Free Republic

If you slogged around during the first month of 2024 on the subways, you probably felt like there was a major delay every way you turned, and when you did get on the train, you were one wrong flicker of eye contact away from being a crime victim. With subway ridership hovering around 71% of pre-COVID normal, bus ridership at 60% of normal, and commuter rail at about three-quarters, we don’t want to lose any more riders to bad service or fear. But keeping straphangers riding the MTA will take work, just as the system has never felt more imperiled....

Note: The link takes you to a report card for congressmen based on their voting records. It shows their votes and provides a grade: A to F. A is support for Ukraine. F is voting against Ukraine. I did not post the report card due to graphics, formatting, etc. ————— Republicans for Ukraine is a coalition of Republicans who believe that the Republican Party must continue to support Ukraine. We come from all over the country and are united in our support for helping Ukraine achieve victory for democracy. The GOP has always stood for a strong national defense, supporting...

AUSTIN, Texas – People in Austin graded how well President Biden handled the economy, immigration, foreign relations and climate change in 2022. "On the economy, I would give Joe Biden an F," a Nebraskan told Fox News. "We're still dealing with rampant inflation. Our gas prices have been skyrocketing ever since he canceled the pipeline." But a Texan with a thick mustache disagreed and gave Biden a B on the economy. "He's doing a good job keeping it together and trying to help people that need it," he told Fox News.

When schools closed last March due to the coronavirus pandemic, parents and students alike assumed that online classes would be a necessary but temporary move to help mitigate the spread of the highly contagious virus. Here we are seven months later and many students are still at home, receiving an education online. Recent findings from schools show that a higher rate of failure in one or more classes taught online is showing up across the country. The message is clear – students need to get back to school.It can be scary for parents who worry about children potentially being...

The Department of Education just released results of the quadrennial National Assessment of Educational Progress tests in U.S. history, civics and geography given in 2018 to thousands of American eighth-graders: "Grade 8 Students' NAEP Scores Decline in Geography and U.S. History; Results in Civics Unchanged Since 2014." The tests were administered from January to March 2018 to a nationally representative sample of 42,700 eighth-graders from about 780 schools. The news is not very good. Only 24% of students performed at or above the "proficient" level in civics. Worse yet, only 15% scored proficient or above in American history and 25%...

This year, America’s overall infrastructure was awarded a D+ grade, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers’ “Infrastructure Report Card.” Arizona’s infrastructure may be relatively newer by comparison but it is starting to show signs of wear and tear as indicated by the C grade that it received from ASEC. While the state of Arizona’s infrastructure may not be in as dire of shape as other urban areas, the need for new and repaired infrastructure is widely talked about, especially at Valley Partnership. For 30 years now, Valley Partnership has been the rational voice at the table whenever important...

Eleanor Darragh, mother of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 97% , was born in Delaware on Nov. 23, 1934, establishing her citizenship by birth-and, according to U.S. law, that of her son, even though he was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on Dec. 22, 1970. The Cruz for President campaign provided Breitbart News exclusively with the birth certificate.

The White House has released its second monthly report card on Obamacare enrollment in state and federal exchanges, documenting a mix of progress and problems in the system since it launched in October. The numbers offer some good news: a surge in sign-ups in November after a barrage of improvements to HealthCare.gov, and robust online traffic to the insurance portals shows that interest in the products remains strong. But the figures also illustrate some serious problems ahead: there's a huge backlog of consumers who have applied for a plan but not yet picked one, and electronic errors on the computer...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Just one in 100 schoolchildren across the United States excels at advanced levels of science while less than a third of elementary and high school students reach grade-level proficiency in the subject, according to the Nation's Report Card released today. The report found that California students fared worse than the national average, with fourth graders, for example, lagging behind 43 states in science and in a dead heat for last with three others, Hawaii, Arizona and Mississippi. Four states did not participate in the voluntary testing, administered in 2009 by the National Assessment Governing Board. The National...

Two years ago today, Barack Obama was inaugurated as president of the United States.  Are you better off today than you were two years ago? Numbers don't lie, and here are the data on the impact he has had on the lives of Americans:   January 2009 Current % chg Source           Avg. retail price/gallon gas in U.S. (regular conventional) $1.83 $3.104 69.6% 1 Selected commodities:              Crude oil, European Brent (barrel) $43.48 $99.02 127.7% 2      Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel) $38.74 $91.38 135.9% 2      Natural gas, Henry...

VCU Receives A- in National Green Report Card Anne Buckley VCU Communications and Public Relations (804) 828-6052 albuckley@vcu.edu 10/27/2010 Virginia Commonwealth University today received an A- in the national “Green Report Card” — an independent evaluation of sustainability in campus operations and endowment practices. VCU was the only college in Virginia to receive a grade in the A range. http://www.news.vcu.edu/news/VCU_Receives_A_in_National_Green_Report_Card The College Sustainability Report 2011 assessed 322 colleges and universities, representing all 50 U.S. states and eight Canadian provinces, in nine categories, ranging from Climate Change & Energy to Green Building to Investment Priorities. The report provides detailed school profiles...

A group representing California taxpayers gave more than half the state's lawmakers failing grades in its annual report card issued Tuesday, only months after the Legislature approved the largest tax cuts in state history. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association gave "F" grades to 73 out of 120 Assembly members and senators, with only 29 receiving "A" grades. The ratings from the fiscally conservative group split along ideological lines, with all of the failing grades going to Democrats, and none to Republicans. "This is a horrible report card," said David Wolfe, legislator director at the association. "It represents all the anger...

FIRST, “Saturday Night Live” parodies President Obama’s “achievements.” Then Mr. Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize, bringing yet more head-scratching. Clearly, the nation’s attention is focused squarely on a question few presidents want to answer just nine months into their term: What has your administration accomplished? I’ll leave foreign and military affairs to the Oslo Five and concentrate on domestic economics. The president’s critics complain that his only real accomplishment is the $787 billion stimulus bill — which they deride, somewhat contradictorily, as either budget-busting, ineffective or both. But is that all there is? I think not. STOPPING THE SLIDE...

Today is the last day to vote in CNN's National Report Card: Second 100 Days of President Obama. http://reportcard.cnn.com/

“Blue Dog Democrats” -- a formal group of 52 House members -- premise their campaigns on the idea that they are moderate or conservative and are independent of the liberal leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Ca) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md). But are they?

The Family Foundation Action, a non-profit pro-family group in Richmond, has just released their 2008/2009 Legislative Report Card. This document ranks our state senators and delegates on how they voted, according to issues that are important to the family. Check out this link to view a PDF copy of the report card, or you can download or print your own. http://www.tffaction.org/images/Report_Card_Final.pdf

President Obama recently signed his first major legislative accomplishment, a $787 billion dollar economic stimulus bill. However, the President’s win is beginning to look more and more like a Pyrrhic victory. In fact, in just 30 days on the job, the new president has alienated Independents, small business leaders, young voters, Catholics and Republicans on a number of legislative issues. According to a recent ATI-News/Zogby poll, 66 percent of Independents think Obama’s stimulus bill spends too much money on items that will not improve the economy. Fifty-three percent of young voters (age 18 to 29), 60 percent of small business...

It is hard to imagine that one man could do so much in so little time, but here goes . . .are ya ready for this? It's only been four weeks: 1) Admits to having family members who are Muslim, something he avoided like the plague during the election. Gee, wonder why? 2) Ordered Guantanamo closed. 3) Ordered all military tribunals to STOP. 4) DISMISSED charges against the mastermind of the USS Cole attack, which killed 17 American Sailors.

SAN ANTONIO (Talon News) -- A Texas legislator has submitted a bill that would instruct public schools to submit a health report card along with the academic performance of their students. State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, a Democrat representing San Antonio and Bexar County in Texas District 26, is sponsoring the "Body Mass Index Bill," or SB205. Van de Putte said teachers and parents "should be just as concerned with students' physical health and performance as we are with their academic performance." Van de Putte, who was elected to the Texas House in 1990 and then to the Texas...