Free Republic

Texas Republicans unveiled a new congressional map on Wednesday that would provide their party with five new red-leaning districts, a plan that — if enacted — could provide a boost to the party as it tries to cling to control of the House. The redraw would significantly benefit Republicans by making districts held by Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez, who both represent heavily-Latino areas of the Rio Grande Valley, redder, and make some Democratic-controlled districts even bluer in an attempt to create GOP-leaning districts elsewhere.

I am pleased to announce that the United States of America has agreed to a Full and Complete Trade Deal with the Republic of Korea. The Deal is that South Korea will give to the United States $350 Billion Dollars for Investments owned and controlled by the United States, and selected by myself, as President. Additionally, South Korea will purchase $100 Billion Dollars of LNG, or other Energy products and, further, South Korea has agreed to invest a large sum of money for their Investment purposes. This sum will be announced within the next two weeks when the President of...

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a court document emphasizing the importance of releasing grand jury transcripts from the high-profile cases against Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. In court filings, the DOJ argues that the files must be released because it is in the public interest. The filing, submitted on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, follows a previous court ruling where a judge in Florida rejected the DOJ’s attempt to release grand jury materials in a separate request. This new motion comes after the DOJ faced questions from a judge regarding...

A new commercial has people talking about eugenics again — more than the actual product it’s selling. How did we get here? On July 29, Dunkin’ introduced a pair of new Refreshers to its menu. To launch one of them — the Golden Hour Refresher — the brand partnered (again) with “The Summer I Turned Pretty” star Gavin Casalegno for a new video posted on social media. “Look, I didn’t ask to be the king of summer, it just kinda happened,” Casalegno says at the start of the 35-second spot. “This tan? Genetics.” Casalegno then talks about his color analysis...

Canada will recognize a Palestinian state in September, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters on Wednesday. “Canada has long been committed to a two-state solution, an independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian state living side by side with the State of Israel in peace and security,” said Carney, flanked by Foreign Minister Anita Anand. The move follows similar announcements by France, which has said it will recognize a Palestinian state in September, and the UK, which has said that it will too if Israel does not meet conditions that include agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza. “Canada intends to recognize...

Arizona, Louisiana, Pennsylvania treasurers among those to sign.. A group of 26 financial officers from 21 states sent letters to 18 major financial institutions this week, warning them to abandon environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices if they wish to continue doing business with their states. The letters said ESG has undermined the traditional fiduciary duty that firms owe their clients, focusing solely on financial return, and instead prioritizes advancing political agendas. “Fiduciary duty has long been a critical safeguard that facilitated efficient capital allocation grounded in financial merit rather than political ideology,” the letter said. “But that clarity is...

Russian soldiers call the practice a sacrifice to Baba Yaga, a fearsome witch from Slavic folklore who feasts on her victims. A Russian serviceman is seen on video being tied up to a tree and abandoned to his fate – possibly death – at the hands of one of Ukraine’s large attack drones. Why this is happening is clear from a radio intercept about a similar incident, shared with CNN, in which a Russian commander can clearly be heard ordering a subordinate be tied up in this way as punishment for desertion. The instruction is given twice: “Hide him somewhere...

A federal judge on Monday ruled Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide must continue to be reimbursed for Medicaid funding as the nation’s largest abortion provider fights President Donald Trump’s administration over efforts to defund the organization in his signature tax legislation. Even with the announcement, the five Planned Parenthoods that announced they were permanently closing on Friday due to Trump's Medicaid funding cuts will remain closed. Santa Cruz is one of five locations under Planned Parenthood Mar Monte that announced they were shutting down. The others are San Mateo, Gilroy, Madera and South San Francisco. This means patients can no longer...

Amid Russia's deadly attacks on Ukrainian training grounds, Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said military training should be moved underground as much as possible to better protect soldiers. "The entire territory of Ukraine is within range of enemy missiles and drones," Syrskyi said after a monthly meeting on troop preparedness. "The training process must be moved underground as much as possible." A Russian missile hit a Ground Forces training facility on July 29, prompting Ukraine's military to launch an official investigation. The attack left three people dead and 18 wounded. A special commission was formed to determine whether lapses by military...

As Congress debates how to rein in federal spending, some experts say aspects of Medicare Advantage should be on the chopping block, starting with $86 billion a year in taxpayer-funded supplemental benefits that often go unused or unverified. The federal government pays Medicare Advantage plans rebate dollars to cover extra services, including dental, vision, hearing, and over-the-counter drugs. However, a 2024 study published by JAMA Network Open found that only $3.9 billion of that money went toward dental, vision and hearing benefits. Meanwhile, the industry spent an estimated $16 billion on $1,000 “Flex Cards” for new enrollees – prepaid cash...

Former Vice President Harris announced on Wednesday that she will not run for governor of California in 2026, putting an end to speculation that she would seek her state’s top executive role after her loss to President Trump in November. “In recent months, I have given serious thought to asking the people of California for the privilege to serve as their Governor. I love this state, its people, and its promise. It is my home. But after deep reflection, I’ve decided that I will not run for Governor in this election,” Harris said in a statement. The former vice president...

A Danville, Virginia, City Councilman Lee Vogler was doused in gasoline and set on fire in his office on Tuesday. According to reports, the attacker threw five gallons of gasoline on Vogler before setting him on fire. Showcase Magazine’s Andrew Brooks said the attacker forced his way in the magazine’s office as Vogler was visiting and poured a five-gallon container of gas on him. “Lee attempted to flee, ran to the front of the building,” Showcase Magazine owner Andrew Brooks said in a Facebook video. “The individual followed him and set him on fire.” Vogler was flown to the UNC...

The Big Money Show' panel discusses the Fed's interest rate plan and the success of President Donald Trump's tariff strategy as more economic wins roll in for the nation.

US GDP Rebounds in Second Quarter Without ‘Tarifflation’ Federal spending falls while shoppers reopen wallets. Federal spending falls while shoppers reopen wallets.It was a rough start to 2025 as President Donald Trump’s tariffs created a doom-and-gloom situation in the US economy. However, the turbulence subsided and economic conditions rebounded sharply in the second quarter as US GDP topped economists’ expectations without triggering a bout of “tarifflation.” All eyes are now squarely focused on the third quarter.Springtime for US GDPExtra! Extra! The United States is no longer halfway toward a recession.The Bureau of Economic Analysis released the advanced estimate of...

A Danville, Virginia, City Councilman Lee Vogler was doused in gasoline and set on fire in his office on Tuesday. According to reports, the attacker threw five gallons of gasoline on Vogler before setting him on fire. Showcase Magazine’s Andrew Brooks said the attacker forced his way in the magazine’s office as Vogler was visiting and poured a five-gallon container of gas on him. “Lee attempted to flee, ran to the front of the building,” Showcase Magazine owner Andrew Brooks said in a Facebook video. “The individual followed him and set him on fire.”

A couple of years ago, a young man from Jamaica came to the United States for a visit. He liked it so much, he stayed, and ... Jon Luke Evans .. was hired as a seasonal law enforcement officer for the little community of Old Orchard Beach, on the coast just south of Portland. ... ICE has arrested Jon Luke Evans, an illegal immigrant from Jamaica, after he attempted to buy a firearm. Evans had been serving as a police officer in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. HOW in the world can Maine allow an illegal alien to get hired as...

Trump's comments followed a congressional stock trading ban clearing a Senate committee the same day. President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should be the subject of an insider trading investigation as a ban on congressional stock trading advances in the Senate.“Nancy Pelosi should be investigated. She has the highest return of anybody, practically in the history of Wall Street, save a few," he told reporters. "How did that happen? She knows exactly what’s gonna happen! ... she buys stock and then the stock goes up after the announcement's made."Pelosi's success in investing is well-known...

Cincinnati's shame. The shame was not that a group of youths viciously attacked a couple while laughing and filming the event. The acts were cruel and shameful, had these youths been capable of shame, but such attacks can take place in any large city. They are disgusting and symbolic of a sickness in our society, ... what was shameful was the Police Chief ... Evil things happen because human beings have evil within them. Most people don't act on their darker impulses or learn as they grow up how to sublimate the wolves within their souls. But certain people, and...

By rights, Republicans should be ascendant. The Democrats are in disarray. Their ideas are deeply unpopular–open borders, men in women’s sports, soft on crime, $37 trillion in debt, woke national defense, perpetrators of the worst scandal in American history, and so on. Beyond that, they are crazy. And they don’t have a single attractive spokesman or spokeswoman. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been triumphant, enacting one popular policy after another, while scoring victory after victory for the American people. And yet…voters apparently can’t tell the difference. Rasmussen finds that the parties are equal in the eyes of likely voters: Six...

The Department of Justice revealed Tuesday that there were only two witnesses to testify to the grand juries that indicted Jeffrey Epstein and his madam, Ghislaine Maxwell, on sex-trafficking charges. The revelation was made in a late-night filing that urged a Manhattan judge to unseal the transcripts and release the documents to the public, given the “abundant public interest” after it was announced that a review of the cases determined there was no Epstein client list. *** However, even if the judge agrees to the transcripts getting released, it would still only represent a small fraction of the mountain of...