Free Republic

Can the Republican majority govern? It’s time to prove it. The voters put Republicans in charge of the House, Senate, and White House in November 2016 to reverse eight years of reckless liberal spending and poor budgeting. It’s time for us to do exactly that. In July, the Budget Committee that I chair released Building a Better America, our balanced budget plan that reforms government, rebuilds the military, and paves the way for pro-growth tax reform. Our budget balances in 10 years and puts our country on track to start paying down the $20 trillion debt and ensure that we...

The Senate Budget Committee unveiled a 2018 budget blueprint on Friday that would open the door for a $1.5 trillion tax cut, even as an independent analysis concluded that the plan as offered would far exceed that price tag and overwhelmingly benefit corporations and the rich. The budget resolution could also pave the way to opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling, a hot-button Republican proposal that has languished for decades.

The swelling population of illegal immigrants and their kids is costing American taxpayers $135 billion a year, the highest ever, driven by free medical care, education and a huge law enforcement bill, according to the the most authoritative report on the issue yet. And despite claims from pro-illegal immigration advocates that the aliens pay significant off-setting taxes back to federal, state and local treasuries, the Federation for American Immigration Reform report tallied just $19 billion, making the final hit to taxpayers about $116 billion. State and local governments are getting ravaged by the costs, at over $88 billion. The federal...

Multi-Billion Dollar Stadiums: The Seen vs. the Horrid Unseen By Allan Golombek September 27, 2017 In 1995, the Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis, extracting hundreds of millions of dollars from taxpayers to help build a new stadium. After 20 years in the Gateway City, the Rams moved right back where they came from – leaving the people of St. Louis and Missouri stuck with a $6 million a year tab to pay for an empty football field. American taxpayers spend billions of dollars a year to lure professional sports teams from one place to another in one of...

Dozens of public transit projects around the country are in danger of stalling as the White House's plan to boost U.S. infrastructure fails to gain momentum - with thousands of jobs at risk. The uncertainty over these projects has worsened in recent days as President Donald Trump - who had vowed to make the week's focus infrastructure - faced a series of distractions, including a congressional hearing featuring former FBI director James Comey. The president, who had called for $1 trillion in new infrastructure programs to create millions of jobs, now faces an increasing probability that not only will his...

t is high time that conservatives reform the budget process.[i] In theory, Congress should prioritize expenditures to achieve the greatest public good with the available funds taxpayers and lenders provide. But in practice, not only are tradeoffs not made, there is no visible mechanism for identifying levels of priority. The absence of such an analytical tool seems to have bullied President Trump into an unnecessary fear of defaulting on the debt. So much so that he has made a devil’s deal with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. Doesn’t he know that they hate him and want him to fail or...

The state government appeared on the edge, for the first known time, of missing a payment as a result of not having enough cash on hand amid a feud over how to patch a $2.2 billion budget gap. Gov. Tom Wolf's office has not revealed how the Democrat will manage through a cash crunch that he has said will leave his administration unable to pay every bill on time, three months into the fiscal year. Beginning Friday, the state's main bank account was projected to go below zero.

In his surprise deal with the Democrats to raise the debt ceiling last week, President Trump went one step further: He proposed getting rid of the debt ceiling entirely. It's not a bad idea, but only if you control future spending. "The president encouraged congressional leaders to find a more permanent solution to the debt ceiling so the vote is not so frequently politicized," said White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Her comments came as the Senate voted 80 to 17 to approve the deal that would raise the debt ceiling and keep the government running until Dec. 8,...

In a deal President Trump struck with Democratic leaders that includes aid for hurricane Harvey heads to the House Friday. Though the deal could lead to continued cooperation across the aisles, some Republicans feel the partnership is short-term. WASHINGTON—Conservative grumbling aside, the House is heading toward backing a $15.3 billion disaster aid package that President Trump and Democrats have linked to a temporary increase in America's borrowing authority and keeping the government funded through December. The House vote on Friday would send the massive package to Mr. Trump for his signature, replenishing rapidly dwindling emergency accounts as Florida braces for...

President Donald Trump signaled support for signing a permanent deal to assist DACA recipients, giving amnesty to illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children. “Chuck and Nancy would like to see something happen, and so do I,” Trump said, referring to Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer. (excerpt required clip). The president suggested that ideal legislation would include border security funds and a permanent fix for DACA . “I’d like to see a permanent deal, and I think it’s going to happen,” he said. “I think we’re going to have great support from both sides of Congress.”

The Democrats are in control of the government. The Republicans may have the majority in both houses of Congress. They may have the presidency. But make no mistake: It’s Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer who are calling the shots in Washington, D.C., with President Donald J. Trump’s support. The president’s total capitulation occurred in a Wednesday meeting with congressional leaders from both parties. Earlier, Minority Leaders Pelosi and Schumer proposed a plan to tie Hurricane Harvey relief to a short-term debt ceiling increase until mid-December. Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., slammed the plan as “ridiculous and disgraceful,” accusing the Democrats of...

(CNN) President Donald Trump bucked his own party Wednesday and sided with Democrats to support a deal that would ensure passage of disaster relief funding as well as raising the debt ceiling and continuing to fund the government into December.

You’re A Criminal - Trey Gowdy Wrecks The GSA For Stealing Taxpayers Money Without Regard

A Palestinian Authority refugee receives a budget four times larger than a Syrian, Iraqi or African refugee, according to a study conducted by the Abba Eban Institute for Diplomacy at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, ahead of Sunday's visit to Israel by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Yediot Ahronot reported on Sunday. At the end of last week, the UN Refugee Agency (UNRWA), which deals only with Palestinians, released its annual financial report, which in 2016 generated an average of $246 for each of the 5.3 million Palestinians it defines as a refugee, while the United Nations High Commissioner...

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday the nation’s debt ceiling will be raised in September and that after talks with congressional leaders from both parties everyone is “on the same page.” “My strong preference is that we have a clean debt ceiling (increase), but the most important issue is the debt ceiling will be raised in September,” Mnuchin told reporters at the White House, indicating an interest in legislation that did not stray into unrelated territory. “I have had discussions with the leaders in both parties in the House and Senate and we are all on the same...

MADISON -- The state Department of Transportation has scrapped new bids on the massive Zoo Interchange project as lawmakers put the long-delayed state budget on the back burner and focus on Foxconn incentives instead.A special session will start at 11 a.m. Tuesday, August 1st on a bill that would extend $3 billion in tax breaks to the Taiwanese electronics company Foxconn, which has pledged to build a multi-billion dollar plant in southeastern Wisconsin and hire thousands of workers. A public hearing could happen this week.Meanwhile, Wisconsin's budget is a month late. Without funding, the state DOT has withdrawn three proposals...

Connecticut, home to hedge fund billionaires alongside cities mired in poverty, is racing against the clock to pass a budget or face further spending cuts to education and municipal aid across the state. Nearly two months without a budget, Connecticut is getting crushed by a burdensome debt load that has squeezed spending and amplified legislative discord. State lawmakers must agree on a biennial budget soon or else Governor Dannel Malloy’s executive order to slash state aid to municipalities and eliminate school funding for some districts will go into effect in October. The state faces a $3.5 billion deficit over the...

The unusual spate of collisions, two of them fatal, has called into question the US Navy’s level of preparedness, analysts say, and point to potential problems with training, maintenance, or sailors’ workload. WASHINGTON—A recent spate of collisions involving US Navy ships from the Seventh Fleet, two of them fatal, has led the Navy to relieve that fleet’s commander, Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, reportedly after his superiors lost confidence in his leadership. The latest collision, Monday off the coast of Singapore, was between the guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain and a Liberian-flagged tanker. Ten sailors were reported missing, and the...

Illinois is broke and continues to flirt with junk bond status. But the state’s financial woes aren’t stopping 63,000 government employees from bringing home six-figure salaries and higher. Whenever we open the books, Illinois is consistently one of the worst offenders. Recently, we found auto pound supervisors in Chicago making $144,453; nurses at state corrections earning up to $254,781; junior college presidents making $465,420; university doctors earning $1.6 million; and 84 small-town “managers” out-earning every U.S. governor. Using our interactive mapping tool, quickly review (by ZIP code) the 63,000 Illinois public employees who earn more than $100,000 and cost taxpayers...

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said Wednesday the Congressional Budget Office sabotaged scoring of the Republican health care bill. (Photo/AARON P. BERNSTEIN/REUTERS) July 14, 2017 OAN Newsroom The Congressional Budget Office says President Trump’s proposed budget would slash the deficit and greatly help the economy. Analysis by the CBO claims the 2018 budget would reduce the deficit by $160 billion, while increasing the GDP. Additionally, cuts to health care spending would save the economy over one trillion dollars over the next decade. The White House says it is thrilled by the CBO’s analysis, and claims the president’s...