Free Republic

Three years ago, San Francisco launched an experiment to give 150 pregnant Black and Pacific Islander women $1,000 a month, no strings attached, for the duration of their pregnancy and six months after the birth. *** Now, that effort is almost certainly about to come to a screeching halt. And another guaranteed income program to assist San Francisco’s transgender residents — who are 18 times more likely to experience homelessness than the general population — already has been shut down. Participants were only given a month’s notice before being cut off. *** So, how could two successful programs, lauded by...

During their presidential debate two weeks ago former President Trump asserted that "Biden is destroying Social Security. Millions of people are illegally entering the country and he's putting them on Social Security and Medicare. This will wipe out these programs." Biden's response during the debate was "we beat Social Security." Social Security was originally sold to Americans as a plan where they paid a share of their wages while they were working in order to receive benefits when they retired. But Democrats have made so many revisions to the program that people who have never paid anything into the program...

“Which country in the world allows itself to be exploited in this manner?”.. The argument that mass migration is needed to support GDP levels and pay for pensions took another blow when it was revealed 47.3% of welfare recipients in Germany are foreign migrants. According to newly released government statistics, nearly half of the 5.49 million people in Germany on benefits are foreign migrants, four percentage points higher than in 2022. €42.6 billion euros is now being paid out in welfare compared to to €36.6 billion in 2022. “In addition, there was another record €6.3 billion worth of administration costs...

Who needs U.S. citizenship, or for that matter, legal authorization to live in the U.S. when you've got Joe Biden's open borders? That looks like the story with illegals receiving Social Security benefits, a lifetime benefit that until recently had been perceived as nominally reserved for U.S. citizens, not illegal border crossers, and which Democrats are now trying to debunk. At the debate, NewsNation reported that Trump said:“Social Security … he’s destroying it because millions of people are pouring into our country and they’re putting them onto Social Security,” Trump said. “They’re putting ‘em onto Medicare and Medicaid. Putting them...

When you pay taxes, remember that the bottom 20% of income earners do almost no work, do not pay taxes, and receive government aid. The next lowest 20% pay minimal taxes but also receive government support.

On Friday’s edition of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) argued against cuts to SNAP benefits because “people are aching” due to inflation, but argued that’s not Joe Biden’s fault and there were supply chain issues. After discussing crop insurance, Jackson said, [relevant remarks begin around 1:05:50] “I’ve come to look at SNAP as food insurance and family insurance that the government uses. So, when people cannot do for themselves, I think the government should help them. When the people can do for themselves, the government needs to step back. Right now, people are aching. There’s been auto...

A group of several dozen migrants joined liberal Democrat politicians in New York City on Thursday to protest for even more government benefits for “newcomers.” The New York Immigration Coalition joined a group of elected Democrat officials on the steps of City Hall to demand more money from the city budget to be dedicated to migrants, according to Caribbean Life. The activists demanded an array of higher spending, including an additional $109 million for free legal services for immigrants, $5 million for language services, $25 million in support for two city programs for illegal aliens, and an end to policies...

Artificial intelligence scientist Geoffrey Hinton, known as the “Godfather of AI,” is urging the British government to enforce a universal basic income (UBI) to cope with the impact of AI technology. Universal basic income is a social welfare system in which the government provides every citizen with a standard minimum income. These payments are unconditional and transferred to citizens on a regular basis without any pre-qualification. The concept is in keeping with the Marxist ideal of wealth redistribution and has been proposed by socialist figures such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Hinton told BBC Newsnight that a universal basic income...

An alarming study has spotlighted how 42 million food stamp recipients spend their welfare handouts on ultra-processed junk food. Coca-Cola, Sprite and other soft drinks are the most commonly-bought items via the $135 billion-a-year Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), a new study says. Candy, potato chips, frozen pizza, ice cream, cookies, and other ultra-processed food dominates the top 20 items, says a report from the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC). Report author Matthew Dickerson says recipients spend 'spend significant portions of their allotments on junk food.' These 'non-nutritious foods' include 'sugary beverages and ultra-processed foods, which can lead to poor...

Legal challenges by conservative lawmakers and activists against guaranteed basic income programs are heating up nationwide. And one of their arguments is surprising: Some say the programs are discriminatory because they are not universal. Numerous cities and counties are experimenting with guaranteed basic incomes to support their most vulnerable populations. They typically offer no-strings-attached monthly payments between $500 and $1,000 to specific groups, like new moms, Black women, or trans people, all of them low-income residents. Guaranteed basic income programs differ from their idealistic cousin — a universal basic income. UBI, made famous by Andrew Yang during the 2016 presidential...

Steve Moore, from the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, a free market think tank, says Democrats were to blame for refusing 'to mandate work for welfare.' They 'view food stamps as an economic stimulus and/or virtuous income redistribution,' he said. Meanwhile, the scheme is increasingly targeted by fraudsters. A New York Times investigation spotlighted the scammers who use illegally installed skimming machines to lift payment card data from beneficiaries who swipe their SNAP cards through the devices in stores or at ATMs. Skimming cons picked up in 2022, and that the federal government has spent at least $30 million reimbursing stolen...

As House Republicans consider new legislation to guard against the threat of non-citizens voting in elections, urgent action is also needed to stop the federal government from raiding Americans’ pocketbooks to fund welfare and other programs for illegal aliens. While estimates vary widely, there are likely at least 15 million individuals illegally residing in the United States following four years of the worst border crisis in history under Joe Biden. According to some calculations, the number of illegal aliens in the country has already more than doubled under Biden, and could double again if he wins another term. The tragic...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that military aid to Ukraine was not charity, adding that it created jobs in the United States. Host Kristen Welker said, “I want to ask you about your legacy. You said just this week that you often feel like the only Reagan Republican left. As you prepare to step down from your leadership position this year, what are your greatest concerns about the future of the Republican Party?”

A housing advocacy group is slamming Denver’s new Asylum Seekers Program as “insufficient” and “a slap in the face,” even staging a protest to voice their disapproval — as the city spends tens of millions of dollars on migrant aid and slashes its emergency services budget to stave off insolvency in the wake of the influx. The surge of new arrivals has thrown the Mile High City’s city’s budget into a tailspin. More than 40,000 migrants have found their way to Denver since December 2022 — more per capita than any other US city — at a total cost of...

Denver intends to defund its police force and fire department in order to better support those illegally entering the U.S. through a program that provides a monthly debit card based on family size, free housing, “access to language instruction, career pathway explorations, industry-recognized credential training, and work-based learning opportunities.”

Mayor Eric Adams might be crying poverty over the Big Apple’s migrant crisis, but that didn’t stop him from quietly pushing through a giant $2.1 billion raise package for 10,000 bureaucrats. The salary increases, which Adams approved in February without putting out a press release, will retroactively boost salaries by 16.2% for managers and other non-union employees when compounded annually over a five-year period dating back to 2021.

Denver, which is commonly referred to as a “sanctuary city,” announced on Wednesday that it will spend $89.9 million on services for incoming illegal migrants, pulling some of the funding from roughly $45 million in public programs and services. Denver’s police department will be hit with an $8.4 million reduction — about 1.9% of its total operating budget, the city confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s administration is saddling Denver taxpayers with a whopping $90 million bill to address the ongoing illegal immigration crisis. The city implemented several measures to meet this substantial financial obligation, including freezing the hiring of approximately 160 vacant positions and reallocating funds from various sources. In his announcement, he signaled a major shift in Denver’s response to the migrant crisis.

We answer your questions about immigrants and SNAP BenefitsThe immigrant issue in Americahas reached a whole new level of scrutiny amid the recent waves of people coming into the country while searching for that American dream. Nations involved in this are people from Haiti, Ukraine, Palestine, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and any other country that is currently having socio economic or political issues. Amid all the incoming folks getting in the country illegally, the ones that are already living here and are also immigrants are concerned over what could happen to their welfare programs. Because many of these illegal immigrants...

(The Center Square) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams' decision to give debit cards pre-loaded with money to migrants is drawing more asylum seekers to the city, city council members say. Vickie Paladino, a Republican who represents Northeast Queens, said the money being handed out to asylum seekers through the debit cards has become an "incentive" for migrants coming to the city. The program, which will offer up to $1,000 a month for about 500 migrant families, is a partnership between Adams and the company Mobility Capital Finance, which says the plan will help migrants with food, baby supplies...