Free Republic

President Trump signed a bill Thursday freeing states to withhold federal family planning grant money from Planned Parenthood, marking the first major pro-life legislation to be signed into law in more than a decade. The bill unravels an Obama-era regulation that insisted states couldn’t refuse to spend family planning money with Planned Parenthood or any other organization that performs abortions. “This is a major pro-life victory,” said House Speaker Paul D. Ryan. More than a dozen states moved to strip Planned Parenthood of government funding in recent years as questions arose about the country’s largest abortion provider. In particular, lawmakers...

An estimated 4,000 Somali migrants in the U.S. are expected to be deported by President Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.

The plummeting number of unauthorized crossings from Mexico may allow the Trump administration to focus more energy on deporting undocumented immigrants already living here, former immigration officials say. Since President Donald Trump took office, the number of unauthorized crossings have dropped to a 45-year low. If those numbers stay down, it could mean that Immigration and Customs Enforcement will see a sizable chunk of its workload evaporate, even as the White House demands the agency hire another 10,000 agents.

After warnings yesterday, and on the heels of a "very good call" with President Trump, China has escalated its threats to North Korea over its nuclear tests. In another Global Times op-ed, China warns "if the North makes another provocative move this month, the Chinese society will be willing to adopt severe restrictive measures that have never been seen before..." Yesterday's editorial in the military-focused Global Times tabloid, owned and operated by the Communist Party's People's Daily newspaper, said that North Korea’s nuclear activities must not jeopardize northeastern China, and that if the North impacts China with its illicit nuclear...

An Ohio man accused of raping a 10-year-old girl and setting a fire that killed her and her grandparents jumped to his death from a fourth-floor courthouse balcony on Monday before he could face trial, reports say. Robert Seman Jr., 48, was walking through the Mahoning County Courthouse with police in Youngstown after a pre-trial hearing when he quickly ran from the officers and jumped over a banister at around 9:30 a.m., WKBN reports. “I saw a deputy at the railing, and I saw this white object falling to the ground,” a reporter at the scene, Joe Gorman, told WKBN....

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (Jiji Press) — Major Japanese automaker Subaru Corp. said Monday that it plans to hire up to 600 people at a factory in Indiana. The company will create the jobs in line with its plan to boost the factory’s annual production capacity from 394,000 units at present to 436,000 units in the summer of 2018, officials said. Indiana is the home state of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who once served as governor of the U.S. Midwestern state. As a good corporate citizen, Subaru hopes to contribute to the local economy in terms of employment, according to Subaru...

Good video to bookmark and enjoy. Over 90 minutes of fun.”Trump Victory Comilation - SJW, Feminist, Celebrity Meltdowns”

Oopsie! Up to 30 Democrats should resign for meeting with Russian diplomats in 2015 Posted at 11:34 am on March 2, 2017 by Sam J. You have to laugh at the Democrats and their feigned and calculated outrage over a senator from the Armed Services Committee meeting with the ambassador of Russia; of course that senator is AG Sessions but seriously, this is their big freakout. Forget that Sessions did not meet with the ambassador regarding TrumpÂ’s campaign (that was what he was asked folks), but since he merely MET with him, Democrats want him to resign. Immediately. So does...

A German Shepherd named Rumor won Best in Show at the 141st Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York’s Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Rumor was a sentimental favorite of the crowd, having finished second in 2016. This marked the end of a drought for the breed, which had last won in 1987.

(WISH) – Gallup has been tracking a question for 16 years, and for the first time more than half of Americans say “it’s a good time to find a quality job.” According to the study, in January 50 percent of Americans agreed it’s a good time to find a quality job, whereas in February it increased to 54 percent. In January 2007, Gallup recorded the nation’s job climate was 48 percent. In January 2008 it decreased to 33 percent. In Nov. 2009, it hit a record-low of 8 percent. In Oct. 2009, the United States unemployment rate was 10.2 percent....

Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich used a surprise Oval Office appearance Wednesday to announce a $7 billion investment in an Arizona factory that has sat empty since construction wrapped up three years ago. The chipmaker said the factory, called Fab 42, will employ 3,000 when it opens in 2020 or 2021 - nearly a decade behind schedule. The news suggests Intel is making progress in deploying a new production technology, called extreme ultraviolet (EUV), which will enable smaller features on its microprocessors....

A new collection of transportation agencies and universities is taking one small step toward transforming the Rust Belt into a place associated with the future instead of the past. Eleven agencies and institutions located in Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania have formed the Smart Belt Coalition, which will spur joint efforts on the testing and deployment of autonomous and connected cars. The collaboration comes on the heels of a legislative overhaul of Michigan regulations last month, which have been relaxed to spur the testing of self-driving technology on the state’s public roads. Ohio and Pennsylvania do not have laws on the...

SEOUL--Hyundai Motor Co. (005380.SE) said Tuesday it will invest as much as $3.1 billion in its existing U.S. manufacturing facilities, and is considering a new plant in the world's most profitable auto market that would help to create thousands of new jobs. The South Korean automotive group, which includes affiliate Kia Motors Corp., said it will spend the money over the next five years on research and development of new technologies such as autonomous vehicles and on upgrading existing facilities. "The U.S. market is crucial to our success as a global auto maker. We will continue to expand our presence...

President-elect Donald Trump's policies have the potential to trigger a new age in U.S. economic growth that could serve as a global template, according to a Deutsche Bank forecast. Gross domestic product growth would be double its current level under an agenda that cuts regulations across a broad swath of critical sectors, enacts tax reform that slashes personal and corporate taxes, and calls for at least $1 trillion in improvements for bridges, roads and other public projects. "This policy mix has the potential of reigniting productivity growth and raising U.S. growth potential," David Folkerts-Landau, chief economist at Deutsche Bank, said...

Agree with his proposed policies or not, it's difficult to argue that Trump is delivering on his promises to the autoworkers of the Midwest who single-handedly voted him into the White House. Before even taking office, the mere threat of import tariffs has caused Ford to cancel the construction of a $1.6 billion new facility in Mexico, and has automotive CEO's from Toyota to Chrysler walking on eggshells as they carefully try to flaunt all of the capital investments they're making in U.S.-based facilities. While likely secretly hoping for the status quo, Fiat Chrysler's U.S. CEO, Sergio Marchionne, admitted earlier...

DETROIT (AP) -- Fiat Chrysler will add three new Jeeps to its lineup including a pickup truck as it invests $1 billion in two U.S. factories, furthering its effort to increase production of hot-selling SUVs and pickup trucks and get out of producing small and midsize cars. The expansion will create 2,000 new jobs. The Italian-American automaker said Sunday it will modernize a factory in the Detroit suburb of Warren, Michigan, to make the new Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer large SUVs. A factory complex just south of there in Toledo, Ohio, also will get new equipment to make the...

America presents: from the producers that brought you "2016". It's the horror movie of the year.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1W4jsvaslE

The White House’s top immigration staffer said President Obama won’t pardon illegal immigrants before the end of his term, dashing hopes of activists who had pleaded for Mr. Obama to use his powers to shield hundreds of thousands of Dreamers from deportation. White House Domestic Policy Council Director Cecilia Munoz, in a podcast interview with the Center for Migration Studies, said they’ve concluded a pardon wouldn’t apply to immigration cases — and wouldn’t be a permanent solution anyway.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already announced the Canadian government’s willingness to renegotiate NAFTA. In addition, President Trump’s energy agenda plans to triple domestic U.S. energy production, no carbon tax, and the Trump tax proposal drops the corporate tax rate to 15%. One Canadian economist realizes exactly what this confluence of events adds up to:

The Green Party's 2016 Presidential candidate Jill Stein is announcing her intention to seek a "recount of votes in the battleground states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania." The campaign's press release, posted in full below, cites "a multi-partisan effort to check the accuracy of the machine-counted vote tallies in these states in order to ensure the integrity of our elections." The announcement follows on word that leaked out yesterday at New York magazine that top electronic voting experts and election integrity advocates have been encouraging the Hillary Clinton campaign to file for similar hand-counts and forensic analyses of electronic voting...