Free Republic

Last month, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced the details of the three planned presidential debates and one planned vice presidential debate. On Wednesday, the commission announced further details on the first debate, set to be focused on domestic policy. The commission said Wednesday that the six 15-minute topic segments for the first debate are: The Economy – I The Economy – II The Economy – III Health Care The Role of Government Governing The topics were selected by PBS’s Jim Lehrer, moderator of the first debate, and are also subject to change if news breaks, the commission said. The...

The statutory Medicare Part B outpatient therapy cap for Occupational Therapy (OT) is $1,880 for 2012, and the combined cap for Physical Therapy (PT) and Speech-Language Pathology Services (SLP) is also $1,880 for 2012. This is an annual per beneficiary therapy cap amount determined for each calendar year. Medicare allowable charges, which includes both Medicare payments to providers and beneficiary coinsurance, are counted toward the therapy cap. In outpatient settings, Medicare will pay for 80 percent of allowable charges and the beneficiary is responsible for the remaining 20 percent of the amount. The therapy cap applies to all Part B...

The RNC has released an ad featuring President Obama using the exact same language and talking points from the 2008 campaign in his speeches in 2012. The ad highlights one of the Romney camp's strategies during the DNC Convention this week as they attempt to make the case that President Obama has been ineffective as a leader and is nothing more than an eloquent rhetorician with no actual accomplishments or plans.

Two-thirds of those who watched Thursday night's speeches at the Republican National Convention already had decided who they would vote for before anyone opened their mouth, but among the small but important group of persuadable speech watchers, there is 2:1 movement towards Romney, according to a SurveyUSA poll of the state of Florida conducted for WFLA-TV in Tampa. 1,211 adults were interviewed statewide 08/31/12, after Romney, Florida's Marco Rubio and Clint Eastwood spoke to the convention 08/30/12. Of the adults, 1,100 were registered to vote in Florida. Of the registered voters, 754 heard the convention speeches. Of the convention speech...

The Obama campaign has insisted on seeing the speech before Clinton delivers it, and Clinton has just as insistently refused to show it to them. As a result, no one — not even the president — knows what Clinton intends to say. This has led some Democratic insiders to speculate that Clinton will make not-so-flattering remarks about the last four years of Democratic rule in the White House.

According to new research released today by Rasmussen, more voters identify themselves as Republican than ever in the last 8 years. More importantly, by a 4 point margin, more voters identify as GOP than Democrat. This is the largest spread between the parties ever. Worse for Democrats, the number of voters who identify with their party is also approaching an historic low. In August, 37.6% of voters identified themselves as Republican. That is up from 34.9% in July. By contrast, just 33.3% of voters identify themselves as Democrats. That is very near their historic low in February, when 32.4% of...

This week's Republican National Convention may be extended into Friday in order to make up for time lost Monday due to Tropical Storm Isaac, National Journal reports. Chris Frates and Alex Roarty note: Republicans are leaving open the possibility of extending their Tampa convention by a day, a senior Republican official told National Journal. With Isaac expected to strengthen to a Category 2 hurricane and hit the Gulf Coast between Louisiana and Florida at midweek, Republicans are looking for flexibility in their schedule... The convention currently is scheduled to end Thursday, but major disruptions in Tampa or along the Gulf...

Gov. Dave Heineman today said he's turning down a chance to run for the U.S. Senate in 2012. That race would have pitted him against incumbent Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., setting up a clash of two Nebraska political giants. Heineman said he already had the "best job in America" and didn't want to live in Washington. Republicans, he told a press conference this afternoon, have plenty of strong candidates to challenge Nelson, whom he said had "embarrassed" the state by providing the deciding vote for the federal health-care reforms. Attorney General Jon Bruning and Don Stenberg, who was elected state...

WASHINGTON, March 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Yesterday, Illinois became the 40th state where legislators have introduced, or will introduce, legislation modeled after the American Legislative Exchange Council's (ALEC) Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act. Illinois House Bill 6842 prohibits a requirement to purchase health insurance and would provide the state with protection in a constitutional challenge of the federal health reform bill.

Looks like Obama is just carrying out Ayer's plans, like clockwork. Seems a lot more chilling a few years later, doesn't it?

Listen to the interview on Hannity today. People, we need to get behind these organizations and tear Obamacare apart. Donate and lend support if you can. Just listening to this, it's going to be an all out WAR against this perverted legislation. I'm psyched up though after listening to this interview! The far left cronies have no idea about the kind of can they've opened up.

As liberal groups begin plotting to spend millions of dollars to “sell” Obamacare to Americans in swing House districts, at least 12 state attorneys general are mounting an effort to stop Obamacare in its tracks on constitutional grounds. At issue is the provision in Obamacare that forces Americans to buy health insurance or face an annual $750 fine. Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli plans to sue the federal government on grounds that the mandate violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution: “At no time in our history has the government mandated its citizens buy a...

ORLANDO, FL -- Moments after Congress voted to approve President Obama's health care legislation, Florida's Attorney General announced he will file a lawsuit to declare the bill unconstitutional. Bill McCollum will join Attorneys General from South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Pennsylvania, Washington, North Dakota and South Dakota to file a lawsuit against the federal government. "The health care reform legislation passed by the U. S. House of Representatives this evening clearly violates the U.S. Constitution and infringes on each state's sovereignty," McCollum said in a statement distributed late Sunday night. "If the President signs this bill into law, we will...

DeMint to Introduce Bill to Repeal ObamaCare March 21, 2010 - WASHINGTON, D.C - Today, U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) announced that he will introduce legislation this week to repeal President Obama's government takeover of health care. House Democrats voted this evening to pass the Senate version of the health care bill and it will likely be signed into law by President Obama later this week. "This bill is unconstitutional and it cannot be fixed. It must be repealed," said Senator DeMint. "The battle for health care freedom is not over and I will introduce legislation this week to...

Seriously, I fully understand the significance of the assault on our liberties and freedoms we've just witnessed. But for the love of God, take your two seconds and get it out of your system and get ready to take back the country. It's our own damn fault we let this happen so now what are we going to do? Sit and cry like these bozos own us? They only own you if you let them. I'll say this-I don't know what all the answers are but I know it will take an incredible effort and some very brave and smart...

Former GOP Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania said Sunday that the House reconciliation bill designed to fix shortcomings in the Senate’s healthcare reform legislation cannot legally be considered by the Senate, because it would impact Social Security revenues and therefore is not eligible for the reconciliation procedure. Santorum also says Democratic leaders were well aware of this fact, but effectively “sandbagged” their members in the House in order to push healthcare reform through Congress. Reconciliation is designed to pass healthcare reform without bringing it back before the Senate for approval. Sen. Scott Brown’s election in Massachusetts means Democrats no longer...

Insane with anger at a new president from Illinois, states are blathering about their rights and about defying the federal government’s authority. And as it was in the year that the Civil War broke out, Virginia is again a center of the resistance. This time though, the rebellious states aren’t defending slavery. They’re claiming to be enslaved, by a United States president who – let’s just pause to savor the irony – happens to be black.

Saturday, March 20, 2010 Executive Order [Kathryn Jean Lopez] I hear Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) has signed off on the idea. That's an iron-clad guarantee it's no real alternative for any member who calls himself "pro-life." 03/20 07:25 PMShare

Sen. Kent Conrad, speaking to Roll Call and Fox, says the Senate will likely be unable to pass unchanged the reconciliation bill the House passes, even if the House can pass it: Conrad said the Senate Parliamentarian has declined to make rulings on several issues in the bill that Republicans are likely to challenge under the “Byrd rule.” That rule states that, among other things, every provision of a budget reconciliation bill must have a budget impact and cannot be “extraneous.” “Although we’ve spent many, many hours with the Parliamentarian, some things he has not yet rendered a conclusion” on,...

Missourians who oppose the current health care legislation proposed by democrats may want to keep an eye on an interesting piece of legislation in their own state, a bill called HJR48, or House Joint Resolution 48. Also called the “Missouri Health Care Freedom Act,” HJR48 intends to make it part of state policy that every individual in Missouri has the right to choose or decline any form of health care services without penalty or the threat of penalty from the U.S. federal government. This would prevent Missouri citizens from being subject to fines or other penalties if they choose not...