Free Republic

Under the plan Biden teased on the campaign trail, “assault weapons” and “high-capacity magazines” would come under the National Firearms Act. The definition of “assault weapons” would extend to semi-automatic rifles, handguns, and some shotguns. High-capacity magazines are those that hold more than ten rounds—or most standard magazines. Gun owners would have two choices: either surrender their property to the government or pay a $200 tax to keep each item, which will be added to a national registry. For many people, this would quickly turn into thousands of dollars paid to keep their own property. A hunter, for example, with...

If you’re an American of average income, listen up. You’re about to become a lot poorer. President Joe Biden’s proposed soon-to-be-unveiled multi-trillion dollar tax hike, the first major increase in taxes since 1993, will ensure that. With a massive wave of new spending on the way, it was only a matter of time before Biden and his far-left economic team came up with massive new tax increases to match. You might be happy with your $1,400 “stimulus check,” but you won’t be happy with the higher taxes you’ll be paying from now until you die. That’s right, because no matter...

Certainly, the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, provided some targeted COVID aid:$473 billion in payments to individuals, $75 billion in cash for vaccines, $26 billion to restaurants, $15 billion to help fund airline payrolls, and another $7.2 billion in Paycheck Protection Program funding for small businesses.The bill also contained about $1 trillion in non-COVID related spending, pork, and policy changes.For example, the original bill included a hike in the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Even the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) determined that move would cost the U.S. economy $1.4 million jobs.A quick spotlight on agencies...

With the rise of gig economy jobs such as driving for Uber and other forms of independent work enabled by the digital era, more than 57 million Americans now work as freelancers in some capacity. But President Biden just endorsed a radical labor law that endangers their livelihood. House Democrats recently reintroduced the PRO Act, which, among many sweeping reforms, would make many commonplace forms of independent contractor (freelance) arrangements illegal. It’s based on a California law that was so dysfunctional even voters in the very blue state voted to change it. “The Administration strongly encourages the House to pass...

The Biden administration will transform two Texas facilities where detained migrant families are held into Ellis Island-style rapid processing centers, meaning adults and children who cross the border will be housed for a maximum of 72 hours before being released into the U.S. In a court filing Friday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said families will continue to be detained at a 2,400-bed detention center in Karnes City and an 839-bed detention center in Dilley in Texas, but the U.S. government intends to hold adults and children at those sites for three days or less. Migrant families previously held at...

Who is really running the country? Kamala Harris on Thursday spoke to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel as Joe Biden slouched around the White House. Joe Biden hosted a group of House members at the White House on Thursday and joined a virtual call with NASA. Apparently Biden’s schedule was so grueling today that he had to have his babysitter Kamala take another call with a foreign leader. Kamala Harris, in a phone call with Netanyahu, “emphasized the United States’ unwavering commitment to Israel’s security.” Harris and Netanyahu also agreed to advance Covid cooperation.

President Joe Biden’s amnesty plan, which also expands legal immigration levels, would import a foreign population close to the size of California, new analysis reveals. Last month, House and Senate Democrats introduced the Biden plan — known as H.R. 1177 & S. 348 — which would give amnesty to the roughly 11 to 22 million illegal aliens living in the United States while doubling annual legal immigration to the country, flooding the labor market with more foreign competition for the nation’s more than 17 million jobless Americans. Analysis conducted by NumbersUSA, which advocates on behalf of American workers for less...

At the official YouTube channel for CNBC, the closed captioning says that Joe Biden used a racial slurThis video is from CNBC’s official YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwjxQoTyVAEAnd here is a screenshot that I took myself, from 15:36:

Democracy dies in a low key response?What happens if a president does not do much to aid citizens in the middle of a weather disaster? Well, if the president is a Republican, the media condemnation would be loud and angry. But if the President is a Democrat, the reaction would be...meh. Such was the case with the Washington Post on Saturday running cover for Joe Biden over the fact that his response to the Texas winter storm has been rather underwhelming.

Chinese foreign affairs minister Wang Yi urged the United States to meet four requirements from Xi Jinping’s regime at the Lanting Forum, a video conference organized by the Chinese foreign affairs ministry on Feb. 22. The requests include: ending support for Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet; resuming the U.S.-China dialogue; ending the tariffs on Chinese products and sanctions on Chinese enterprises; and removing all restrictions on China’s news agencies and cultural entities such as the Confucius Institutes. After President Joe Biden announced that he won the presidential election, Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his senior diplomats urged the United...

“We’re not going to prejudge.” State Department spokesperson Ned Price deployed this classic Washington euphemism last week to avoid responding to a question over how much culpability Iran and its Shiite militias bear for recent rocket attacks against a U.S. military base in northern Iraq. ....Biden’s approach draws directly from Obama’s playbook: turning a blind eye to regional aggression and offering economic relief... And it’s unfortunate, because the result is sure to be the same as before as well: an overly deferential and defective deal that offers Iran patient pathways to nuclear weapons because its restrictions eventually sunset, while handcuffing...

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) sent a letter on Wednesday to President Joe Biden expressing his opposition to the White House ending Trump administration immigration policies that protect Americans. “I have serious concerns regarding reports that you are planning to terminate the Trump Administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) policy and return to a catch-and-release policy with respect to persons crossing the border,” Hagerty posted on social media with a copy of the letter attached. Hagerty praised the U.S.-Mexico Joint Declaration negotiated by the Trump administration that kept asylum seekers in Mexico until their status could be adjudicated. That agreement included Mexico...

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s steps to politicize the military to a degree never seen before means a culture war on the conservative half of America. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has made it absolutely clear that the U.S. military’s top priority is not facing external threats, such as the Chinese or Iran’s aggressive strategy in the Middle East or foreign terrorist groups. Instead, Austin sees the main threat as coming from within the U.S. military. In his confirmation hearings, Austin said that he would make it his priority to combat racism and extremism in the United States military. Once confirmed as...

Joe Biden’s Covid advisor made more than $2 million advising corporations on coronavirus safety measures during the pandemic. Dr Vivek Murthy, who advised Mr Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign is now the White House nominee for surgeon general, was paid large fees to consult for Carnival Corporation’s cruise lines, Airbnb and other companies, according to the Washington Post. He also picked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees, according to ethics documents filed earlier this month. “We didn’t have a full window into how enmeshed he was in the selling-advice process,” Jeff Hauser, of the Revolving Door...

At a CNN town hall on Tuesday night, President Biden was asked if he supported the idea of forgiving up to $50,000 of student loan debt for individuals. His answer: No. He supports cancelling $10,000 in debt, he explained. But he said he is wary of erasing big chunks of loans for people who went to Ivy League schools: "The idea that ... I'm going to forgive the debt, the billions of dollars in debt, for people who have gone to Harvard and Yale and Penn ..." Instead, he explained, he'd rather use that money for other priorities, like early...

TEXAS POWER CRISIS THREAD: Once it was clear that the polar vortex would engulf the entire state of Texas @GovAbbott declared an emergency and asked President Biden for an EPA waiver to allow power generation facilities to operate at full capacity until the emergency passed. 2/ Biden's EPA refused Governor Abbott's request and instead offered to allow certain power generation facilities a waiver if they raised the prices they charged to Texans to more than $1,500/MWh resulting in massive statewide power outages and a failure of the grid. (Letter at below thread) 3/ The truth is that the federal government...

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on May 1 last year prohibiting bulk power system equipment from foreign companies in the U.S. grid, citing security concerns. The U.S. Department of Energy noted that under the current rules, contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder when it comes to bulk power system procurement, and that creates a “vulnerability that can be exploited by those with malicious intent.” U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette said that it is imperative that “the bulk-power system be secured against exploitation and attacks by foreign threats.” Analysts believe this means that the United States will...

Ukraine’s top prosecutor said investigations into Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings Ltd, a matter closely tied to a scandal that led to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s first impeachment, have been closed with no plans to reopen them. This is reported by Reuters. “Everything that prosecutors could do, they have done,” Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said in an interview with Reuters by video link from Kyiv. “This is why I don’t see any possibilities (or) necessity to come back to these cases.” Venediktova also said U.S. authorities had made no requests of her office since Biden took office last month....

President Joe Biden declared a major disaster for only 77 of Texas’ 254 counties in order to focus on the “hardest hit” parts of the state, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday. Biden’s disaster declaration, issued last Friday, offers much less than what Texas officials had requested. Gov. Greg Abbott had asked for a declaration that covered the entire state, as Texans reel from a winter storm that knocked out power and heat across the state, and left millions without safe drinking water. The declaration Biden signed late Friday covers much of the Texas population, including Dallas and...

President Biden and his economic advisers keep highlighting the economic crisis Biden inherited. This narrative may only last for another month or two. It’s true Biden took office in January amid a grueling retrenchment that has torched 10 million jobs since last March. Coronavirus shutdowns have all but wrecked the travel and hospitality industries, with retailers struggling to adapt as well. Small businesses, independent contractors and lower-income service-industry workers are suffering the most