Free Republic

Citing a report--titled "The Cost of Doing Nothing: How Tim Walz and Keith Ellison Fueled Minnesota's Fraud Explosion"--prepared by the House Oversight Committee, Vice President JD Vance has asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) "to investigate Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and other high officials. According to the testimony of over 30 whistleblowers, their efforts to inform the Governor of the extensive corruption in state-administered grants to firms supposedly providing benefits to needy clients were repeatedly ignored or rebuffed, and those trying to expose the fraud were intimidated." In the Committee hearings Walz testified "I never personally observed...

This week the United Kingdom's Labor Party's Defense Secretary John Healy resigned, saying "Prime Minister Starmer refuses to ask for enough money to fund the kind of military we need to defend our country in this time of rising threats." Starmer disagreed and pointed out "we are engaged in a transition to what I feel is a necessary pivot from our long-term reliance on the United States to provide our defense. During the 20th century the US came to our aid in two world wars. Then for seven decades defended us from Russian aggression. This enabled us to spend more...

Lydia Grant, president of the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council, announced that "funding for our annual Fourth of July parade has been pulled by Mayor Bass. We've been doing this parade for over 50 years. I was very shocked because the mayor herself said to contact her staff to get it done. Then they started ignoring us. This has never happened before." Bass blamed Trump for the cancellation, saying "since President Trump has made such a big deal about this being the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence I felt duty bound to thwart his ambition to make this year's observation...

Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) brushed aside the negative aspects of his Party's prospective nominee for the US Senate seat in Maine, saying "yeah, he's had some troubling behaviors. First there was the Nazi tattoo on his chest. I mean, who does that? Then there is the revelation that he's been unfaithful in his marriage. This isn't so unusual. Congress has a special fund to pay off the women that are abused by its members. Finally, there is his boast that he would rape anyone who breaks into his house to demonstrate his dominance. These aren't the words that I would...

In 2024, California voters approved Proposition 36 by majorities in every one of the state's 58 counties. This proposition boosted penalties for repeat offenders of smash-and-grab thefts, organized retail crime, and open drug dealing. Assemblywoman LaShae Sharp-Collins (D-district 79) felt that "making repeated retail thefts a felony is too harsh. Such thefts are an inevitable outcome in a society where poor people lack the money needed to legally acquire the things they need or want. Shoplifting is a relatively peaceful way of overcoming the deprivation of not having a job or the income to afford stuff. Rather than trying to...

This week, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) spoke before the 2026 CAP IDEAS Conference that was hosted by the Center for American Progress, saying "first, as a guarantee, we are taking back control of the United States House of Representatives in November. As I speak, we have thousands of people in the field registering as many new voters as we can. People like 64-year-old Californian Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong who has been registering homeless skid row folks for the last 20 years. She lets them use her home address so the mail-in ballots the state sends to every registered...

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson laughed off what she termed "their futile effort to escape social justice. They think they will preserve their wealth and their income by relocating to states that respect private property and the so-called right to keep what they earn. At best, they will only temporarily spare themselves the retribution they so richly deserve." Wilson predicted "when Democrats sweep the November elections and achieve veto-proof majorities in Congress, the redistribution of wealth prescribed by Karl Marx in his "Communist Manifesto" of 1848 will go national. Everyone will be taxed based on the ability to pay. Everyone will...

Despite being urged by President Trump to do away with the filibuster, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is adamantly against doing it. "Look,' Trump said, "the filibuster is not a law. It is not in the Constitution. It is just a long standing tradition that helped Democrats resist efforts to end slavery. Right now it is being used to prevent efforts to reduce vote fraud. Neither of these purposes for which the filibuster has been or is being used is good for the country." Thune rebutted Trump's argument by pointing out "we Senators all respect each other. The filibuster...

The chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Service committees on Saturday expressed they are “very concerned” about the withdrawal of 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany amid President Trump’s feud with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Trump on Wednesday had announced that he was reviewing a possible reduction of U.S. troops in Germany. “We are very concerned by the decision to withdraw a U.S. brigade from Germany,” the chairs, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), said in a joint statement. “Germany has stepped up in response to President Trump’s call for greater burden sharing, significantly increasing defense spending...

With two-thirds of the printed copies of his book--"Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery"--remaining unsold, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif) claims he bought these copies "to ensure it would be a best-seller. My plan is to give autographed copies to everyone who donates to my presidential campaign. I think my sly and speedy action here demonstrates my ingenuity as leader and gives me an early lead for the 2028 Democratic nomination for president." "Another factor that will put me ahead of my Democrat rivals is that I was born a poor black child with a low IQ and...

At a town hall in Oklahoma this week, former US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg responded to a voter's fears that Republicans want to put trans and gay Americans in concentration camps. "Well, we all know that can't be ruled out," he said. "Why don't we compare and contrast the Republican and Democrat position on the LGBTQ+ issues?" "Republicans want to keep trans folks out out women's sports, locker rooms, lavatories, and prisons," Buttigieg observed. "Republicans insist that LGBTQ+ individuals are abnormal and shouldn't be allowed to follow their dreams. The obvious way to prevent this would be to put...

Assemblyman Mark González (D-Los Angeles) is sponsoring legislation "to get the feds out of our state. ICE insists that our state's sanctuary laws do not supersede their authority to enforce federal immigration laws. My bill will bar ICE agents or Department of Homeland Security employees who work for Trump from holding any future public employment in California--not the state, not the counties, not the cities, not any other entity that gets funding from the public treasury. This would bar them from being employed in public transit, water districts, and food stores if we follow the lead of New York's Mayor...

One of the distinct differences between the Deomocrat and Republican candidates vying to be the state's next governor were their answers to the question of whether truck drivers should be able to understand English in order to be licensed to drive on the roads? Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco (R) says "yes, it is a matter of public safety. The inability to read and understand roadside signs has a direct impact on crashes that kill other drivers and the passengers in their vehicles. Drivers who do not understand English make serious errors--like going the wrong way on freeway lanes, making...

This week, the federal Department of Justice (DOJ) got a grand jury to indict the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for donating money to known hate groups including the Ku Klux Klan, United Klans of America, Aryan Nations, the Nationalist Socialist Party of American Nazis and the Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club. Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said "the SPLC is a nonprofit entity that purports to fight white supremacy and racial hatred by reporting on extremist groups and conducting research to inform law enforcement groups, with the goal of dismantling these groups. The SPLC was not dismantling these groups....

This week, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) took action to avert a Democrat disaster in the state's gubernatorial election. Sitting Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is term-limited. A crowd of candidates are running in the "jungle primary" where the top two finishers are paired against each other in the general election. Since last November polls have repeatedly shown that the top two candidates favored by the voters are both Republicans. Pelosi said "when Eric Swalwell told me he was going to run for governor I advised him not to. We all knew he had been naughty, but Congress has a...

Working in cooperation with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested five foreigners wanted for murder in their home countries. These arrests included Danny Granado-Garcia (El Salvador), Kele Cristian Alves-Pereira (Brazil), Magno Jose Dos Santos (Brazil), Bryan Rafael Gomez (Dominican Republic), and Altieris Chaves Paiva (Brazil). Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (D) objected, saying "it was just two months ago that I issued an executive order that explicitly forbade ICE carrying out any of its enforcement activity in my city. ICE is an unconstitutional and violent organization that has been terrorizing immigrants all across the...

A poll of 1,000 registered voters conducted by Deep Root Analytics found that 87% of those responding were concerned about fraud that misuses taxpayer money. Eighty three percent saw fraud as a factor driving up the cost of living. One respondent pointed out "if crooks are stealing the money the government intended for those in need, taxes will be increased to replace what's what's been illegally taken." Asked what issues the government ought to focus on, 89% said lowering the cost of living, 84% said making communities safer, 80% said protecting the country from foreign threats, and 65% said enforcing...

This week, Pope Leo XIV visited Algeria's "Maqam Echahid" to "honor the sacrifices made by the Christians, Jews, and Muslims in 1962. All exhibited supreme devotion to their faiths. The Christians and Jews died for their faith. Many of the Muslims involved in slaying these non-Muslims also died in pursuit of their faith." Leo explained that "our presence here at this monument pays tribute to this history of Algeria and to the very spirit of a people who fought for the independence, dignity and sovereignty of this nation. Many non-Muslims regard the massacre of persons of different faiths as an...

Long time columnist for the New York Times Thomas Friedman publicly discussed his moral dilemma this week, saying "I really want to see Iran defeated militarily because this regime is a terrible regime for its people and the region. And nothing would improve the region more than the replacement of this regime with a regime that is focused on enabling its people to realize their full potential, and integrating peacefully with other countries, and stop occupying Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. So I'm all for that." "On the other hand, I really don't want to see Bibi Netanyahu or Donald...

The Republican-led Senate on Wednesday rejected the latest Democratic attempt to halt President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, turning aside a resolution that would require the U.S. to withdraw forces from the conflict until Congress authorizes further action. The 47-52 vote was the fourth time this year that the Senate has voted to cede its war powers to the president in a conflict that Democrats say is illegal and unjustified. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote against it. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voted with Democrats. Republicans say they will keep faith in Trump’s wartime...