Free Republic

Donald Trump won't self-fund his general-election campaign, and will instead create a "world-class finance organization," the presumptive Republican nominee said in an interview on Wednesday. For a campaign expected to cost more than $1 billion, "I'll be putting up money, but won't be completely self-funding, as I did during the primaries," Mr. Trump said. The New York businessman, who did receive some mostly small unsolicited donations, lent his campaign $36 million of the $47 million he spent through March. That plan represents a shift for Mr. Trump, who has for months portrayed his Republican opponents as "puppets" for relying on...

To watch the recent happenings on Capitol Hill, you would think this was just another typical presidential election year—a few bumps here and there, but no sign of a major shake-up, no indication voters were in revolt, nothing to suggest business as usual in Washington was perhaps falling out of fashion among the American public. What else explains the lackluster, uninspiring, and I would suggest, “sell-out your base” agenda of GOP congressional leadership? For example, the Senate GOP sold out its base on the issue of Common Core this week...... That’s right, despite the fact Congress passed a Budget Control...

Hundreds of thousands (millions) of Brazilians flooded the streets on Sunday in the biggest ever protests calling for President Dilma Rousseff's removal, reflecting rising popular anger that could encourage Congress to impeach the leftist leader. The demonstrations were the latest in a wave of anti-government rallies that lost momentum late last year but have regained strength as a sweeping corruption investigation nears Rousseff's inner circle. Poor Brazilians, who form the base of the ruling Workers' Party support, have not turned out in great numbers in recent protests. But their support for Rousseff has faded as unemployment rises and inflation climbs.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's Republican presidential campaign has pulled its latest ad after learning one the actresses featured in it has a resume packed with not-safe-for-work titles. The ad, titled "Conservatives Anonymous," shows a support group for voters felt betrayed by Marco Rubio, the Florida senator and Republican presidential contender who helped craft a comprehensive immigration reform bill that included a path to citizenship - anathema to Cruz and other hard-line conservatives. "Who else here has struggled with being lied to?" the group leader asks. "Well, I voted for a guy who was tea party hero on the campaign trail,...

On the same day he won the Republican Iowa caucus, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas got a favorable decision from the Illinois Board of Elections, which ruled that he met the citizenship criteria to appear on the state's primary ballot. Two objectors, Lawrence Joyce and William Graham, had challenged Cruz's presidential bid with the board, contending that his name should not appear on the March 15 ballot because his candidacy did not comply with Article II of the Constitution. In response to the filings, Cruz's lawyers relied on Supreme Court precedent, legal history and articles from noted constitutional scholars to...

Arch Coal Inc., one of the U.S.'s largest coal producers, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday in a bid to trim $4.5 billion in debt from its balance sheet to counter decreased demand and falling prices for its products. The St. Louis-based company said it had a restructuring agreement with lenders that hold more than 50% of its $1.9 billion in first-lien debt, one that offers some recovery to unsecured creditors. In broad outline, Arch is proposing a debt-for-equity swap that would leave most of the company in the hands of the first-lien lenders, while unsecured creditors owed billions...

Video of Glenn explaining why GWB dislikes Cruz.

Britain's Tories fail to reform costly tax credits for the middle class.David Cameron's government last week abandoned its plan to reform Britain's expensive working-family tax credits. U.S. politicians who think this kind of "pro-family" tax policy is a good idea-hello, Marco Rubio might take note. The centerpiece of Mr. Rubio's tax plan is an increase in the child tax credit to $2,500 from $1,000, despite its cost and lack of growth incentive. Such ideas may have a short-term political appeal, but eventually they become entitlements that benefit the left.

COLUMBIA - Faculty in the Missouri School of Journalism were voting Tuesday to revoke a courtesy appointment for Melissa Click, an assistant professor in MU's Department of Communication. The journalism school's Executive Committee, including Dean David Kurpius, met Tuesday morning to discuss the vote and prepare a statement on Click's actions Monday as seen in footage of a confrontation between freelance photographer Tim Tai and protesters near the Concerned Student 1950 camp on the Mel Carnahan Quadrangle. Click was seen at the end of the video asking for assistance and for "muscle" to remove Mark Schierbecker, who filmed the interaction...

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he “would take carried interest out” and that people who make money from hedge funds and limited real estate partnerships should pay more in taxes in an interview on Wednesday’s broadcast of Bloomberg TV’s “With All Due Respect.” After Trump said he would “simplify” the tax code, he was asked, “in this respect, you want to tax carried interest in the same way as ordinary income is taxed?” He responded, “I would take carried interest out, and I would let people that are making hundreds of millions of dollars a year pay some tax,...

The biggest winner of the Thursday night’s debates was Carly Fiorina, who was on the under-card with the goofy kids. With polls showing she won by between 73 to 87 percent, the Democrats are preparing to attack her with “long knives” for destroying Hewlett-Packard’s “culture.” But Carly Fiorina’s ability to turn around H-P and strength to survive breast cancer, will make it tough for Democrats to successfully trash her.

lint Eastwood’s hit movie American Sniper has brought home to Americans the trauma that many veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars bring back with them. An astonishing 22 veterans commit suicide every day, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. A disturbing and growing number are younger vets, many haunted by their experiences and poorly reintegrated into civilian life. In a 2014 survey of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, half said they knew another veteran who had attempted suicide. Investigator James O’Keefe, whose previous undercover videos have exposed scandals involving ACORN, PBS, and voter fraud, has interviewed people who raise...

As a Christian, he never ceased to stand by those who suffered, even when it cost him his life. The too-brief life of the German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer has been the subject of much film and literary interest in recent years, and Eric Metaxas’s insightful biography of this heroic figure helps us understand why. Bonhoeffer’s life vividly demonstrated the natural and indeed inevitable tensions between the individual and the modern state, and it pointed toward a response based firmly in Christian thought. There are two powerful presences throughout the book: Bonhoeffer himself and Adolf Hitler, as the two...

It didn’t take long for fraud to find its way to Apple Pay. Some banks are witnessing a growing incidence of fraud on Apple Inc.’s mobile-payment service as criminals exploit vulnerabilities ...... The problem was brought to light in late February ..by Cherian Abraham, ..... He said fraud “is growing like a weed, and the bank is unable to tell friend from foe.”Mr. Abraham said it isn’t “an anomaly” for fraud to account for about 6% of Apple Pay transactions, compared with about 0.1% on transactions that involve swiping a credit card.Banks pay Apple 0.15% of every transaction made on...

Someone really needs to keep this woman off the talk shows. After suggesting that the US initiate a terrorist jobs program to defeat ISIS, State Department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf is now arguing that Joseph Kony and his renegade band of 200 followers in Central Africa are a threat to America’s security.

Emerald Garner, whose father Eric died after police used a choke hold on him during an arrest, came to the New York City Police Memorial today to express her condolences following the deaths of two NYPD officers who were gunned down over the weekend.

The expanded House Republican majority is about to face some tests of unity, so it’s notable that they’re sticking to at least one principle. The House Republican caucus on Friday overwhelmingly beat back a bid by party spenders to reinstate earmarks. This was no foregone conclusion. Four years into the earmark ban, legislators on both sides ....... In introducing his repeal of the earmark ban on Friday, Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers....... .....Tom DeLay logrolling that contributed to the GOP defeat in 2006. Republicans are wise to resist the temptation.

... What’s particularly interesting about this discussion, then, is that nobody has even discussed the fact that the federal government not ten years ago created and funded a brand new office in the Health and Human Services Department specifically to coordinate preparation for and response to public health threats like Ebola. The woman who heads that office, and reports directly to the HHS secretary, has been mysteriously invisible from the public handling of this threat. And she’s still on the job even though three years ago she was embroiled in a huge scandal of funneling a major stream of funding...

<p>The Islamic State group is about to capture the Syrian border town of Kobani, Turkey's president said Tuesday, as outgunned Kurdish forces struggled to repel the extremists with limited aid from U.S.-led coalition airstrikes.</p> <p>Turkish president says Syrian border town of Kobani will fall to jihadists, who have outgunned Kurdish forces with tanks, munitions stolen from Iraqi bases.</p>

News 4 dug for answers after finding out workers in Wentzville are being paid do nothing at a facility where they are supposed to be processing paper applications of those signing up for insurance under the Affordable Care Act. Click the video above for the full report.