Free Republic

Illegal immigration weighs heavily on the wallets of hardworking American taxpayers - to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars annually.Still, the Biden administration turns a blind eye to these fiscal strains, neglecting the toll on our economy, the structural integrity of our nation, and the safety of our citizens.Estimates suggest that illegal immigrants cost each household about $1,000, adding up to more than $120 billion a year.Sources such as Newsweek hint that the true cost may be even higher, possibly reaching $150 billion annually, an amount shared by both federal and state governments. In all actuality, the financial...

Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law on Friday that allows county workers across the state to collectively bargain. Senate Bill 22-230 was introduced by Democrats in April and given final passage on May 11, the last day of the 2022 legislative session. Polis’ office said in a news release that the new law ensures county workers “have a voice in their working conditions.” House Majority Leader Daneya Esgar, D-Pueblo, said in a statement that the law “allows county workers to unionize if they choose to so that they can have a seat at the table to discuss decisions...

One of the key parts of "Obamacare," the Democrat plan that essentially nationalized health-care management, is facing bumpy seas as multiple states are telling Washington to run its own high-risk health insurance pool. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty was among the state leaders who, to meet a deadline today, told the federal government his state would not accept federal money and the accompanying responsibility for running such a high-risk program. He explained to Kathleen Sebelius, Health and Human Services secretary, the state already has addressed the need with a program put in place nearly 25 years ago. Besides, he wondered whether...

The House voted this afternoon to strip almost all of the money out of the budget Gov. Rick Perry uses to pay his staff and operate his office. During debate over the proposed state budget for the next two years, the House voted for an amendment by Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, to move about $4 million from the governor’s office to veterans’ programs. Then the House approved an amendment sponsored by Rep. John Davis, R-Houston, to more than $18 million out of the governor’s office and into mental health crisis services. Davis said the House budget that came out of...

All Internet service providers would need to track their customers' online activities to aid police in future investigations under legislation introduced Tuesday as part of a Republican "law and order agenda." Employees of any Internet provider who fail to store that information face fines and prison terms of up to one year, the bill says. The U.S. Justice Department could order the companies to store those records forever....

PHOENIX -- State lawmakers voted Tuesday to tell every public school, community college and state university to put an American flag in every classroom. But who is going to pay for it remains unclear. The legislation given preliminary Senate approval on a voice vote requires each governing board to seek donations of two-by-three foot flags -- made in the U.S. only -- or seek cash to put one in every room. They also would have to obtain flagpoles and other hardware. HB 2583 also says, though, that if the boards can't get the required number of flags by July 1,...

BERTHOUD - The Thompson School Board will be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on one of its ex-students -- an 11-year-old autistic boy. Luke Perkins went to Berthoud Elementary School, but his parents felt he wasn't receiving the proper education for his needs. "He wasn't learning even the basic things he was going to need in life," says his father, Jeff Perkins. The Perkins decided to enroll their son in the Boston Higashi School in January 2004. The school specializes in teaching children with special needs. The tuition is over $130,000 a year, and its students live at the...

2,000 new border agents aren't part of budget, Ridge says President Bush (news - web sites) will not ask Congress for enough money to add 2,000 agents to patrol the nation's borders in his 2006 budget, even though he signed a bill last month authorizing the increase. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Monday that Bush's new budget, to be released in early February, will propose a "good incremental increase" in the number of agents. But he made it clear the number would not approach 2,000. The new agents were to be the first hires toward doubling the size of...

PLF Challenges Federal HHS English Translation MandateUnfunded Illegal Mandate on Doctors and Healthcare Providers Threatens Access to Care for Countless Seniors on Medicare/MedicaidSeptember 2004 In one of his many last-minute acts as President, Bill Clinton implemented Executive Order 13166, and dealt a devastating blow to doctors, medical practices, and senior citizens across the nation. This Executive Order is still on the books and has become a catalyst for unprecedented expansion of the federal government?s control of private healthcare in this country. Signed by Clinton on August 11, 2000, Executive Order 13166 directs all federal agencies to adopt a plan to ?improve access?...

New GAO Report Finds That No Child Left Behind Is Not an "Unfunded Mandate" Paige praises report, calling claims to the contrary a "red herring" FOR RELEASE: May 25, 2004 Contact: Susan Aspey (202) 401-1576 The General Accounting Office (GAO) released a new report Unfunded Mandates: Analysis of Reform Act Coverage that found that the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is in fact not an "unfunded mandate," as critics of the law have claimed. The following is a statement from U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige on the report and its findings as they pertain to NCLB: "The...

Experts find Federal Funding Covers Cost of No Child Left Behind STANFORD—Contrary to claims by critics that the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is a seriously unfunded federal mandate, two Massachusetts public officials report sufficient funding for its effective implementation. In their analysis, to be published in the February issue of Education Next, Massachusetts State School Board chairman James Peyser and economist Robert Costrell find that:

NOTE: The 1st District Court of Appeal declined to certify a discretionary appeal on Amendment No. 5 to the Supreme Court, denied the stay and ordered that the ballot title and summary be stricken from the general election ballot. For this reason Amendment No. 5 was removed from the ballot. Therefore, the amendments on the ballot will simply skip Amendment No. 5 and go from Amendment No. 4 to Amendment No. 6. Ballot Summary: Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution identical to a proposed amendment to Section 17 of Article I of the State Constitution which was approved by...