Free Republic

Republicans, not to be confused with conservatives, have produced a $1.3 trillion with a “T” spending bill to direct the money we borrow from China. For all the crowing about reducing the unconstitutional federal footprint in education, funding for the Department of Education (USED) will receive an increase – that’s increase, not decrease – of $3.9 billion. Generally, increasing a department’s budget isn’t the preferred method of winding down its responsibilities. So this budget reveals zero federal intention to restore local control in education. It also reveals critical information about the current debate on the latest fad: “evidence-based policymaking.” House...

Donald J. Trump ‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 6m6 minutes ago News conference at the White House concerning the Omnibus Spending Bill. 1:00 P.M. 30 replies 20 retweets 113 likes

It's either Yes or No, Mr. POTUS, Donald J. Trump. Sir, you are the human being in this God's world put there by the American people to save this once magnificent Nation Republic. A profile in courage awaits your pen killing this monster of destruction of the American Republic..case closed!!! Veto that bill!!!

POTUS: The Senate finally passed a spending bill.FLOTUS: That’s nice Dear, how much was it?POTUS: $1.3 trillion….whoops! Careful! FLOTUS: Thanks, I’m good. But $1.3 trillion? That seems extraordinary for a Republican Senate.POTUS: Almost all the Democrats voted for it. FLOTUS: I smell a lot of pork flying around.POTUS:  As God is my witness, I did not think pigs could fly. FLOTUS: Remind me again, why are we here? UPDATE:  h/t Claire Garcia: Our VSGPDT does so enjoy playing these suckers at their own game.Posted from: MOTUS A.D.

President Trump issued his first veto threat of the immigration debate on Thursday, with the White House saying the plan being offered by Senate Democratic leaders and a handful of GOP rebels would make border security worse, not better. In a statement from press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House said the plan would prevent agents from going after illegal immigrants unless they arrive after June 30, 2018. Analysts have said that creates an incentive for people to flood the border now, hoping to get into the U.S. before the deadline — and it also protects perhaps 10 million...

With all the talk about a possible government shutdown due to an impasse on immigration reform, no one seems to be paying attention to a story of even bigger long-term consequence. Congress is preparing a two-year budget that blows past bipartisan spending caps to the tune of $216 billion through 2019. These are the latest stunning tallies from an analysis by Congressional Quarterly. (See chart). That may be a best-case scenario. The budget watchers at Freedom Works estimate that when hurricane disaster relief, funding for the border wall, added Obamacare money for the bankrupt insurance markets, and other last-minute spending...

A bill to protect unborn babies from brutal dismemberment abortions appears likely to pass the Pennsylvania legislature this December with bipartisan support. However, pro-abortion Gov. Tom Wolf has promised to veto it. Beth Melena, a spokeswoman for the state Democratic Party, told CNHI newspapers that Wolf “is the only reason” why Pennsylvania does not already ban dismemberment abortions. Pennsylvania Senate Bill 3 passed the state Senate and is now awaiting action by the full House. It would prohibit dismemberment abortions that tear apart living unborn babies limb by limb while their hearts are beating. The bill also would prohibit abortions...

A note left on Sen. Dean Heller’s (R-NV) door on Monday threatened to kill him if he voted in favor of the proposed health care bill, the Nevada Independent reported. “Vote no on the health care bill or I will lose my health care and die, and you will, too,” the note reportedly read. Although the identity of the culprit remains unknown, it is understood they illegally gained access to Heller’s office but did not steal anything.

The Illinois House voted to override Republican Governor Bruce Rauner’s veto of the income tax hike and budget bill. This is the first budget Illinois has passed in two years. The House voted 71-42, which is the bare minimum House Speaker Mike Madigan needed, after a security incident delayed the vote for two hours. The House passed the tax hike and budget bill on Sunday with 72 votes, including 15 Republicans. A few flip flopped, according to The Chicago Tribune: On Thursday, there were some slight changes. One lawmaker who previously voted for the income tax hike on Sunday, Republican...

Congratulations! The GOP holds the House, the Senate, and the White House, and, in addition to not abiding by the Constitution and repealing all of the so-called “Affordable Care Act,” they are set to pass a budget that not only hands the Dems pretty much everything they want, it also funds so many obviously crazy things that it would be virtually impossible to defend. Take a deep breath, and let’s dive into the swamp! The GOP budget does not cut taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood, which comprises 40% of that organization’s income. Rather than mention that there’s nothing in the Constitution that...

Congressional negotiators reached a bipartisan deal late Sunday to fund the federal government through September, easing the threat of a shutdown but denying President Trump several key priorities — including money for his promised border wall with Mexico. The estimated $1-trillion omnibus package would provide $12.5 billion in increased military funding, about half the amount Trump requested from Congress. Another $2.5 billion for defense is available if the administration submits a counter-terrorism strategy to fight Islamic State. But the final deal failed to include the big cuts to domestic non-defense accounts that Trump was seeking, and thus emerged as something...

Congressional Republicans and Democrats forged a hard-won agreement Sunday night on a huge $1 trillion-plus spending bill that would fund the day-to-day operations of virtually every federal agency through September, denying President Donald Trump funding for a border wall and rejecting his cuts to popular domestic programs. Aides to lawmakers involved in the talks announced the agreement after weeks of negotiations. It's expected to be made public Sunday night. The catchall spending bill would be the first major piece of bipartisan legislation to advance during Trump's short tenure in the White House. While losing on the wall along the U.S.-Mexico...

O.K. The Dems. have roared, "No wall", the Repubs. have predictably rolled over on their backs and begged for a tummy rub, and the government will run dry on Friday. Sound familiar? Anyone for a good Hurl? But hold your fire, I believe, and greatly hope the difference will be Trump, as follows; The GOP, of course, by nature or design will cave and vote a bill without a wall. If Senate concurs Trump will veto. It cannot be overridden. The Dems. scream and blame Trump. He doesn't give a lusty one, and the Repubs. are safe because they voted...

A New York Democrat in Congress has filed a bill that would forbid immigration officers from wearing clothing that says “POLICE.” Officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) urge that it “may be a matter of life-or-death” for them to do so. 2 ICE agents and officers may initially identify themselves as “police” in an encounter because it is the universally known term for law enforcement, they say.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback on Wednesday vetoed a bill that would undo his signature income tax cut and his allies prevented the Legislature from overriding him, setting up future confrontations over balancing the state budget. Less than two hours after Brownback vetoed the bill, the state House voted 85-40 to override him, giving supporters one vote more than the two-thirds majority they needed. But the vote in the Senate hours later was 24-16, which was three shy of a two-thirds majority. By not overriding the veto, lawmakers will have to draft another plan aimed at closing projected budget shortfalls totaling...

A bipartisan group of senators is moving to check President Trump on Russia by bolstering congressional oversight before he can lift sanctions. Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) introduced legislation Wednesday setting up a period of congressional oversight before Trump could roll back financial penalties. The legislation, known as the Russia Sanctions Review Act, would require Trump to notify Congress before he lifts sanctions tied to the invasion of Ukraine or Russia's meddling in the White House race. “To provide relief at this time would send...

'Governor isn't as committed to life as he professes to be' Prominent evangelical Christian leader Dr. James Dobson pulled no punches Wednesday after Ohio Gov. John Kasich vetoed the “Heartbeat Bill” – issuing a blistering attack on Kasich for his “cowardice” and “shameful action.” “I join with millions of evangelicals and Catholics in condemning Gov. John Kasich’s veto of the bill,” Dobson wrote on his website. “This was a cowardice and shameful action.” The “Heartbeat Bill” would prohibit abortions in cases where a baby’s heartbeat can be detected along with any procedures performed after six weeks of pregnancy. Kasich did...

Know him by his fruit. For as long as Barack Obama has been on the scene, he has claimed to be a Christian, and the media have consistently defended him against any claim to the contrary - whether that he is a Muslim (which he is not) or simply a closet atheist (much more likely if you ask me). The claim that Obama is a Christian is based on a) self-identification; and b) his years listening to Jeremiah Wright rant about America’s chickens coming home to roost. In Matthew 7:23, Jesus says that many will cry out to him, “Lord,...

During Hillary's time at State, Petraeus led US Central Command, then was director of the CIA -- so obviously most of the emails between himself and America's top diplomat would entail formal government business. The FBI discovered that Hillary's lawyers had unilaterally deleted roughly 1,000 of those messages, most of which were recovered through other means (this does not include any official emails Team Clinton managed to permanently destroy). Mrs. Clinton insisted repeatedly that she had turned over every single email "that could possibly be work-related," going so far as to over-share emails that were later deemed to be personal...

President Barack Obama expressed his disappointment on Wednesday with Congress, which voted overwhelmingly to overturn his presidential veto on a bill that would allow families of terrorist victims to sue foreign nations. The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) will allow the families of 9/11 victims to seek restitution by suing Saudi Arabia, where the vast majority of the hijackers hailed from. It passed Congress unanimously, but Obama had expressed his intention to veto it, which he did on Friday. The Senate voted Wednesday 97-1 to override Obama’s veto, and the House voted likewise 348-77, effectively passing the bill...