Free Republic

One of the most successful elements of the government’s response to the coronavirus recession — protecting people on the margins from falling into poverty — is faltering as the safety net shrinks and federal benefits expire. Major recessions are especially fraught for low-income earners, whose finances can veer from tenuous to dire with one missed paycheck. But as the economy cratered this spring, economists and poverty experts were mildly surprised to discover that the torrent of government support that followed — particularly the $600 a week in expanded unemployment benefits and one-time $1,200 stimulus checks — likely lowered the overall...

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf is proposing changes to the state's election laws that would extend deadlines for mail-in ballots and speed up the appointment of poll workers. Here's a breakdown of the governor's proposals: To speed up vote counting, counties would be allowed to start scanning and verifying ballot envelopes, match signatures to voter rolls and scan ballots 21 days before the election (current law only permits this process to begin at 7 a.m. on Election Day). Counties would NOT tabulate or report vote totals until polls close on Election Day. Allow counties to count eligible ballots...

Kenosha, Wis. - Gov. Tony Evers Tuesday, Aug. 25 signed Executive Order #86 declaring a state of emergency "following protests in communities across Wisconsin." Executive Order #86 proclaims a state of emergency in Wisconsin, directs state agencies to continue assisting the state response and calls to state active duty additional elements of the Wisconsin National Guard to support first responders and protect critical infrastructure and cultural institutions, a news release from the governor's office said.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed legislation ensuring state schools teach the role and contributions of LGBT people in American history. Pritzker signed off on House Bill 346, which was recently passed by state House earlier this year, on Friday. The law requires all schools in the state include "the role and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the history of this country and this State" in official textbooks.

Shameless Harvey Weinstein wouldn't even let age come between him and his prey, according to Kate Beckinsale. The Underworld actress, 44, revealed in an Instagram post on Thursday that the movie mogul came onto her when she was just a 17-year-old ingénue.

Jeb Bush said Monday that the Confederate flag has become a "racist" symbol and applauded efforts to remove the flag outside the South Carolina State Capitol after a racially motivated church shooting. In his first campaign stop in South Carolina since the deadly shooting that killed nine at AME Emanuel Church in Charleston, Bush recalled how he "decided to do something politically incorrect" and removed the flags outside the Florida state house when he was governor in 2001. "The symbols were racist," the Republican presidential candidate said during a campaign stop at a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant.

While many conservatives still may be wondering what went wrong with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, for most of us, the handwriting has been on the wall for some time. He is a liberal masquerading as a conservative. Christie rose to Republican super-stardom after handily defeating Democrat incumbent Governor Jon Corzine, breaking a streak of Democratic victories in a state where John McCain lost to Barack Obama by more than 15 percent. Christie seemed poised to become the GOP’s electoral savior, emerging from the northeast political wasteland to lead Republicans to the Promised Land. It started as a love fest....

There are few things more important to our country, our society, our very way of life than the United States Supreme Court. Therefore, the selection of a new justice is one of the most interesting news stories possible. Every few years, we, as Americans, get to sit back and literally watch history being made in front of our very eyes. We get to see our country’s future being written. We get to- Oh my God! Is Al Franken falling asleep? He totally is! During Elena Kagan’s opening remarks today, Sen. Franken had a bit of a hard time keeping...

With the Democrats now in control of both houses of Congress, the new majority leadership is ready to start wielding their power by revisiting a hot-button issue that Republicans never provided answers to .... WhineOut

January 05, 2006, 3:59 p.m. Now Judges Are Leaking FISA judges discuss NSA surveillance with the Washington Post. On Thursday morning, the Washington Post published an article ("Surveillance Court Is Seeking Answers — Judges Were Unaware of Eavesdropping") that is jaw-dropping in the matter-of-factness with which reports on an outrageous impropriety by at least two FISA court judges. The backdrop is that of the eleven judges who sit on the special court created by the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, only one, Chief Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, was briefed by administration officials about the NSA's warrantless eavesdropping program prior to its...

A recent CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll places President Bush's job approval at 81 per cent. Not only is that approval rating among the highest Gallup has recorded for any president since they started doing polls back in 1938, President Bush has set a record by having approval ratings over 80 per cent for over 5 months. Clearly, the American people think the president is doing something right.In the glare of the president's overwhelming popularity, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is having difficulty developing a strategy to carry the Democrats to victory in November. Since January, it seems that every time Daschle...