Free Republic

It’s practically an international article of faith: Countries may not default on their sovereign debt. Yet China has done just that on $1 trillion it owes to U.S. bondholders. Is there nothing we can do about it? Finding members of Congress willing to talk tough isn’t hard. Many resolutions and joint letters over decades have called for China to honor its debt to U.S. citizens. But too many members, their election coffers lined by Wall Street and other financial and business interests heavily exposed to China, leave it at that. OPINION>FINANCE THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND...

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and more than 30 House Democrats sent a letter to President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging them to reconsider the recent authorization of weapons to Israel, just days after seven aid workers were killed. “In light of this incident, we strongly urge you to reconsider your recent decision to authorize the transfer of a new arms package to Israel, and to withhold this and any future offensive arms transfers until a full investigation into the airstrike is completed,” the letter said, obtained and first reported by NBC News.

Lawmakers in the Australian state of Queensland have introduced legislation “to provide stronger protections for trans, gender diverse and intersex people.” At the end of April the state’s discrimination laws will be changed so that LGBTQI+ claimants will be offered a host of protections shielding them from “discrimination and vilification” while “intersex people” can similarly expect to be treated differently and afforded protection. A press release from the Queensland Human Rights Commission has set out the changes, detailing the following provisions: Protections against gender identity discrimination and vilification have been in place since 2002 but now the law will be...

A group of progressive lawmakers is renewing its push to increase taxes on the country’s wealthiest people. The proposal, reintroduced Tuesday, would create a 2 percent tax on households that are worth more than $50 million and a 3 percent tax on households worth more than $1 billion. It would affect the wealthiest 100,000 households in the country, according to the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), USA Today first reported. “Today I’m re-introducing my Ultra-Millionaires Tax so that when someone makes it really big—earning over $50 million—they have to chip in 2 cents on the next dollar,” Warren said...

Reactions from Georgia lawmakers poured in on Friday after a judge ruled that embattled Fulton County DA Fani Willis could remain on the case investigating alleged election interference by former President Donald Trump. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee issued a ruling Friday that Willis, who was accused of an improper romantic relationship that she attempted to cover up with special counsel Nathan Wade, could remain on the case if she fired Wade which prompted pushback from Georgia Republicans. "The ruling by Judge McAfee seems to clearly identify impropriety between the DA and Mr. Wade," Georgia Republican State Rep....

Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed legislation for New York to recreate a new waterfront commission to fight the kind of Mafia corruption made famous in Marlon Brando’s 1954 flick “On The Waterfront.” But the union representing dock workers in the Empire State said Hochul is living in the past and urged lawmakers to sink the measure. Hochul proposed the new waterfront unit for New York’s side of the harbor to replace the prior Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, a bi-state agency founded in 1953 by a Congressionally authorized compact between New York and New Jersey.

Dr. Anthony Fauci claimed to not recall details surrounding “pertinent COVID-19 information or conversations” more than 100 times during his Monday testimony before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. Fauci participated in the closed-door hearing Monday, which reportedly focused on what committee chairman Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) described as “pandemic-era” failures. The first session uncovered what lawmakers described as “drastic and systemic failures in America’s public health systems.” “Dr. Fauci claimed he ‘did not recall’ pertinent COVID-19 information or conversations more than 100 times” during the hearing, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic said in a...

Three Republican lawmakers have been the target of "swatting" at their homes since Christmas Day, with a legal expert calling the act "criminal harassment." "Swatting" is a crime that has become prominent in recent years, gaining more steam in the social media age when people's addresses are easily accessible. George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley told Fox News Digital that swatting is a crime that could be "charged as a form of criminal threats." "Swatting constitutes a false police report that can be criminally charged," Turley said. "Virginia recently passed a new law making swatting specifically a criminal misdemeanor....

FIRST ON FOX: Lawmakers want to know why the Social Security Administration has reportedly erroneously overpaid benefits to millions of Americans and then hit beneficiaries with demands for repayment to the tune of thousands of dollars. A bipartisan letter sent by House members in the Ohio delegation presses Dr. Kilolo Kijakazi, the acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), for answers on its efforts to claw back overpayments from Americans, many of whom did nothing wrong. Those affected are elderly or disabled people on a fixed income who may have their benefits frozen or cut until their debt is...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly told lawmakers in the United States that his government is considering raising the military conscription age to over 40 years old in an apparent attempt to allay concerns about Kyiv’s ability to stand up to the much larger population Moscow can draw on to fight the war. Upon his latest lobbying trip to Washington D.C. to beseech Congress to back President Biden’s request for an additional $61 billion in military aid to Ukraine, Zelensky reportedly told sceptical Senators that his government is considering conscripting men above the age of 40 to increase troop levels...

The move by market agency Fitch Ratings to downgrade the United States’ debt rating has startled lawmakers and policymakers alike, who said Wednesday that they were perplexed by the move amid strong recent economic indicators. In addition, news Wednesday that U.S. political instability reflected in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol was a factor in the downgrading has further confused the Beltway, which was already reeling from a third indictment of former President Trump. Fitch downgraded its issuer default rating for the U.S. on Tuesday evening, surprising investors, roiling equity markets and sending bond yields higher Wednesday morning....

Seven of the top 10 lawmakers who used earmarks recently are Senate Republicans, according to a report from Open the Books. In March 2021, a split House Republican conference voted to overturn its years-long ban on earmarks. The renewed practice requires Republican lawmakers to write a justification for any earmark they want to sponsor and verify they have no financial stake in the earmark. Those in favor of bringing back earmarks believe it would bring more power to Congress and can serve as a tool to rein in the Biden administration. Some House Republicans who support using earmarks also believe...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California lawmakers blocked two big environmental bills Thursday: One that would have ramped up the state's emissions targets, and another that would have made oil companies liable for the health problems of people who live close to oil wells. They are among the hundreds of bills that did not survive the Legislature’s suspense file, a mysterious process where lawmakers decide — with no explanation — which bills will get a chance to become law later this year and which ones should not move forward. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law that bans drilling new oil...

Multiple lawmakers sold their shares in First Republic Bank in the weeks before the firm collapsed and was sold to JPMorgan Chase by financial regulators. First Republic Bank imploded on Monday, weeks after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank similarly collapsed, as account holders with balances above the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation threshold rushed to withdraw their funds. Periodic transaction disclosure forms reveal that multiple lawmakers jettisoned their shares in First Republic Bank or acquired shares in JPMorgan Chase over the past two months, a phenomenon which follows accusations that some lawmakers routinely buy stocks at opportune times and cut...

Vice President Kamala Harris defended two Tennessee Democratic legislators who were expelled — and quickly reinstated — after leading a rowdy pro-gun control protest with bullhorns on the floor of the state House of Representatives last month. Harris told the National Action Network’s annual convention in Harlem Friday that a “bullhorn becomes necessary” when “extremists” won’t listen. Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton, a Republican, accused the Democrats of “doing an insurrection in the Capitol” and led his caucus in expelling them for the disruption, invoking terminology used by critics of former President Donald Trump to describe the violent riot by...

Vice President Harris is making a previously unscheduled stop in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday to meet with two state lawmakers who were expelled from the Tennessee House for leading gun violence protests in the wake of a local school shooting, a spokesperson confirmed. Harris will meet with state Reps. Justin Jones (D) and Justin Pearson (D), who on Thursday were expelled from the legislature for their participation in the recent demonstrations on the House floor. Rep. Gloria Johnson (D), who also participated in the protests and is white, narrowly survived her expulsion vote.

CNN anchor Don Lemon said Friday on “CNN This Morning” that Tennessee Republicans who expelled two black lawmakers over a gun violence protest inside the state capitol did so because of “racism.” Lemon said, “Look, it’s. They could have done a censure. Right. I think the right question was, why take the most drastic action afterwards? This is exactly what our country was built on. On protesting. Not everyone — protests aren’t perfect. It’s also unconscious bias. It’s racism. It’s a double standard in our society. Obviously, I don’t have to say. I doubt they would have done this to...

Former President Obama late on Thursday said that the expulsion of Tennessee lawmakers after they participated in a gun violence protest on the House floor is a “sign of weakness,” arguing that silencing dissenters won’t lead to progress. “What happened in Tennessee is the latest example of a broader erosion of civility and democratic norms. Silencing those who disagree with us is a sign of weakness, not strength, and it won’t lead to progress,” the former president tweeted. He added that elected officials should not lose their jobs for speaking out, especially when the protests are geared toward protecting children....

New York lawmakers have inched closer to banning gas stoves and fossil fuel appliances in most buildings and also single-family homes. The proposal in the Democrat-controlled state will move forward with the state budget at the end of March and Democrats in both chambers of the state legislature have “endorsed proposals to prohibit fossil fuel furnaces, water heaters, clothes dryers and gas stoves in most new construction,” according to POLITICO. New York would be the first to take this step through legislative action; California and Washington have done so through building codes. An agreement has not been finalized to ensure...

Chris Rock joked that former President Donald Trump was “romantic” for allegedly paying off porn star Stormy Daniels — while calling lawmakers “stupid” for wanting him arrested, warning it will only inflate his popularity. The 58-year-old funnyman addressed the expected arrest as he helped honor Adam Sandler at the Mark Twain Prize late Sunday — directly addressing lawmakers in the audience, including Nancy Pelosi. ‘”Are you guys really going to arrest Trump?” Rock asked the crowd, according to the Daily Mail, which noted that several officials from the Biden administration were in the Kennedy Center crowd. “Do you know this...