Free Republic

On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5, the Orwellian Equality Act. Three Republicans joined every single Democrat to pass the bill, 224-206. The bill now moves to the Senate, where it requires 60 votes to bypass the filibuster. It is unlikely that nine Republicans will defect on a bill that would eviscerate religious freedom. While eight Republicans voted for a similar version of the Equality Act in 2019, three backed the disastrous 2021 version. Representatives * John Katko (R-N.Y.), * Tom Reed (R-N.Y.), and * Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) voted for the bill. Conservatives should remember these names. In...

Psalm 42:11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. There are two choices when it comes to a healthcare plan, bad and worse. If anyone believed it was possible to just drop Obamacare they were naïve or fooling themselves. The phrase repeal and replace is highlighted by replace since you cannot expect the GOP to go along with dropping millions of people off their forced healthcare. They will not qualify for a...

Conservative groups are now campaigning for the defeat of the American Health Care Act, the bill introduced by House Republican leadership to allegedly repeal and replace Obamacare. Heritage Action labeled the bill “bad policy.” FreedomWorks called it “Obamacare-lite.” And the Club for Growth said it is a “warmed over substitute for government-run healthcare.” Senate Conservatives Action, the political arm of the Senate Conservatives Fund, is urging voters to contact their representatives to oppose “RyanCare” (or, “Obamacare 2.0”) and demand full repeal of Obamacare. “The truth is that RyanCare keeps Obamacare's most expensive coverage mandates,” SCF President Ken Cuccinelli writes. “[I]t...

Good morning, Capitolists! An item in today's Washington Post by the intrepid Paul Kane and Lori Montgomery details a possible strategy contemplated by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called a "self-executing rule," which would let the House amend the Senate health care bill without ever voting to pass it. In layman's terms, House Democrats would get the benefit of doing something without having to bear the pain of doing it. Why didn't we think of that?? If you can't find us later today, we're probably out filing a patent request for a self-executing four-mile jog and a self-executing six-week diet. Until...

While watching the talking heads discussing the political issues of the day, a comment made during an interview with Gail Holmes Norton caught my attention. Ms. Norton is a democrat member of the House of Representatives from the District of Columbia. Since representatives from the District cannot vote on final legislation pending in the House, I was intrigued when she stated that her main goal in 2004 would be passage of the "No Taxation Without Representation Act." Since the bill was cleverly phrased, I decided to do a little research and find out more about her proposed legislation. When I...

Visitors Interested in Strengthening America (VISA) Act of 2003 (Introduced in House) HR 2525 IH 108th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 2525 To amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to permit certain Mexican children, and accompanying adults, to obtain a waiver of the documentation requirements otherwise required to enter the United States as a temporary visitor. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES June 19, 2003 Mr. FILNER (for himself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HONDA, Ms. LEE, Ms. LOFGREN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. REYES, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Ms. WATSON, and Mr. RODRIGUEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee...

<p>Senate Democrats are threatening a filibuster of the final version of the Medicare prescription-drug bill.</p> <p>The House and Senate have passed different versions of the hotly debated measure. Angered by reports that a House-Senate conference is leaning toward House Republican positions on key elements of the plan, Democrats yesterday urged President Bush to demand a more bipartisan bill.</p>

<p>This past April, the California Supreme Court unanimously rejected a legislative scheme that stripped city councils and county supervisors of their power to approve pay and benefits for police and firefighters, and transferred that authority to a private arbitrators. The court rightly ruled that the law was unconstitutional because it "deprives the county of its authority to provide for the compensation of its employees and delegates to a private body the power to interfere with county financial affairs and to perform a municipal function."</p>

Hate Crimes Bill Passes Pa. House Goes to Governor for Signature or Veto After a 90-minute debate, HB 1493, which adds “sexual orientation,” “gender” and “gender” identity to Pennsylvania’s “ethnic intimidation” statute, passed the House by a vote of 118-79. Having already passed the State Senate last year, the measure now goes to Governor Mark Schweiker. He can either sign it, making it law in Pennsylvania, or veto it, which will kill the legislation. Please Call Governor Mark Schweiker at (717) 787-2500 or (800) 932-0784, and urge him to veto House Bill 1493, the “Hate Crimes Amendment." Reasons Why HB...