Free Republic

ThinkProgress, a progressive news website founded more than a decade ago, is up for sale, its publisher, the Center for American Progress, announced on Monday. "Unfortunately, like so many other news outlets that have relied on advertising to fund its work, ThinkProgress has seen a significant drop in revenue in recent years, along with other financial strains," Navin Nayak, executive director of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, said in a statement provided to CNN Business. "In addition, events over the last few years have underscored the divergent missions of American Progress and ThinkProgress."

Ever since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in late 2017, Democrats and a few Republicans have decried how the law’s $10,000 cap of the state and local tax deduction harms schools, local communities, home values, first responders, and middle-class families. Fast forward almost two years later and these false claims are not going away. House Democrats recently announced a hearing scheduled for Tuesday where many of the common myths are likely to be repeated. Here are a few of the most common misconceptions. Myth #1: The Cap Hurts Middle-Class Taxpayers Before the 2017 tax cut capped the state...

The Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania (CAP), the leader in a capitalist revolt in Pennsylvania, is now spreading its message beyond the state’s borders. And it has gained a receptive audience. That audience gathered a few days ago for a conference held in a place that could not be more symbolic of CAP’s efforts — Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia. Recall the historic significance of Carpenters’ Hall. The year: 1774. The event: What would become known to history as the First Continental Congress. The delegates: Representatives from 12 of the 13 British colonies — all except Georgia. Among them were names that...

The largest donors on the left will be given a 'private briefing on investigations' into President Donald Trump by House Jud. Committee chairman 'Jerrold Nadler' during a 'secretive' Texas gathering this week, according to documents obtained exclusively by the Washington Free Beacon. 'The Democracy Alliance', a group of millionaire and billionaire funders of the liberal movement,is holding its Spring Partner Retreat and Strategy Conference at the Four Seasons hotel in Austin, where security has been patrolling the meeting areas since Wednesday. As always at the group's secretive meetings, all programming is off the record and closed to members of the...

Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager, John Podesta, played a central role in another potential Russian collusion scandal that has not yet been investigated. Podesta, the former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, served on the board of Joule Unlimited, a now defunct alternative energy company, from January 2011 to January 2014. He resigned from the company’s board to accept the powerful job of Counselor to President Barack Obama. During Podesta’s tenure on the board of Joule Unlimited, a significant investment in the company by a firm owned by the Russian government escaped review and scrutiny by the Committee on...

After roaming around and studying downtown for a week, the Urban Land Institute’s advisory services panel provided Atlanta leaders with recommendations on how to move forward with the colossal proposed “Stitch” project. On Friday, ULI, which conducts land use research for cities around the globe, suggested the time is now to partner with local elected officials and philanthropic organizations to get the ball rolling on fundraising efforts for the potentially 14-acre project that would install a massive park and new construction above the Downtown Connector. But in order to be competitive for public and private funding—panelists expect the highway-capping project...

SADDLE BROOK, N.J. — New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez and other members of the state’s congressional delegation announced legislation Monday that would repeal the cap on state and local income tax deductions enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, H.R. 1 (115). Menendez (D-N.J.) and Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), the primary sponsors, say their bill would pay for the cost of removing the $10,000 cap by restoring the top income tax bracket to 39.6 percent. While that’s likely a nonstarter with many in the GOP, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) — New Jersey’s only Republican congressman — is...

Germans have an increasingly negative view of the relationship between their country and the US, a survey released on Friday indicated, with many seeing China as a more reliable partner. Just over 42 percent of Germans who took part in the study said they saw China as a more reliable partner than the US, compared with 23.1 percent who favored the US over China. The study was carried out by the research organization Civey and the not-for-profit group Atlantik-Brücke (Atlantic Bridge), which promotes greater cooperation between the US and Germany. In the survey summary, Michael Werz, from the Center for...

One of the most prominent and politically active left-wing think tanks in the United States, the Center for American Progress, has announced that it will no longer accept funding from the United Arab Emirates, the Guardian reported Friday. “With a rising undemocratic tide around the world, and serious questions about which side of that struggle our own president stands on, it seemed clear that all Americans should take extra steps and leave no doubt where they stand,” a spokesperson for the liberal organization told the Guardian. The spokesperson added, “This funding never impacted any CAP position or policy, but everybody...

Special counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly investigating Dick Cheney's former top national security aide, according to the Daily Beast. John Hannah, who worked on Trump's State Department transition team, has not been accused of any wrongdoing at this point, but he is affiliated with two men who are already being questioned by Mueller.

The world does not revolve around you, teens are often told. Indeed it doesn’t, as they are reminded every school-day morning when disabling their alarms. The average start time for public high schools, 7:59, requires teens to get up earlier than is ideal for their biological clocks, meaning many teens disrupt their natural sleep patterns every school day. The world, apparently, does not revolve around parents either. Their lives also tend to be mismatched with school-day schedules, which usually end a good two hours before the typical American workday does. As Kara Voght recently wrote in The Atlantic, that leaves...

The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) marked the fifth anniversary of the Connecting Arkansas Program (CAP). CAP, the 10-year highway improvement program, is busy with construction projects throughout the state, according to a news release. “Since July 2013, ARDOT has completed 11 construction projects and has another six under construction, equating to more than 85 miles of highway and interstate improvements. Another eight projects with 60 miles of widening or new-alignment construction are scheduled for bid openings later this year,” according to the release. CAP is one of the largest highway construction programs ARDOT has conducted. The work is a...

“There are always risks in challenging excessive police power, but the risks of not challenging it are more dangerous, even fatal.” - Hunter S. Thompson, Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-Crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century I have known a lot of good cops, I have defended a lot of good cops, and I have been fortunate to call a number of good cops friends. So when I say that warrior cops - hyped up on their own authority and the power of the badge - have not made America any safer or...

China's Communist Party is intensifying covert influence operations in the United States that include funding Washington think tanks and coercing Chinese Americans, according to a congressional commission report. The influence operations are conducted by the United Front Work Department, a Central Committee organ that employs tens of thousands of operatives who seek to use both overt and covert operations to promote Communist Party policies. The report said the Johns Hopkins School of Advance International Studies, a major foreign policy education and analysis institute, has received funding from Tung Chee-hwa, a vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the...

China's Communist Party is intensifying covert influence operations in the United States that include funding Washington think tanks and coercing Chinese Americans, according to a congressional commission report. The influence operations are conducted by the United Front Work Department, a Central Committee organ that employs tens of thousands of operatives who seek to use both overt and covert operations to promote Communist Party policies. The Party's United Front strategy includes paying several Washington think tanks with the goal influencing their actions and adopting positions that support Beijing's policies. "The [Chinese Communist Party] has sought to influence academic discourse on China...

A top liberal think tank led by a Hillary Clinton ally has reportedly faced multiple internal allegations of sexual harassment, amid claims from former and current employees that top brass at the organization haven’t done enough to address it. BuzzFeed News reported Tuesday that the Center for American Progress, led by ex-Clinton adviser Neera Tanden and founded by former Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, has a history of sexual harassment claims. BuzzFeed obtained documents from 2016 that reportedly suggested a “chaotic” internal culture and pointed to “several incidents of sexual harassment against several members.” One document was an exit memo...

Report recommends banning fax, email balloting to improve cybersecurityDENVER — After years of accusing states of “voter suppression,” the Center for American Progress wants to make it tougher for overseas military to vote in the name of election security. The left-wing public-policy group issued Monday a report, “Election Security in All 50 States,” that called for stricter standards to prevent cyber-meddling in elections by foreign governments, including banning military stationed abroad from submitting ballots via email or fax. One state that allows such vote-casting is Colorado. The center called on the state to “prohibit voters stationed or living overseas from...

Some leading proponents of centralized federal power have caught that ole-time states’-rights religion.New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, for example, has been a fervid defender of ObamaCare and other congressional programs invading traditional areas of state control. But, he says, Congress violated the rules of federalism when its new tax law capped income tax deductions for state and local taxes paid (SALT deductions).Are Cuomo and his allies correct? Does the Constitution require Congress to include SALT deductions in its income tax laws? ADVERTISEMENT The Constitution’s actual language does not say so. Some cite a 1985 speech by the late Senator Daniel...

LEAKED MEMO: DREAMers Are ‘Critical’ To Dems ‘Future Electoral Success’ Michael Bastasch 9:31 PM 01/08/2018 The Center For American Progress (CAP) Action Fund circulated a memo on Monday calling illegal immigrants brought here at a young age — so-called “Dreamers” — a “critical component of the Democratic Party’s future electoral success.” The memo, co-authored by former Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri, was sent around to allies calling on Democrats to “refuse to offer any votes for Republican spending bills that do not offer a fix for Dreamers and instead appropriate funds to deport them.” President Donald Trump’s administration moved to...