Free Republic

NN cut away from a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday morning, seconds after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) raised concerns that Special Counsel Robert Mueller had hired a former Clinton Foundation attorney to assist with the probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Graham was questioning Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who was sitting in for Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Democrats have long accused the Trump campaign of colluding with Russia, though no evidence has emerged. There is also speculation that Special Counsel Mueller will probe allegations of obstruction of justice against President Donald Trump. Earlier this...

More than half of food stamp recipients in 21 Georgia counties have been dropped from the program after the state instituted work requirements. State figures released this week revealed that 11,779 people considered able-bodied without children were required to find work by April 1 to continue receiving food stamps, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Sixty-two percent were dropped after the deadline, whittling the number of recipients to 4,528. State officials began enforcing the work mandate in 2016, and plan to expand work requirements to all 159 counties by 2019. About 1.6 million Georgia residents use food stamps, which are funded with...

President Trump's fiscal 2018 budget proposal would completely eliminate 66 federal programs, for a savings of $26.7 billion. Some of the programs would receive funding for 2018 as part of a phasing-out plan. Here are the programs the administration wants on the chopping block. Agriculture Department — $855 million · McGovern-Dole International Food for Education · Rural Business-Cooperative Service · Rural Water and Waste Disposal Program Account · Single Family Housing Direct Loans Commerce Department — $633 million · Economic Development Administration · Manufacturing Extension Partnership · Minority Business Development Agency · National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Grants and Education...

The budget proposed by President Trump, set for release Tuesday, is clear from coast to coast to coast: Don't clean up the water. The budget not only zeroes out the Puget Sound cleanup, but programs from Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain to New England's Lake Champlain to the Great Lakes. The information on axing of cleanup money was obtained by the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, and comes directly from an administration document. Overall, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency budget would be slashed from $8.2 billion to $5.6 billion, a 30 percent-plus cut.

Details of the Trump Administration tax reform plans began trickling out Wednesday, revealing plans to massively simplify the tax system, adjust tax rates for individuals and businesses, and eliminate several taxes including the AMT, inheritance, and specific Obamacare taxes. During the 1:30 p.m. White House press briefing, a document was provided to journalists with the following Trump Administration tax reform framework: 2017 Tax Reform for Economic Growth and American Jobs The Biggest Individual and Business Tax Cut In American History Goals For Tax Reform Grow the economy and create millions of jobs Simplify our burdensome tax code Provide tax relief...

President Trump told The Associated Press on Friday that he intends to release a tax reform plan next week that includes a "massive tax cut" for businesses and individuals. This is what I have been waiting for and have been building my portfolio since December on this hope. I was very concerned when the "Freedom" Caucus damaged the momentum by not accepting reality and being hardliners who could not wait to stage in the required changes needed in the name of what Americans have their hopes in - jobs and the economy. My position is the DOW already "priced in"...

TALLAHASSEE — A wide-ranging $296.8 million tax cut package from the House would eliminate sales taxes on diapers and feminine hygiene products, offer tax "holidays" for purchasing school and hurricane supplies, and trim a commercial lease tax. The package, introduced Wednesday by the House Ways & Means Committee, is smaller than a collection of tax cuts proposed by Gov. Rick Scott. The fate of the proposals will depend on upcoming budget negotiations between the House and Senate. Ways & Means Chairman Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, said the House package would provide multi-year relief that could potentially reach $949 million and grow...

There is much about the Trump administration's actions and decisions that could reasonably concern one. The latest block of information to digest has been the budget blueprint, which is an unrealistic fiction of what the country needs and where to most effectively spend money. Criticism is fine and necessary. However, there is a tendency for people who oppose Trump, and, sadly, for journalists covering the administration, to jump into every utterance and decision with, as a public policy Spinal Tap think tank would say, the dial turned up to 11. A clear example is the claim in some media outlets...

The Republican leadership’s plan to roll back Medicaid puts families with disabilities in a dire situation. Many American families rely upon Medicaid to pay for the expensive care that comes with disabilities. Families with special needs rely upon Medicaid for specialized care for daily living and to pay caretakers so that parents can work. However, the Ryan plan might jeopardize those who rely upon Medicaid for disabilities. Speaker Ryan’s plan places a per-person cap for all Americans, including people with disabilities, children, and the elderly. Conservatives previously advocated for block granting Medicaid to the states, where states can have more...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb joined a growing list of Republicans who want the GOP-led Congress to preserve Medicaid funding in their overhaul of former President Barack Obama’s health care law. Holcomb said Monday that Obama’s law needs to be fixed. And he says a plan led by Republicans in Washington is an appropriate first step.

This is how you end an interview on CNN these days.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6ut6JouUv8  

As part of his proposed budget, President Trump will instruct federal agencies on Monday to assemble a spending plan for the coming fiscal year that includes sharp increases in Defense Department spending and "drastic cuts" to domestic agencies such as the State Department, the EPA and other non-defense programs, so that he can keep his promise to leave Social Security and Medicare alone, according to four senior administration officials cited by the NYT. The budget outline will be the first move in a campaign this week to reset the narrative of Mr. Trump’s turmoil-tossed White House. Coming one day before...

CNN Cuts Off Bernie Sanders for Calling Them "FAKE NEWS" Start at 1 minute in:   https://vimeo.com/203535300  

he Navy's aircraft arsenal is so depleted it would take several years to rebuild the fleet even if the Trump administration allotted the funding needed to repair inoperable aircraft, according to a policy expert and former Air Force pilot. John Venable, a senior research fellow for defense policy at the Heritage Foundation, cited a report released Monday that found two-thirds of the Navy's strike fighter jets are unable to fly due to maintenance problems exacerbated by several years of military budget cuts. Thirty-five percent of grounded fighter planes are waiting for parts, while 27 percent are undergoing major depot work,...

President Trump is seeking to slash the number of workers at the Environmental Protection Agency by at least half, leaving it significantly gutted as the administration mulls further cuts, the former head of Trump's EPA transition team said Friday. "Let's aim for half and see how it works out, and then maybe we'll want to go further," Myron Ebell said now that he has returned to his position as director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Ebell left the Trump transition team a week ago. Ebell told the Associated Press that Trump is...

Donald Trump is ready to take an ax to government spending. Staffers for the Trump transition team have been meeting with career staff at the White House ahead of Friday’s presidential inauguration to outline their plans for shrinking the federal bureaucracy, The Hill has learned. The changes they propose are dramatic. The departments of Commerce and Energy would see major reductions in funding, with programs under their jurisdiction either being eliminated or transferred to other agencies. The departments of Transportation, Justice and State would see significant cuts and program eliminations. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting would be privatized, while the...

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Sen. Barack Obama began peddling his national healthcare system. On more than one occasion, he pointed to Canada and the United Kingdom as examples of a workable national healthcare system. When I first heard him point to them, I instantly thought of Rachel, a work acquaintance who lived and worked in the United Kingdom. She was experiencing abdominal pains and having problems eating for months before England’s National Health Service doctors finally diagnosed the problem to be her gall bladder. The doctor said it needed to be removed. However, from the time they wrote the...

The world is facing a new crisis caused by an explosion in debt. So warns William White, the central banker who famously predicted the crisis of 2008. As financial markets reeled last week and fears of a fresh recession or even banking crisis sparked panic, White was more than willing to issue yet another prophecy of doom. The world is now facing a crunch that could see a collapse in property prices, including those in London; a new global banking crisis; waves of cheap commodities savaging Western industrial centres; and the need for debts to be written off on a...

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is planning to cut 50 percent of the budget for aerial surveillance along the U.S.-Mexico border, agents revealed at a congressional hearing Thursday. In an effort to understand why DHS is cutting funding, Texas's Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, wrote a bi-partisan letter to DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson. "Any decrease in aerial observation is not only imprudent, but contradicts the very mission of border security enforcement," the letter states. The lawmakers' letter also asks for detailed information about the reduction aerial-based border security, also known as Operation Phalanx. Abbott and...

As most Americans are unaware, by federal law those serving in the nation's military are suppose to receive a yearly pay raise in accordance with a formula utilized by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The House of Representatives traditionally uses whatever figure the BLS sends them to factor into any given Fiscal Year Budget to be sent to the Commander-in-Chief. But Barack Obama has again decided to use an emergency loophole in the US Code to keep the formulated pay raise from the troops. Yet as reported by the Alabama Media Group (The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times, the...