Free Republic

Congress made it official on Christmas Eve: no COVID-19 stimulus money will be approved until next week at the earliest. Partisan gridlock resumed as Democrats sought to unanimously approve President Trump’s request that $600 stimulus checks be increased to $2,000, The motion was refused consideration under House policy because Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) had not consented. In a Wednesday night letter, McCarthy accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of “selective hearing” of Trump’s objections, and asked for unanimous consent for the House to reconsider billions in foreign aid in a relief bill approved Monday by both chambers of Congress....

Wife studies why husband ignores nagging DURHAM, N.C., Feb. 13 (UPI) -- A U.S. researcher says some people just can't help ignoring their nagging spouses. The research, which appears online in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, found that people do not necessarily oppose others' wishes intentionally. Duke University researchers found that "some people will act in ways that are not to their own benefit simply because they wish to avoid doing what other people want them" to do. Psychologists describe the behavior at "reactance" -- a person's tendency to resist social influences that they perceive as threats to their...