Free Republic

From N.C. Bar & Tavern Ass'n v. Cooper, decided yesterday by the N.C. Court of Appeals, in an opinion by Judge April Wood, joined by Judges Donna Stroud and Jefferson Griffin: Plaintiffs appeal from the trial court's order granting summary judgment for Defendant and dismissing all their claims arising out of Defendant's Executive Order No. 141 issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 17 March 2020, Defendant issued Executive Order No. 118 closing all bars including those in restaurants. On 20 May 2020, Defendant issued Executive Order No. 141 letting some types of bars reopen with specific safety precautions...

A series of weak auctions for U.S. Treasurys are stoking investors’ concerns that markets will struggle to absorb an incoming rush of government debt. ... inflation not tamed ... Federal Reserve will leave interest rates at multidecade highs for .. years to come. The 10-year yield—the benchmark for borrowing rates on everything from mortgages to corporate loans—finished the week around 4.5%... At the same time, the government is poised to sell another $386 billion or so of bonds in May—an onslaught that Wall Street expects to continue no matter who wins November’s presidential election. While few fear a failed auction—an...

Imagine you are a mouse — a placid little creature — living in a labyrinth. You don’t know it’s a labyrinth; it’s just where you live. You follow a well worn path, meandering along, chasing the red button. The red button provides you with food or whatever makes you happy. But you’ve started to notice that things are changing. It’s not as good as it used to be in the labyrinth, not as easy to get to the button. And the payoff when you get there isn’t as good anymore. You’re anxious, but you’re not sure what to do. You’re...

Time to Change Our Language.. It is time to stop blaming “Covid” for breaking the economy, destroying businesses and livelihoods, and wreaking untold havoc upon families. It was not “Covid” that did this. It was not even the Chinese. It was our government. The government has conditioned us to blame the impersonal “Covid” for the destruction it wrought upon our businesses and families. We need to change the discussion by using the proper language to fix the blame where it belongs. Good generals can win a battle by picking the terrain upon which they fight. At Waterloo, Wellington forced Napoleon...

On Wednesday, the government put out disappointing inflation statistics that show that inflation has accelerated to four-tenths of a percent last month. But that number seems unrealistically low to me. In the numbers, bureaucrats claimed that gasoline prices only went up 1.7% last month, which would be only five cents per gallon. On the New York mercantile exchange, gasoline has risen from around $2.10 per gallon in early January to around $2.75 on March 31st; that is up 30% in three months. Crude oil has risen from around $72 at the end of the year, to $83 at the end...

Tom Klingenstein is the Chairman of the Claremont Institute. He is also a philanthropist, public speaker, writer, and playwright. On April 4, 2024, Tom released an incredible new video, “Trump’s Virtues, Part II.” This is the most powerful argument for Donald Trump for President we have seen in years! It is that good. Tom Klingenstein also wisely defines in detail the current war we are fighting against ‘woke’ revolutionaries that kick and spit on America. And, Klingenstein argues that this is Trump’s time, adding, “Lincoln spoke of Americans as the almost chosen people. Trump gives us hope that the God...

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, Religious Freedom and the Media. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. "Finally, brothers, rejoice. Set things in order. Be encouraged. Agree with one another. Be at peace. And the God...

The recently installed globalist government of Eurocrat Donald Tusk is seeking to amend the criminal code of the country to criminalise “incitement to hatred” against the LGBT community with three years in prison. The first week of Scotland’s extreme ‘hate speech’ law may have descended into a shambles, but that isn’t stopping other progressive governments from giving it a go, with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Ministry of Justice seeking to implement similar speech restrictions to those imposed in Scotland.

Gov. Greg Abbott says he will sign Senate Bill 4, which would make it a state crime to cross the border between ports of entry, allow police to arrest people who do and require judges to order them to return to Mexico. Texas lawmakers last month approved Senate Bill 4, an immigration law that would allow Texas police to arrest people for illegally crossing the border from Mexico. SB 4, which Gov. Greg Abbott has said he will sign into law, has sparked intense debate, with opponents saying it will lead to racial profiling by police and supporters saying Texas...

Washington neighbors take 'matters into their own hands,' demand squatter be removed from home. Landlord Jaskaran Singh and journalist Jonathan Choe discuss a Washington community coming together to demand a squatter be removed from a local home. [Today, April 5, 2024, FoxNews [TV] had an update of the story.]

Two things keep the IRS out of most people's hair: the annual gift tax exclusion and the lifetime exclusion. Nerdy takeaways: * A gift tax is a tax owed on the transfer of money or property to another person while receiving nothing or less than full value in return. * The gift giver is the one who generally pays the tax, not the receiver. * If you give more than the annual gift tax limit, you may have to file a gift tax return, but this does not necessarily mean that you'll owe taxes on the gift. * The 2024...

Elected officials such as congressmen, governors, mayors, and even presidents are at the mercy of those who run and control these bureaus and agencies. Bureaus and agencies administer the laws and regulations passed by Congress. They also administer executive orders issued by the President. They were created out of necessity. No one man or woman can effectively oversee the daily control necessary to ensure the laws and rules are carried out. The people that manage these departments are not elected. They have been hired based on experience or favoritism. They have been appointed based on nepotism or party affiliation. In...

Maryland lawmakers are expecting the federal government to cover the lion’s share of the cost of the collapse and subsequent rebuilding of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge — with Congress potentially on the hook for only a fraction of the total as talk about an emergency supplemental bill increases. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told reporters that roughly 90 percent of the bridge’s reconstruction will be paid for via the Federal Highway Administration’s emergency fund, which has about $950 million and is replenished yearly with $100 million. The state sent a letter to the federal government Wednesday saying it will...

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, Religious Freedom and the Media. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

President Joe Biden said the government would pay the “entire cost” of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, after a cargo ship hit the bridge after losing power early Tuesday morning. “It’s my intention that we will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge. I expect the Congress to support my effort,” Biden said in a White House press conference. “It’s gonna take some time. And the people of Baltimore can count on us, though, to stick with that every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt. We’re...

In a significant blow to patient autonomy, informed consent has been quietly revoked just 77 years after it was codified in the Nuremberg Code. On the 21st of December 2023, as we were frantically preparing for the festive season, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final ruling to amend a provision of the 21st Century Cures Act. This allowed …an exception from the requirement to obtain informed consent when a clinical investigation poses no more than a minimal risk to the human subject…This ruling went into effect on January...

resident Biden is facing criticism after a bombshell report revealed that all federal agencies are less than 50 percent occupied - wasting billions in taxpayer dollars - over a year after he declared the COVID-19 pandemic over. According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) memo to Sen. Joni Ernst, obtained by DailyMail.com, not a single federal agency has over half of its workforce in the office. That's a staggering statistic since federal agencies spend about $2 billion taxpayer dollars per year to operate and maintain federal office buildings - and over $5 billion annually in leases. The shocking findings comes...

In response to NASA’s report that a total solar eclipse will occur on April 8, 2024, New York authorities are warning New Yorkers to be prepared. In a recent press release by the New York state police, officials warned residents to be prepared for cellular disruptions, slow 9/11 response times, gridlocked traffic, and food/water demand during the upcoming total solar eclipse. Also included in the press release was a list of suggestions calling for residents to stock up on food, water, and fuel. The warning by New York state police comes as the department looks to learn from their responses...

"So my biggest concern is that your view has the First Amendment hamstringing the government in significant ways in the most important time periods."-Ketanji Brown Jackson

Murthy v. Missouri perfectly illustrates the dangers of censorship, but Justice Jackson still thinks the government’s ‘perspective’ of ‘threatening circumstances’ should matter.. Following Monday’s Supreme Court oral argument in the social media censorship case Murthy v. Missouri, outraged free-speech advocates rightfully excoriated Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson for worrying that the First Amendment will “hamstring[] the government in significant ways in the most important time periods.” Given that “hamstringing” the federal government was precisely the purpose of the Bill of Rights, Justice Jackson’s comment laid bare the fundamental disdain she and other politically liberal justices hold for the classically liberal freedoms...