Free Republic

Joe Walsh, a former Republican member of Congress, said Tuesday he is becoming a Democrat, marking the end of his five-year streak as a political independent after leaving the GOP in 2020. Walsh announced his formal affiliation with the Democratic Party in a Tuesday Substack post, saying he made the decision because he views the Republican Party as a threat to democracy and the rule of law and thinks defeating the GOP requires “a broad coalition of moderates, progressives, and, yes, even conservatives.” “Three words I never thought I’d ever utter: I’m a Democrat. This former Republican Congressman, former Republican...

The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with a Wisconsin-based Catholic charity group in a case centered on unemployment tax credits for religious institutions – delivering a victory for faith-based institutions, who had argued the state's decision had violated the religious clauses under the First Amendment. In a unanimous opinion, justices on the high court agreed that the state had engaged in an "unnecessary entanglement" in attempting to define whether religious groups should be entitled to an otherwise-available tax exemption based on the state’s criteria for religious behavior. "When the government distinguishes among religions based on theological differences in their provision...

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on June 2 vetoed a bill that would have prohibited the Chinese communist regime and state-owned enterprises from acquiring property in Arizona, according to her office.Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs speaks at the state Capitol in Phoenix on May 2, 2024. Matt York/AP PhotoSenate Bill 1109, sponsored by Arizona Senate Majority leader Janae Shamp (R-Ariz.), seeks to prevent China from buying or holding a substantial interest—a 30 percent stake or more—in property within Arizona.The proposed measure was designed to safeguard the state’s “military, commercial and agricultural assets” from the risks of “foreign espionage and sabotage,” which could...

The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked the Mexican government's lawsuit against major U.S. gun manufacturers, delivering a win for the firearms industry in a test of a federal law that shields them from civil suits. The high court unanimously rejected Mexico's arguments that its effort to hold firearms makers accountable for the violence wreaked by drug cartels armed with their products should proceed because it satisfied an exception to the liability shield provided through the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, or PLCAA. In the case known as Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos, Mexico had...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich warned Tuesday of a "very profound underlying cultural civil war underway," touching on the great divide between the right and left, as the two sides of the political aisle seem to separate even further. "The American people are increasingly on the side of Donald Trump because they believe he stands up against the very values that are at the heart of the Obama-Biden system," he said on Fox News' "Hannity." "That system was racist," he continued. "It spent money like crazy. It believed in weird values, and I think the American people said no." Gingrich...

The call lasted approximately one and a half hours, and resulted in a very positive conclusion for both Countries. There should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of Rare Earth products. Our respective teams will be meeting shortly at a location to be determined. We will be represented by Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and United States Trade Representative, Ambassador JamiesonGreer. During the conversation, President Xi graciously invited the First Lady and me to visit China, and I reciprocated. As Presidents of two Great Nations, this is something that we both look...

With a Wednesday vote, the United States showed how it still appears to be one of the only countries at the United Nations willing to stand by Israel. Thanks to a veto from the United States, the Security Council did not adopt a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, especially since it did not even condemn Hamas. The resolution still received 14 votes in favor. Fox News has more on the vote, as well as a video from U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Dorothy Shea:"It is inexplicable that many members of this council still refuse to acknowledge that...

A call between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping has taken place, according to Chinese state media. The bulletin from China was not immediately confirmed by Trump or his team. It offered no immediate details about the call itself other than to say the talks took place and that they happened at Trump's request. Either way, the apparent call would be a significant step in Trump's highest-stakes trade talks and the first time Trump and Xi have spoken since Trump's inauguration. The long-awaited call also comes at a fraught moment for US-China trade talks, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent...

SCOTUS Just ruled "Reverse Discrimination" IS Discrimination 9-0 A rare UNANIMOUS ruling from the Supreme Court. Honestly, this should be obvious and never made it to the Supreme Court. - June 5, 2025, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that “reverse discrimination” is discrimination, siding with Marlean Ames, who claimed she was denied a promotion and demoted at the Ohio Department of Youth Services for being straight. - The ruling eliminates the “background circumstances” requirement in 20 states, ensuring majority groups like straight or white employees face the same evidentiary standard under Title VII. - Justice Ketanji "Woman?" Brown Jackson wrote...

As U.S. tariffs tighten the screws on China’s export machine, Beijing is striking back with strategic precision. Export restrictions on rare earths are now Beijing’s latest move to break down European trade barriers and push back against escalating pressure from Washington.In today’s global trade standoff, the gloves are off. The U.S. is wielding its market clout -- 25% of global consumption originates from the American domestic market. Anyone in the export business must deal with the United States. China, meanwhile, holds an current monopoly on rare earths -- and is making it clear it will not hesitate to weaponize that...

Smart people can be really dumb. Sometimes it’s preferable to just be brilliant, rather than genius. For the majority of us in the middle of the Bell Curve, being smart-enough is sufficient to be commonsense conservatives. Elon Musk is in the genius category, and comes with some of the hazards associated with a high IQ. Indeed, he is capable of stupidity, sometimes in business (Tesla Cybertruck “Armour glass” demonstration and overpaying for Twitter, are just two examples). And sometimes in politics, as evidenced by calling the big, beautiful bill (BBB) a “pork-filled, disgusting abomination.” As stark as that criticism is,...

The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services narrowed sharply in April, falling to $61.6 billion from $138.3 billion in March—the largest monthly improvement on record—driven by a steep drop in imports and continued strength in American exports. The 16.3 percent decline in imports, the biggest on record, coincided with the introduction of new U.S. tariff schedules and followed months of accelerated purchasing by companies anticipating higher duties. Analysts noted that much of the shift reflected a hangover after months of elevated imports as businesses rushed to bring in goods ahead of the tariff hikes. At the same time, exports...

The suspect in the Boulder, Colorado, terror attack wasn’t a lone wolf—though you wouldn’t know it from the gaslight-and-deflect routine of the legacy press. He was the inevitable result of a system built to fail—and preserved in decay by design. Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the Egyptian national now accused of carrying out a targeted attack that injured multiple people, was in the United States illegally. The FBI confirmed it. The Department of Homeland Security under President Trump is pursuing consequences. But the real indictment here isn’t of one man—it’s of an entire era of lawlessness engineered by the prior administration and...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is using President Trump’s legislative agenda to “secretly explode” the Pentagon’s budget by adding $150 billion in military spending onto the national debt. “This bill is going to spend $300 billion in the first two years … $300 billion on military and border,” Paul, a critic of the House-passed version of the GOP mega bill, told Fox Business host Larry Kudlow in an interview on Wednesday. Paul said the spending cuts in the bill amount to $1.5 trillion over 10 years or about $150 billion per year. “In the first year...

Returning noncitizen children and noncitizen parents to their countries could save taxpayers hundreds of billions, especially in state budgets. Afew simple calculations indicate that as much as one-quarter of U.S. public school enrollment could be anchor babies, meaning children with at least one parent illegally present in the United States. This alone amounts to at least $145.6 billion in public resources diverted from U.S. citizens every year. Here’s the math. In April, the Kaiser Family Foundation estimated that 17 percent of school-age children, or nine million kids, in the United States are children of at least one illegal alien. The...

“The (puny) ask: Elon Musk recently criticized the GOP’s “massive spending” reconciliation bill, which he says “undermines” the savings DOGE has found. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller responded that Musk was wrong to expect reconciliation to lock in DOGE work, saying that the proper tool was rescission. “So where are the lock-ins? DOGE says it has identified some $180 billion in savings, though Congress needs to approve many of the grant cancellations and other clawbacks. “Yet the White House rescissions request is for a mere $9.4 billion—out of annual discretionary spending of $1.6 trillion. This (supposedly) cost-cutting...

The Supreme Court will be issuing Opinions this morning at 10:00 a.m. Scotusblog will be live-blogging the opinion release and we will be following along to try and make sense of the court's decisions.There are 32 cases remaining to be decided for the October 2024 term in addition to several cases on the emergency docket.One case of interest, and the only case remaining undecided from the December sitting is the Skrmetti case. Issue(s): Whether Tennessee Senate Bill 1, which prohibits all medical treatments intended to allow "a minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the...

A former analyst with the National Security Agency said that China is positioning equipment in "strategic places" that could be used to disrupt U.S. commerce after rogue communication devices were found inside Chinese solar power inverters. Rogue communication devices that were not in official product documents were found inside Chinese solar power inverters when they were examined by U.S. experts for possible security issues, two sources told Reuters. The two sources said that the rogue power inverters have undocumented communication channels which could be used to circumvent firewalls remotely, which could have major consequences. These power inverters connect the solar...

John Brennan is suddenly worried that the intel agencies might be politicized under President Trump. Funny. He didn’t seem to have that concern during all the years he and others used the deep state to repeatedly attack and smear Trump. What’s more likely is that Brennan is trying to plant seeds so that he can complain anything that’s found out about him is merely politically motivated. These people are evil liars. From the Western Lensman on Twitter/X: John Brennan, Russiagate Conspirator and Laptop Hoaxer, is worried that the CIA and FBI won’t be “apolitical” under Trump — — and will...

Scott Gibb was playing in a secluded area at Terry Hershey Park in Houston on May 26, when he was confronted by Eunice Isgur, 76. 'She said I had no right to play here in this public park,' 'She said, "I'm gonna call my husband. He's a federal judge and he's gonna make you stop",' Gibb told the outlet, referring to Isgur's husband US District Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur of the Southern District of Texas. But Isgur reportedly became further angered that she was being recorded, which is when she allegedly hit the victim's arm while swiping at her phone....