Free Republic

The national COVID-19 emergency is drawing to a close, which means certain treatments and tests that have previously been available without cost is soon to change. However, working on effective vaccines and therapies for COVID-19 is far from over. The federal government recently announced plans to spend over $5 billion in order to speed up new vaccines and treatments, according to a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesperson and a Biden administration official. The plan, called Project NextGen, was first announced in the Washington Post on April 10 and aims to provide better protection from future coronaviruses that...

President Biden is set to announce on Thursday an expansion of Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) insurance exchanges to include coverage for recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, according to an Associated Press report. The measure will be a significant expansion for the DACA program, which allows some Dreamers — undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as minors — to live and work in the United States. It’s a boon for DACA beneficiaries, who both face the threat that the program could end and reduced access to social services where they do not...

Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) announces critical new security assistance for Ukraine. This includes the authorization of a Presidential Drawdown of security assistance with more ammunition for U.S.-provided HIMARS, air defense interceptors, and artillery rounds that Ukraine is using to defend itself, as well as anti-armor systems, small arms, heavy equipment transport vehicles, and maintenance support essential to strengthening Ukraine's defenders on the battlefield valued at up to $500 million. In addition, we are announcing a significant package of air defense capabilities, as well as artillery and tank ammunition, mortar systems, rockets, and anti-armor systems using $2.1 billion in...

President Joe Biden is preparing a series of new executive orders to address climate change, according to recent comments by his special envoy on climate-related issues, John Kerry. Kerry discussed the Biden administration’s plans for reducing U.S. emissions during an interview with Yahoo News Senior Climate Editor Ben Adler on Friday. Adler noted that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) championed by the Biden administration is projected to bring down U.S. emissions by about 40 percent, despite a goal set by the administration to bring about a 50 percent reduction in U.S. emissions by the end of the decade. “We’re doing...

President Biden complained Friday that Republicans want to make sure “we don’t have enough IRS agents” to go after the “super wealthy.” During a speech on the February jobs report, Biden said he was informed by his staff that the Freedom Caucus is demanding that Biden agree to a set of spending cuts and budget proposals before they will consider voting to raise the debt ceiling. […] “The House Freedom caucus’ proposal would be a gut-punch to the American middle class and wouldn’t cut the deficit. Let me repeat that: this proposal would bring devastating consequences to our national security,...

Treasury Department Secretary Janet Yellen acknowledged on Friday that 90 percent of IRS audits will be conducted on small businesses and families, not billionaires. Testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) questioned Yellen on the ambiguity of her opening statement. Smith prefaced his question by noting the 87,000 new IRS agents hired at the agency over the next decade to conduct tax enforcement on Americans. “Regarding the audits, there has been confusion about the meaning of the directive that you cited,” Smith said in his line of questioning. “Are you talking about the total number...

President Joe Biden on Thursday proposed raising the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent, a scheme that will likely burden both large and small businesses. While the term “corporation” is widely used to depict large companies such as Microsoft, Walmart, and McDonald’s, C-corporations are both small and large businesses, the most prevalent of corporations. Individual shareholders of C-corporations already have profits taxed both on a corporate and personal level (double taxation). In addition, small businesses account for 65.1 percent of net new jobs created from 2000 to 2019 and comprise 99.7 percent of firms with paid employees,...

President Biden is set to formally propose an array of tax increases on wealthy individuals and corporations in a budget plan that he says will reduce the deficit by $2 trillion over the next decade, setting up a battle royal with Republicans on Capitol Hill. Biden told lawmakers during his State of the Union address last month that his budget will lower the deficit and extend the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund “by making the wealthy and big corporations begin to pay their fair share.” The White House on Tuesday unveiled a proposal to raise the Medicare surtax on...

Last month, the left-leaning Urban Institute published a new report that examined the consequences of the Biden administration’s proposed changes to student loan repayment rules. Not surprisingly, their analysis finds that the generous changes to repayment rules will result in the program shifting from its intended purpose, to provide a safety net to borrowers who struggle to repay their debt, to a giveaway program for most students who borrow. Specifically, their analysis indicates that less than one-quarter of borrowers would ever repay their debts in full under the proposed regulations. This new report comes on the heels of a similar...

The U.S. on Friday announced a $400 million security aid package for Ukraine, providing more ammunition, equipment and munitions for Kyiv in its fight against Russia. The State Department said the latest package includes munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and howitzer artillery guns, as well as ammunition for the Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles the U.S. first announced for Ukraine in January. The latest round of security aid also includes demolitions munitions, equipment and other material, as well as services for maintenance, training and support of Ukrainian troops, who have been fighting against a Russian invasion for...

David Sacks@DavidSacks · Feb 26 I was talking to an international investor who says the corruption in Ukraine is beyond belief. Theft and bribery are endemic — much worse than in Latin America. The oligarchs must be feasting on our hundred billion.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has extended a conditional loan of $375 million to Canadian battery recycler Li-Cycle Holdings Corp., to construct a hub in Rochester, New York, the company announced Monday. The loan will be disbursed through the DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Program, and is part of the Biden administration’s wider goal of enhancing domestic battery manufacturing and having half of all new vehicles be zero-emission by 2030, according to the DOE Monday. Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York — who visited Li-Cycle’s Rochester hub in September — advocated for the firm to receive...

Ukraine is not misusing the tens of billions of dollars in direct financial assistance it is receiving courtesy of U.S. taxpayers according to a top Biden administration official. Samantha Power, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), gave the public affirmation during a CNN live town hall on Thursday evening. Her assurances came just hours ahead of the White House revealing it would give another $2 billion in military aid to Ukraine as its war with Russia officially hits the one-year mark, bringing the total amount of American military assistance to over $30 billion in one year.

Biden still has no plans to visit residents of East Palestine, Ohio, after a toxic chemical spill there caused by a train derailment nearly three weeks ago, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday — one day after former President Donald Trump traveled to the state. In response to repeated questions, Jean-Pierre reiterated that Biden, 80, has made no travel arrangements, but is “getting briefed pretty regularly” and taking the situation “very seriously.” “He offered federal assistance and directed his team to stay on top of this,” the press secretary said. “At this time, I don’t have...

Joe Biden just announced the US is going to be supporting the pensions in Ukraine. https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1626779089984946176

President Joe Biden signed a new executive order to address racial inequity on Thursday. The Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government is designed to address systemic barriers that hold communities of color back from prospering. The order is Biden’s second racial equity executive order. On his first day in office two years ago, Biden signed Executive Order 13985, which saw funding go to places like Historically Black Colleges and Universities and indigenous tribes and new programs to help close racial disparities in job and housing opportunities. Biden also a pardoned all federal offenses...

Biden slush fund money is now looking for a home. A battle is on over who gets to waste it.. Biden’s $27 Billion Clean Energy Catalyzer Slush Fund Competition is stiff over who gets first access to Biden’s $27 Billion Clean Energy Catalyzer slush fund. The US government is getting ready to unleash $27 billion to fund projects in disadvantaged communities that cut greenhouse gas emissions and boost clean energy. The cash infusion from last year’s sweeping climate and tax law is meant to drive the deployment of solar panels, heat pumps and electric vehicles in underserved places around the...

President Joe Biden’s (D) administration is reportedly allowing states to use Medicaid for food and nutritional counseling, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal reported Sunday that policy makers are trying to determine whether “food as medicine” programs can enhance health and also save money, the outlet said: A growing body of research suggests that addressing food insecurity can improve health as well as deliver savings by reducing medical visits, the need for medication, or by helping control serious illness. The programs have also appealed to some GOP lawmakers who believe states should have more control over their Medicaid...

The Biden administration on Thursday announced that it would issue a $2 billion loan to a battery manufacturing facility as it looks to bolster the country’s supply chain for electric vehicles. “The Department of Energy is proud to announce a conditional commitment for a $2 billion loan to Redwood Materials,” Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Thursday during a press conference. “If finalized, this $2 billion loan is going to help Redwood to complete this project to produce critical components for EV batteries.” She did not elaborate on what the conditions of the commitment are. The Hill has reached out...

The U.S. will back Ukraine in its war with Russia for “as long as it takes,” President Biden said Tuesday night, pledging indefinite American backing for Kyiv as the war enters its second year with no clear path toward peace. In his State of the Union address, Mr. Biden said the U.S. and its Western allies have stood together against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, calling the conflict a “test for the ages” that the free world has met. “I spoke from this chamber one year ago, just days after Vladimir Putin unleashed his brutal war against Ukraine....