fix glitches and make it an IT gem, according to congressional testimony. Sylvia Mathews Burwell, nominated to replace outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, said in answers to questions from Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., that spending has already reached $834 million and another $200 million has been budgeted for fiscal 2015. Asked by Alexander, the top Republican on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP)...

Amtrak announced a $151 billion improvement plan on Monday that includes 37-minute trips from New York to Philadelphia at speeds approaching 220 miles per hour (354 km per hour). However, the U.S. passenger railroad will need substantial financial support from both state and federal governments to make its ambitious plan to transform rail travel in the Northeast a reality. The railroad predicted that super-fast train trips along the East Coast could be a reality by 2040. Travel times from New York to either Washington or Boston—both about 200 miles (350 km) in distance—would also be slashed, to 94 minutes, the...

BRUSSELS—The EU commission wants to redirect €82 billion worth of structural funds to projects aimed at boosting employment and growth, particularly in bailed-out countries, measures seen as both vague and inadequate by critics. Anticipating a demand from Monday's EU summit to redeploy as yet unspent structural funds for employment-related projects, the EU commission on Friday (27 January) announced its intention to work with member states on redistributing €82 billion. Speaking at a press conference with the Belgian premier, commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said: "What we can do is to redeploy structural funds, as long as member states agree, because...

TREVORTON — Jesse Anderson was clearly enjoying a chicken fajita, washed down by a slushy. "I can cook but it’s too hot," the 9-year-old from Trevorton said. He said eating lunch at Trevorton Elementary School on July 6 gave his mother a break. Jesse sometimes gets to the breakfasts that are also part of the new free summer food program of the Line Mountain School District. He usually rides his bike or walks to his school. Zack Robenolt, 11, also of Trevorton, said his older sister is usually asleep so he goes to the school for breakfast. He was having...