Free Republic

Irish President Michael Higgins accuses Israel of leaking the full text of a letter he sent to Iran’s new president as he was sworn in in July, an allegation rejected and denounced by the Israeli embassy. The July 11 letter congratulating Masoud Pezeshkian — whose existence was made public on July 26 by Ireland’s Foreign Ministry but whose full text was then published online on July 29 — drew backlash for its friendly nature; its claim that Iran will play a “crucial role” in achieving Middle East stability, cooperation and “peaceful resolving of disputes”; and its omission of Tehran’s major...

The Democrats let President Joe Biden back into the wild this week after he disappeared during the Democratic National Convention, hid in California and then napped on the beach in Delaware. It was a nearly three-week absence, and his latest appearance in a key swing state proves why they’re happy to have him missing in action. During an event in Wisconsin, Biden finally admitted that the “Inflation Reduction Act” was deceptively named and didn’t actually reduce inflation. In fact, it increased prices through excess spending and was a giant, corrupt handout to the so-called “green” energy industry. It’s why I’ve...

The $400 billion federal clean-energy lending program that has faced criticism for moving too slow is stepping up efforts to push cash out the door before the election. The Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office was turbocharged by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which gave it hundreds of billions of dollars to lend to clean-energy businesses. So far, it has only used a tiny fraction of that capacity. Biden administration officials fear that if Donald Trump is elected, the office would stop making loans. The program was largely dormant while Trump was president. “The election is everything,” said Adam Forgie, the...

Footage of Prigozhin shows how the slain leader predicted Ukraine's shock offensive. THE slain chief of the notorious Wagner mercenary group predicted Russia would come under siege from Ukraine before Vlad had him killed. Warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin died when his plane was blown out of the sky in August 2023, allegedly on Putin's orders. He led the private Russian military unit that was called in to assist the Kremlin's quest to illegally conquer Ukraine and became increasingly frustrated with how war efforts were organised. Fed up with the Ministry of Defence, Prigozhin eventually threatened a coup against Moscow - a...

As Russia’s ruling elite one-by-one fall down stairs or out windows, another star is rising. Now speculation is mounting that “Putin’s Chef” is preparing to step out of the kitchen. He started out with a catering business. He quickly became part of President Vladimir Putin’s inner sanctum. He’s now behind Russia’s cyber warriors and a host of online trolls. And he has his own mercenary army. Yevgeny Prigozhin is becoming increasingly bold. He’s spruiking his Wagner Group mercenaries as Russia’s most effective fighting force. He’s waging a verbal war against key Putin appointees. He’s winning public support among extremists who...

'The program is in a death spiral,' former domestic policy adviser to former President Trump says In a move critics say is designed to shield the Biden-Harris administration from election fallout, the administration has leveraged taxpayer funds to mask upcoming increases in Medicare premiums. Under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which was intended to cap out-of-pocket drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries, insurers are poised to significantly hike monthly premiums, with average bids for Part D plans expected to triple by 2025. In response to potential voter backlash, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rolled out a three-year "demonstration...

Sectarian violence was rekindled in Northern Ireland on Saturday night as police were attacked with petrol bombs following a pro-unionist demonstration that took place in the city. At least 10 police officers were injured in Londonderry on Saturday evening after they came under assault by a reported group of Irish nationalist youths during “several hours of disorder” on Nailors Row.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) called out grant recipients from the Inflation Reduction Act that they say are "anti-American."

Progressive activist groups from across the country are preparing to protest outside the Democratic National Convention “with or without permits” come August. Coalition leaders have attested their right to be within “sight and sound” of the convention’s center stage at the United Center, citing First Amendment rights in a federal lawsuit filed last month. On Saturday, leaders reaffirmed their commitment to be heard outside the DNC, despite the city’s denial of protest permits closer to the convention’s site. A couple of hundred people representing 78 activist organizations gathered Saturday for a day-long “working conference” hosted by the March on the...

The phrase “pension benefits” may come up a lot in the next several days as negotiations between the United Auto Workers union and the Big Three automakers go down to the wire to avert a strike. But for most private-sector US workers, pensions disappeared long ago. In a traditional pension, employers contribute, invest and manage retirement funds for their workers, who then receive guaranteed monthly checks for life after they retire. But over the past several decades, employers have either closed or frozen their pensions and turned instead to retirement savings vehicles like the 401(k), which put much more of...

Before anybody can claim that I am circulating a conspiracy theory, or citing an unreliable “news” source, I am going to quote President Biden’s State of the Union address and his own website (whitehouse.gov) as the sources of this information. I will then encourage readers to circulate this information as widely as possible via social media, letters to the editor, and talk radio to educate the public between now and Election Day. The State of the Union address says in part, “Under my plan nobody earning less than $400,000 will pay an additional penny in federal taxes. ... It’s time...

Although it sounds too far-fetched to be true, Americans don’t actually own the stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other assets held in common retirement vehicles such as Roth IRA and 401(k) accounts. In reality, Americans own what are called “security entitlements.” Back in the old days, before digitalization fundamentally transformed the mechanics of financial transactions, this was not the case. But that was then. This is now. Most Americans have probably never heard of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), which is “a comprehensive set of laws governing all commercial transactions in the United States.” Even fewer Americans are familiar with...

Taylor Swift's boyfriend Travis Kelce is making his Hollywood debut as a film producer. Not only will the film be produced by the Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs tight end, but it will be financed using green energy tax credits courtesy of the Biden administration's signature bill the Inflation Reduction Act. The $739 billion spending plan in the Act raised taxes for everyone except those earning between $10,000 and $30,000. The film, "My Dead Friend Zoe," will star Natalie Morales, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, and Sonequa Martin-Green, per Variety. Despite its catchy name, the Inflation Reduction Act was primarily a...

Chief suspect for the knife attack has been detained and had sustained wounds believed to be self-inflicted A major security incident left several people, including at least three children, with injuries in Dublin’s north inner city. A person of interest has been identified and a large knife has been seized at the scene on Parnell Square East. Gardaí have sealed off the scene. The Irish Times understands at least three children have suffered suspected stab wounds, though some sources said that number may rise as more information is confirmed. The chief suspect for the knife attack has been detained...

Riots erupted in Dublin on Thursday after children were stabbed outside a school amid rumors that the assailant is a foreign national, according to Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Ireland's public media outlet. The violence began when a man approached children outside a school and began stabbing them, leaving a 5-year-old girl and a woman in her 30s with serious injuries.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Wednesday said he will keep up his battle against the Biden administration and officials who seek to “undermine” the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) as part of their “radical climate agenda” on the first anniversary of it being signed into law. The West Virginia moderate, in a lengthy statement on the anniversary of the IRA being signed into law, praised parts of the legislation, which he helped author. Manchin lauded the IRA as “one of the most historic pieces of legislation passed in decades,” especially for middle- and working-class families. He also hailed its work to...

FIRST ON FOX: A large bipartisan coalition in the House is introducing legislation Friday that would reverse a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) targeting oil and gas producers. The Promoting Domestic Energy Production Act - authored by Reps. Mike Carey, R-Ohio, and Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, and joined by more than a dozen fellow members - would aim to ensure the oil and gas industry is able to enjoy the same tax benefits as other capital-intensive industries. Specifically, it allows companies to receive tax deductions on intangible drilling costs (IDC). "American energy independence is neither a right nor left...

Dedicated viewers of Fox News are likely familiar with Lear Capital, a Los Angeles company that sells gold and silver coins. In recent years, the company’s ads have been a constant presence on Fox airwaves, warning viewers to protect their retirement savings from a looming “pension crisis” and “dollar collapse.” One such ad caught the attention of Terry White, a disabled retiree from New York. In 2018, White invested $174,000 in the coins, according to a lawsuit by the New York attorney general — only to later learn that Lear charged a 33 percent commission. Over several transactions, White, 70,...

Shortly after President Joe Biden offered tax credits to anyone buying solar panels, a Colorado homeowner named Stacie took out loans to install $30,000 worth of panels on her roof. Nearly six months later, however, those panels sat unused, generating no power. The problem seemed to have a simple fix: Stacie's energy provider merely needed to hook the panels up to its power grid—but there's no room. Increased demand driven by Biden's green subsidies, combined with inadequate power grid capacity, has left thousands of green energy projects like Stacie's without power, rendering them useless. "When you put out $30,000, you...