Free Republic

A number of months ago, when Republicans' collective 2018 fate was looking fairly bleak, I attended an off-the-record briefing that reviewed internal party polling, highlighting the party's strengths and weaknesses heading into a challenging midterms.  The political headwinds, as they're often referred to, were blowing against Team Red -- based both on historical precedent and measurable electoral outcomes.  Many of those same obstacles remain firmly in place today.  But two of the bright spots that the assembled GOP gurus underscored were (a) the growing strength of the US economy, thanks to tax reform and other policies, and (b) the polarizing unpopularity of...

In 2018, black voters are finding out just what the hell they had to lose. Nazis and Klansmen march openly and proudly, and hate crimes appear to be on the rise. Police killings of people—especially black people—remain largely the same year to year, and this iteration of the Justice Department has largely abdicated any federal responsibility in reducing brutality. An infant-mortality crisis is tightening its grip on the most marginalized communities, and across many economic metrics—from evictions, to generational wealth, to segregation—disparities are either stagnating or trending in the wrong direction. Fifty years after the Kerner Commission’s report said the...

Last December, President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law. The largest shake-up to the federal tax code in more than 30 years, the law includes myriad changes that will benefit manufacturers. Among other things, the law reduces the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent and repeals the corporate alternative minimum tax. The law also allows companies to immediately expense the full cost of qualified property acquired and placed into service before 2023. And, it maintains the R&D tax credit. While stumping for the bill, President Trump predicted tax reform would be “rocket fuel” for...

Connecticut manufacturers, looking to fill thousands of jobs, are reaching beyond community colleges and vocational schools to persuade high school students to embrace careers in 21st-century factories. It’s not an easy task as educators and manufacturers battle stereotypes of old, dirty factories. “The struggle has been getting the kids to see it,” said Mark Ruede, assistant principal at Manchester High School. “We definitely have some perception work to do in town.” Manchester High School students have visited Pratt & Whitney in Middletown where the United Technologies Corp. subsidiary manufactures jet engines, he said. What began as a trip to teach...

SOLON, Ohio, June 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Nestlé announced that it has finalized the purchase agreement for the manufacturing assets in Trenton, MO that will support future production of the Chef-mate brand. Chef-mate is a leading brand in foodservice sold through Nestlé Professional, the out-of-home division of Nestlé S.A. The purchase of these assets will allow Nestlé to implement a focused and lean operation in Trenton while delivering the highest quality manufacturing for the Chef-mate brand. The Chef-mate brand was established in 1964. The product line features authentic comfort food classics like Chef-mate Country Sausage Gravy, Chef-mate Corned Beef...

HBO host Bill Maher said Friday that he is "hoping for" an economic collapse because that is the only way the president's opponents can "get rid of Trump." Maher first asked guest Shermichael Singleton to asses the current economy under President Trump. "It is going well," Singleton answered. "For now." "Thank you, that’s my question,” Maher added. “I feel like the bottom has to fall out at some point, and by the way, I’m hoping for it." "I think one way you get rid of Trump is a crashing economy. So please, bring on the recession. Sorry if that hurts...

Link only due to copyright issues. https://www.freep.com/story/news/columnists/rochelle-riley/2018/06/08/trump-jack-johnson-black-voters/684898002/

I am not a Republican, I did not vote for Donald Trump. I castigated him during the primaries, focused more on the outlandish alternative during the general election, but still hold him in low regard. The tweets, the mostly ignorant, buffoonish tweets, sum up the worst of him in my opinion, but what I wrote after the election was that we should give him a chance. The opposite has occurred. Not only have critics overstated almost every flub he has made, governmental officials in the executive and judicial branches have shoved aside rule of law through felonious leaks, phony decisions...

Voters in California’s 29th State Senate district recalled freshman Democrat Josh Newman in Tuesady’s California primary over his vote for Governor Jerry Brown’s 12-cent-per-gallon gas tax hike, replacing him with Republican Ling Ling Chang and definitively denying Democrats a supermajority in the upper house.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) — San Diego businessman Jon Cox may be the underdog in the governor’s race, but Republicans believe Democratic opponent and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is vulnerable because of his support for an unpopular tax. If there’s one issue that resonates with Republicans, it’s the repeal of the gas tax in California. On Wednesday, Cox made a point of blaming Newsom for the 12-cent hike at the pumps -- even though Newsom, as lieutenant governor, was not involved in the legislative vote. “He wants to defend the gas tax,” Cox said. “I'm leading the effort to repeal the...

The Republican Party is Donald Trump's party. If there were any doubts about this, recent polling - which shows the president with near record levels of backing from Republican voters - confirms the fact. According to a recent Gallup Poll, Mr Trump's support among members of his own party at the 500-day mark of his presidency sits at 87%, second only to George W Bush's 96%, which came nine months after the September 11 World Trade Center attacks. A handful of other presidents since the survey started after World War II - George HW Bush, John F Kennedy, Dwight D...

12:20 a.m. Wednesday California Democrats have been denied their supermajority in the state Senate. Voters in an Orange County district on Tuesday elected former Republican Assemblywoman Ling Ling Chang in a recall election against a Democrat. Voters removed Democratic Sen. Josh Newman from office over his vote to raise gas taxes last year. That means Senate Democrats won't hold the two-thirds majority needed to pass tax and fee increases. Newman narrowly won the traditionally Republican district in the 2016 election, and both parties saw him as vulnerable. A Republican-backed effort to repeal the tax increase is likely to be on...

US voters will differ sharply on whether President Trump has 'made America great again,' but the economy over which he's presiding is undeniably on the upswing -- with several of his key policies playing essential roles in that comeback. The latest piece of data that fortifies America's renewed economic vigor is a surge in international competitiveness, as measured by a closely-watched annual ranking from a Switzerland-based think tank. Following tax reform's burst of hiring and growth, the United States has 'leapfrogged' back into the top slot (via Bloomberg): The U.S. dethroned Hong Kong to retake first place among the world’s...

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., pledged Monday to continue blocking President Trump's nominees to the Treasury Department in a bid to get documents related to Trump's dealings with Russia.....The Oregon Democrat and ranking member on the Finance Committee committed to holding up nominees.. On Monday, Wyden said he has placed a hold on Patelunas in order to gain documents from the Treasury relating to Trump's financial ties with Russia, and said conducting oversight is a "constitutional duty, not a resistance tactic." Since early in Trump's tenure, Wyden has sought to use nominations as leverage over Treasury to get the documents he...

What were they thinking? Long ago, G.K. Chesterton wrote how easily, or with apparent ease, societies discard beneficial practices and institutions without knowing two things. Why was the practice or institution was the way it was, and second, without considering, without reasoning the subsequent effects of change? Nobody has any business destroying an institution until he examines it from a historical perspective.1 Regular readers know my disdain for the 17th Amendment and its awful accumulated consequences. Yes, there was a building consensus in favor of popularly elected senators and in 1913 congress headed off a convention of the states. While...

A recent media report on a peer-reviewed study based on 180 samples from water wells near Ohio fracking sites was headlined: “Univ. of Cincy fracking study finds surprising groundwater results.” What exactly was so surprising? The report is one of more than two dozen scientific studies published since 2010 that concluded fracking is not a major threat to groundwater. No fewer than 10 peer-reviewed studies examining more than 3,000 water wells across virtually every major U.S. shale play have been released in the past five years, with each one finding no evidence of that fracking has contaminated groundwater. The reason?...

The break over the Iran deal follows the break over the climate change agreement and the prospect of a trade war between the European Union and the United States. It raises the specter of a much deeper and wider break with the U.S. For the first time in 70 years, Germany’s role in the world is uncertain. Its allegiance is up for grabs. Where will it turn? German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s overseas trips have revealed her response to this dilemma. She has turned to Russia and China. An Eastern alliance—or Ostpolitik as it is known in Germany—has long been the...

<p>I think the last civil conversations we had occurred just days before November 8, 2016. You were supremely confident Hillary Clinton would win the presidential election; you voted for her with glee. As a lifelong Republican, I bit down hard and cast my vote for Donald Trump. Then the unimaginable happened. He won. And you lost your fucking minds.</p>

Back in December and January, Democrats and their fellow-travelers in the media were ebullient over the idea of running against the “tax cuts for the wealthiest 1 percent” tax reform package Congress had passed on a straight party-line vote, and President Trump subsequently signed into law. It’s worth a quick and entertaining look back at the now commonplace hysterical response from the American Left (Democrat/Media/Culture/Education establishment), this time at basic tax cuts. House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, a constant well-spring of poppycock, called the legislation “the end of the world” and “the worst bill in the history of the United...

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) - If you're looking to start a new career, you won't want to miss out on a massive hiring event this week. Oil service cooperation Halliburton is partnering up with Workforce Solutions Borderplex to host a job fair in El Paso Thursday morning. The company is looking to fill 300-400 positions, including Entry Level Operator Assistant 1 - Frac Acid and Heavy Truck Drivers. Candidates must be willing to relocate, as the positions will be located in Brownfield, Texas, Odessa, Artesia, NM, and Fort Stockton. Officials encourage job-seekers to arrive at the fair with copies of...