Free Republic

(NEXSTAR) – As the clock ticks down toward a potential partial shutdown of the federal government this week, millions who rely on federal assistance for food could be left in the balance. If Congress fails to reach a deal to fund the government, a partial government shutdown would be triggered on March 1. That partial shutdown would impact several federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which manages SNAP and WIC food assistance. SNAP, which stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, used to be called the Food Stamp Program. The program helps low-income and no-income families buy groceries...

As Democratic leaders in cities around the country hand out tens of millions of dollars in ‘safety net’ benefits for migrants who entered the country illegally, one of their key voter constituencies is moving away from the party and President Joe Biden. In addition to losing black voters, according to a top pollster, support for former President Donald Trump’s border wall is now at a record high, the Washington Times reported last week. Donald Trump. His critique that the surge of illegal immigrants is a drain on America rings true to them, said Raghavan Mayur, president of TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence...

The New Jersey start-up that snagged a controversial no-bid $53 million contract with New York City to give migrants prepaid debit cards could net a whopping $1.8 million in profits by taking a cut of the funds doled out to asylum seekers, The Post has learned. The one-year deal signed by Mayor Eric Adams’ administration and tech finance company Mobility Capital Finance .. is now raising eyebrows with some members of the City Council, who noted the agreement didn’t undergo the usual competitive bidding process. “Something’s wrong with this deal, and taxpayers are getting fleeced,” Councilman Bob Holden (D-Queens) .....

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) vowed on Wednesday to cut funding to border crossers and illegal aliens amid record-low approval with New Yorkers. In November 2023, Adams authorized city-wide budget cuts where New Yorkers would have public services eliminated to afford waves of illegal immigration to the sanctuary city. The move came as fewer than 3-in-10 New Yorkers said they approved of Adams — a record low for a mayor in New York City. On Wednesday, Adams said he is canceling the proposed budget cuts and will instead reduce taxpayer funding currently going to newly arrived border crossers...

State records show that Massachusetts is spending about $64 per migrant per day to feed those in state care, a cost that is contributing to the expected one billion dollars in expenses to be spent by the Bay State by 2025. The latest numbers show that the state is paying out $16 for breakfast, $17 for lunch, and a whopping $31 for every dinner every day, according to WBZ-TV. All of this is an commercial for Donald Trump at this point. Illegal immigrants are living good while taxpayers have to get up at 6:30 in the morning to go jobs...

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has defended a new pilot program to give migrants prepaid debit cards, saying it could save the city money. “Adams spent a large portion of his weekly media availability on Tuesday defending the program, which could grow to cost the city $53 million, saying it will save the city money and eliminate food waste,” reported WPIX New York City. The program could give up to 500 migrant families prepaid debit cards to purchase food and other supplies. Though rapper 50 Cent initially criticized the program, Eric Adams said he changed his position after the...

In recent months, stories from both the legacy media and the independent media have continued to pile up on how undocumented foreign nationals - also known as "migrants" and "illegal aliens" - are able to take advantage of a vast network of taxpayer funded benefits in daycare, medical care, housing, and more. For example, both the New York Post and Denver Post report that these foreign nationals have "overwhelmed" the Denver Health hospital system in Denver, and that the situation is "unsustainable." Meanwhile, public schools report classrooms are filling up quickly with the children of these foreign nationals. Denver is...

Agroup of conservative Republicans on Wednesday joined Democrats in a procedural vote to stop the advancement of a plan to expand state and local tax (SALT) deductions. The procedural vote to consider SALT legislation failed 195-225, with 18 conservatives joining the Democrats, according to The Hill. Moderate Republicans from New York, California, and New Jersey have sought to expand the $10,000 SALT deduction cap imposed in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Supporters of the cap have argued it serves to incentivize states and local governments to reduce spending. New York GOP Rep. Mike Lawler had sought to double...

The pilot program is being rolled out at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, with 500 families involved, The New York Post reported. A family of four will get a card loaded with $1,000-a-month, equivalent to $35 a day. But 50 Cent took to Instagram on Saturday to hit out at the scheme and suggested Donald Trump is the answer to the city's problems The rapper shared a post on Instagram about the plan to hand out pre-paid cards for migrants to buy food and baby supplies. 'WTF Mayor Adams call my phone,' he wrote. 'I don't understand how this works,...

New York City provided 720,765 residents cash assistance last year — the most it’s ever awarded in welfare checks in at least a decade. To handle the surge, a staggering $2.46 billion in federal, state and city funds was budgeted by Mayor Adams this year to provide cash assistance to adults unable to work or pay their bills and for their children. The city previously budgeted $1.99 billion during the fiscal year that ended June 30, and $1.57 billion in fiscal 2022.

Mayor Eric Adams’ administration will soon start handing out pre-paid credit cards to migrant families being put up in Big Apple hotels, The Post has learned. The $53 million pilot program, run by the New Jersey company Mobility Capital Finance, will provide asylum seekers arriving at the Roosevelt Hotel with the city cash to help them buy food, according to city records. It’ll start with a group of 500 migrant families in short-term hotel stays and will replace the current food service offered there, according to City Hall. The cards can only be used at bodegas, grocery stores, supermarkets and...

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is rushing through a tax bill unveiled days ago over significant policy objections from both conservative and centrist factions of the Republican Party. Conservatives have spoken out against provisions in the bill they see as handouts to illegal immigrants, particularly an expansion of the Child Tax Credit without language requiring the parent to have a Social Security number. They argue the expansion would serve as an additional powerful migration pull, even as migrant encounters at the border reach record highs under President Joe Biden. snip Johnson indicated Wednesday morning he would move the bill later in...

For years, Kipp Kahlia felt stuck. The Long Beach guitarist used to tour the country with reggae artists. But 20 years ago, after contracting intestinal parasites on a trip abroad, Kahlia had to take a step back from gigging. Her health deteriorated and visits to doctors drained her savings. Recently she decided to start a business performing social justice songs at events. But with no extra funds or time, she had to pause the venture. “With all the struggling I was doing, my attitude took a hit,” Kahlia said. “The more you witness yourself being down and out, the more...

The greatest collapse of a mighty state, a large human so­ciety and a fruitful civilization of which we possess a reasonably ac­curate record, has been immortal­ized by Edward Gibbon’s histori­cal classic, The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire. Henry Adams remarked that Gibbon did not really explain the fall; but this criticism is not altogether just. As the following excerpts from The Decline and Fall show, the philosophic historian offered a number of reflections on the symp­toms and causes of the drama which he set out to describe: "This long peace and the uni­form government of the Romans introduced...

She is getting $3500 forever for getting vaxxed induced long covid. . BTW she looks heathy to me.

The Senate GOP leadership’s draft border deal with the White House would reward illegal migration and encourage more foreign graduates to take jobs from American graduates, says the Immigration Accountability Project. “There’s nothing in there that [restricts immigration], in fact, it’s just going to encourage more people to come,” said Chris Chmielenski, president of the Immigration Accountability Project, adding: It essentially authorizes the Biden administration to continue to catch and release people into the country. It authorizes them to give them work permits [to illegal migrants and] authorizes them to grant parole [legal status] to everybody that they’re able to...

Maine’s taxpayers are footing the bill for new apartments built specifically for newly arrived border crossers and illegal aliens who will have at least two years’ worth of rent paid for. This week, Maine officials in Brunswick unveiled new apartments that will go to border crossers and illegal aliens who will have their rent paid for at least two years, News Center Maine reports:

Native born Americans will only use 95% of the benefits they pay into social security, leaving a small but healthy surplus for the future of the program. While foreign born workers will collect 120% of the benefits they pay in (www.fairus.org/issue/publications-resources/mass-immigration-wont-save-social-security), representing a major deficit for the program.

In a shocking revelation, Todd Bensman, the Center’s Texas-based Senior National Security Fellow, has reported that the Biden regime is allocating a staggering $2,200 per month to illegal immigrant families (1 parent & 1 child) for the cost of living expenses. This comes at a time when the average American on Social Security receives just $1,400 per month and Maui survivors with only $700. According to a video interview with an anonymous Border Patrol Agent, illegal immigrants are “double dipping” the system. One parent and one child receive $2,200 per month, and then a separate parent and child—often from the...

Lessons from Milton Friedman, Herbert Stein ... and Cloward-Piven. Nobel prize-winning economist Milton Friedman scolded the Wall Street Journal for cheerleading an open-border immigration policy. "It's just obvious you can't have free immigration and a welfare state," he warned. This leads to a “transfer state,” as the Heritage Foundation describes, the government taxing the upper and middle classes, transferring money to lower economic classes via subsidies and benefits. In other words, “The transfer state redistributes funds from those with high-skill and high-income levels to those with lower skill levels.” Heritage makes the assumption, “It takes the entire net tax payments...