Free Republic

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced that his government's plan to deport illegal immigrants from the UK to Rwanda will begin in 10-12 weeks. The plan sparked a lively debate in the UK, which reminded many of the Israeli plan to deport immigrants, until Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 2018 decision to suspend the plan before it even began. At a press conference held by Sunak, he was asked how many would be deported during the summer, but refused to give a number, saying that "there will be many flights throughout the summer."According to the plan, Sunak said that 2,200...

The U.S. government on Monday said it will give GlobalFoundries $1.5 billion as part of the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act to boost domestic chip manufacturing. That comes amid reports that the Biden administration could provide more than $10 billion in funding to Intel. Intel and especially GlobalFoundries rose Tuesday on the news. Please watch the video at Investors.com - Market Rally Faces Nvidia Test; Super Micro, Lennar, Weatherford In Focus GlobalFoundries will use the funds to expand and improve its existing fabrication plant in Malta, New York, as well as build a new fab on that Malta campus. It'll...

In recent months, stories from both the legacy media and the independent media have continued to pile up on how undocumented foreign nationals - also known as "migrants" and "illegal aliens" - are able to take advantage of a vast network of taxpayer funded benefits in daycare, medical care, housing, and more. For example, both the New York Post and Denver Post report that these foreign nationals have "overwhelmed" the Denver Health hospital system in Denver, and that the situation is "unsustainable." Meanwhile, public schools report classrooms are filling up quickly with the children of these foreign nationals. Denver is...

The Federal Communications Commission has begun winding down a program that helps low-income people pay for internet service, which would affect 67,548 subscribers in Allegheny County alone. In a conference call Tuesday, FCC officials said most of the funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program will run out by the end of April without additional appropriations from Congress. Enrollment in the program, which has nearly 23 million beneficiaries nationwide, is scheduled to close Feb. 7. “It’s going to be a mess to notify all these people,” said Dave Sevick, executive director of Computer Reach, a Homewood nonprofit that refurbishes laptops for...

Joe Biden’s race to embrace electric vehicles risks overwhelming US charging infrastructure and creating disastrous supply shortages, two of the world’s biggest carmakers have said. Toyota and Vauxhall owner Stellantis accused the President of being “overly optimistic” in his push for a rule that would require two thirds of new vehicle sales to be electric by 2032. The companies were quick to point out that they support a move to low-emissions vehicles and electric cars in particular but warned that they need customers to buy them and that costs are still too high for the mass market. The cars typically...

This week the Trump administration managed to impose a massive tax increase on middle-income families beginning in 2018. You could be excused for missing this story if you were focusing instead on President Trump’s draconian budget or Republican efforts to take away health care from tens of millions of people. But, indeed, on Monday, the Trump Health Care Tax was born.

The Department of Energy’s Argonne National Lab has just released a study showing that in 2021, US privately-owned plugin hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs) “saved about 690 million gallons of gasoline.” But that is a huge exaggeration because fossil fuels provide 61% of the electricity in the US … so only about a third of that apparent savings is a real reduction in fossil fuel use, the equivalent of maybe 130 million gallons. The Argonne report also says that from 2010 to 2021, EVs have saved 2.1 billion gallons of gas. So let’s be generous and say...

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his government on Thursday to come up with new measures to support the domestic car industry, which has seen sales crater since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine. Amid a crunch on demand from Russian buyers and severe logistics problems as a result of Western sanctions slapped on Moscow, car sales slumped a record 83.5% in May, according to figures from the Association of European Businesses (AEB). "I would like to ask the government to tell us in detail what swift measures it is taking to support the auto industry and stabilise the internal market,"...

MOSCOW. July 16 (Interfax) - The Russian government has approved talks between NPO Energomash and America's Orbital Sciences LLC on a contract for the use of the RD181M engine in the Antares launch vehicle, under a directive published on the official website for legal information. "To accept a proposal by the Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, which was agreed with concerned federal executive authorities, on conducting negotiation between the joint-stock company NPO Energomash named after Academic V.P. Glushko and Orbital Sciences LLC (United States of America) on the conclusion of a contract for the use of the RD181M liquid-propellant...

Should American taxpayers stop subsidizing big oil companies? How about abortions? There seems to be a lot of confusion on the issue. In part, that's because there's a lot of confusion about what a subsidy really is. To hear liberals talk, it's scandalous that Americans are forking over their hard-earned tax dollars to prop up Big Oil. Former Virginia Gov. and DNC chairman Tim Kaine, now running for Jim Webb's Senate seat, last week called on his opponents to join him in opposing "government giveaways for big oil companies," as he put it. "Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC) Defends Fairness of...

Walmart sued Tesla for "gross negligence" on Tuesday, claiming that the electric car company's energy division installed solar panels that went up in flames on its store rooftops. The fires caused millions of dollars in damage, the lawsuit alleges. The retailer said fires broke out at seven store rooftops between 2012 and 2018. One location in Ohio had to be closed for eight days, Walmart said in the complaint. The lawsuit claims Tesla never provided Walmart with an explanation for the "root cause" of the fires. "The number of defects, however, is overwhelming and plainly indicative of systemic, widespread failures...

(Reuters) - The “great majority” of solar cells being produced at Tesla Inc’s factory in upstate New York are being sold overseas instead of being used in the company’s trademark “Solar Roof” as originally intended, according to documents reviewed by Reuters. The exporting underscores the depth of Tesla’s troubles in the U.S. solar business, which the electric car maker entered in 2016 with its controversial $2.6 billion purchase of SolarCity. Tesla has only sporadically purchased solar cells produced by its partner in the factory, Panasonic Corp, according to a Buffalo solar factory employee speaking on condition of anonymity. The rest...

On Sunday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) praised the Washington, D.C. Metro, apparently oblivious to the fires and horrific management problems the Metro faces. "DC Metro is pretty good, especially when compared to the MTA lately," Ocasio-Cortez said in a Facebook "moment," contrasting the D.C. Metro to the New York subway. "It's clear they are investing in public infrastructure w/modernized train cars, etc." She responded to criticism shortly afterward. "Lots of folks begging to differ on DC metro being better," the congresswoman added. "I just got here so taking the train on a Sunday without a delay or track change or...

By distracting attention from real solutions, it can make the housing shortage worse. Senator Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) has proposed a subsidy for renters, responding no doubt to the skyrocketing rents in the Bay Area. The sheer cost of living there has made it difficult for companies to attract talent; indeed, rents in faraway suburbs are priced like downtown rents elsewhere. This is a very real problem, and its recognition on the national stage is not unwelcome. But Harris’s subsidy won’t improve the situation, and could even make things worse by drawing attention away from actual solutions. The Bay Area’s...

After months of behind-the-scenes lobbying, multiple marathon hearings and several revisions to the legislation, New Jersey lawmakers finally approved a controversial bill on Thursday to bail out the state’s nuclear power plants. The bill (S2313/A3724) cleared the state Senate by a 29 to 7 vote and passed the Assembly 60 to 10 with one abstention. It now goes to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk. The measure would effectively impose a surcharge on ratepayers to prop up nuclear power plants owned by Public Service Electric & Gas—the state’s largest energy company—if a state board determines the plants need financial assistance. A typical...

...does not include the Fake Washington Post, which is used as a “lobbyist” and should so REGISTER. If the P.O. “increased its parcel rates, Amazon’s shipping costs would rise by $2.6 Billion.” This Post Office scam must stop. Amazon must pay real costs (and taxes) now!

Immigrants who accept almost any form of welfare or public benefit, even popular tax deductions, could be denied legal U.S. residency under a proposal awaiting approval by the Trump administration, which is seeking to reduce the number of foreigners living in the United States. According to a draft of the proposal obtained by The Washington Post, immigration caseworkers would be required to consider a much broader range of factors when determining whether immigrants or their U.S.-citizen children are using public benefits or may be likely to do so. Current rules penalize immigrants who receive cash welfare payments, considering them a...

A Jewish Home MK has unveiled a plan to bolster Arab emigration from Israel, and ultimately end the Palestinian Authority. MK Bezalel Smotrich, a member of the National Union faction within the Jewish Home party, is calling on the State of Israel to provide financial benefits for Arabs who move abroad. “This is not transfer,” said Smotrich, distancing his proposal from the platforms of MK Rabbi Meir Kahane’s Kach party and slain Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi’s Moledet party, which later joined the National Union faction. “Today, some 20,000 Palestinians leave Judea and Samaria every year,” Smotrich told Israel Hayom in...

A person's subsidy would be based on the average monthly premium amounts of the PPACA subsidy silver plans for 2013, 2014, and 2015 for a 50-year in the capital city of the person's state. The average amount would be adjusted for a person's age, CPI inflation and in most cases the effective tax rate paid on the income on the tax return which last claimed the person as an exemption. The maximum monthly subsidy amount for a US citizen shall be: silver_base_amount*age_factor*tax_rate_factor*inflation_factor*budget_factor The silver_base_amount of a state shall be the sum of the monthly premiums of each of the (second)...

[snip]Subsidizing ballparks for billionaire owners and millionaire players, however, shouldn't be part of the equation. According to the Brookings Institution, the stadium loophole has cost federal taxpayers $3.2 billion for 36 professional sports facilities since 2000. Maybe bringing together two senators from vastly different states and from widely different ideologies — U.S. Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican, and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat — will help inspire a fractious Congress to work together on a bipartisan bill to cut federal subsidies for sports stadiums. The bill would end the federal tax giveaway for municipal bonds used...