Free Republic

The Obama administration has funded a new study by top consulting firm RAND Health that startlingly finds that if taxpayer subsidies are eliminated, Obamacare exchanges will fall into a “death spiral.” The study comes in the wake of a number of lawsuits which are challenging the Obama administration’s implementation of Obamacare subsidies. Three lawsuits have made it to U.S. Circuit Courts, just one step from the Supreme Court, arguing that the text of the Affordable Care Act allows premium subsidies for state-run exchanges only. The report was sponsored by HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, which,...

It has been a stunning reversal of fortunes for Mr Obama, whose celebrity status helped get Democrats elected in several Republican states in 2008 – states which the party is now desperately struggling to defend. With less than two weeks to go until the November 4 polling day, we track the travails of the man who once walked on political water. Indeed, so toxic has Mr Obama’s name apparently become that when Ms Lundergan Grimes was asked if she had ever actually voted for Mr Obama, the 35-year-old lawyer declined to answer. The president’s sheen may have faded for the...

When presidents become unpopular, they are no longer welcome on the campaign trail. They're trapped in Washington, watching their party abandon them. Now, the same oppressive walls are closing in on President Barack Obama. He is welcome only in the palatial homes of Hollywood stars and hedge-fund billionaires or the well-kept fairways of Martha's Vineyard. The contrast with 2008 is striking and painful. Six years ago, his acolytes fainted as he read from the teleprompter. What went wrong? Ideology, say the true believers and their staunchest opponents. The left says he compromised too much, desperate to pass his agenda. The...

Hillary Rodham Clinton urged Democratic voters not to be complacent about the November midterm elections, saying Monday that working women and their families will lose out on a better future if Republicans gain control of both houses of Congress. The former secretary of state made the remarks during a sold-out women's luncheon in San Francisco that raised $1.4 million for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "It's truly regrettable that despite all the great work Nancy did and President Obama, given what was inherited when the president came into office that we are having to work so hard to elect and...

A mural was painted over Monday afternoon after Trenton police expressed concern that the painting, depicting Michael Brown, a Ferguson, Mo., teen who was fatally shot by police in August, sent the wrong message about community and police relations. The painting depicted Brown’s face with the caption “Sagging pants … is not probable cause.” Will "Kasso" Condry, the artist behind the mural, said he wanted to start a conversation about racial profiling. The Trenton Downtown Association elected to remove the image after hearing concern from police officers that the mural sends a negative message about the relationship between police and...

The Environmental Protection Agency took the first step toward regulating a chemical in the country’s drinking water on Monday. The EPA issued a preliminary determination to regulate the chemical called strontium, which is a naturally occurring element. At elevated levels strontium can impact bone strength in people who don’t consume enough calcium, the EPA said. Strontium has been found in roughly 99 percent of the public water systems in the U.S..

Europe’s leaders are about to consign the Earth to the risk of dangerous climate change, a UN expert says. Prof Jim Skea, a vice-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, says the EU’s plan to cut CO2 emissions 40% by 2030 is too weak. He says it will commit future governments to “extraordinary and unprecedented” emissions cuts. The Commission rejected the claim, saying the 40% target puts Europe on track for long-term climate goals. Prof Skea believes governments are setting targets by what appears to be politically achievable rather than what is necessary to transform the way we make...

Graciela Iniguez guesses she has spent $12,000 on traffic tickets and vehicle impound fees since she started driving 20 years ago. As an undocumented immigrant from Jalisco, Mexico, Iniguez drives without a license. But that's soon to change. Starting Jan. 1, California residents who can't prove they are in United States legally will be allowed to obtain driver's licenses under Assembly Bill 60, which Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law last year. "This law is going to benefit us so much," she said. "Thank God, now we won't have to be afraid to drive." "Unfortunately, it's not a privilege to...

Seated at the defense table in U.S. Immigration Court in Philadelphia, the 10-year-old looked down at his feet, which barely reached the floor. Coal-eyed, he resembled a Latino Dennis the Menace, with a "fauxhawk" instead of a cowlick and clad in a shirt that read: Last name: Maker. First name: Trouble. Having entered the U.S. illegally eight months ago, the boy, Carlos, was arrested on the Texas border, given a notice to appear in court to face deportation. In a daylong court session this month, Judge Steven Morley, presiding at the federal building at Ninth and Market Streets, heard Carlos'...

Monica Lewinsky was "in love" with former President Clinton, the disgraced former intern revealed Monday. "Sixteen years ago, fresh out of college … I fell in love with my boss," the infamous former White House staffer told a business conference Monday during an eye-opening speech about her devastating experience in the public eye following the revelation of her affair with Clinton — her first public address in 13 years. "Overnight I went from being a completely private figure to a publicly humiliated one. I was patient zero," she said, according to reporters present at the Forbes magazine "30 Under 30"...

Live + Same Day Cable News Daily Ratings for Friday, October 17, 2014  Total Day P2+ (000s) 25-54 (000s) 35-64 (000s) FOXN  1,154  229  456 CNN  456  161  255 MSNBC  309  72  128 CNBC  157  51  73 FBN  46  7  14 HLN  242  92  127 Primetime P2+ (000s) 25-54 (000s) 35-64 (000s) FOXN  1,823  332  672 CNN  494  179  275 MSNBC  551  116  221 CNBC  249  110  140 FBN  26  10  15 HLN  377  116  159 Net Morning programs (6-9 AM) P2+ (000s) 25-54 (000s) 35-64 (000s) FOXN FOX AND FRIENDS  1,054  259  546 CNN NEW DAY  408  122  214 MSNBC...

CNN has canceled multiple series. Per Deadline,Crossfire has officially been canceled. The series, a CNN staple from 1982-2005, relaunched in September 2013, earned low ratings until it went on hiatus in May. The show briefly returned in July, then went on hiatus again. CNN is also canceling Sanjay Gupta M.D, CNN Money With Christine Romans and Unguarded With Rachel Nichols. All three anchors will remain with the network.

A devastating new Politico poll reveals voters believe America has spun off its axis and is "out of control." "An overwhelming majority of voters in the most competitive 2014 elections say it feels as if events in the United States are 'out of control' and expressed mounting alarm about terrorism, anxiety about Ebola and harsh skepticism of both political parties only three weeks before the Nov. 4 midterms," reports Politico. The poll, which surveyed states and districts in the most competitive congressional races, found that 64% of Americans believe "things in the U.S. feel like they are out of control...

Pete Spain knew he and his wife would have to find a new health plan for 2015 since their current policy is being discontinued at the end of the year. But the letter explaining it still contained a surprise: Buying a comparable plan next year would cost the Bridgeport couple nearly 58 percent more. “That’s just a bigger hit than we expected,” he said. The Spains are among more than 60,000 Connecticut residents with health plans that don’t meet the requirements of the federal health law. Many of them are receiving notices that their plans are being discontinued and that...

President Obama made a monumental mistake in appointing a political hack, Ron Klain, as the Ebola czar. He must undo his error now and give the job to someone of stature and genuine ability. In alphabetical order, here are three individuals the President should consider immediately for this crucial post: –Michael Bloomberg. He’s not a physician, but from his extensive work with (and donations to) the medical school and hospital at Johns Hopkins University and other medical institutions, he has gained an enormous amount of knowledge. –Ben Carson. A gifted neurosurgeon and former director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins...

In May, Monica Lewinsky vowed to speak out in order "to stick my head above the parapet so that I can take back my narrative and give a purpose to my past." Now she seems to be doing just that -- on Twitter. Just months after Lewinsky’s personal revelations were made public in a Vanity Fair interview, she sent her first tweet this morning.

September brought more record heat globally, and meteorologists say Earth is now on pace to tie for the hottest year ever recorded. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Monday that last month the globe averaged 60.3 degrees Fahrenheit. That was the hottest September in 135 years of record keeping. It was the fourth monthly record set this year, along with May, June and August.

President Barack Obama made a rare appearance on the campaign trail on Sunday with a rally to support the Democratic candidate for governor in Maryland, though the event was marred somewhat by early departures of crowd members and a yelling heckler. Some 8,000 people turned out for the event, held in a noisy school gymnasium. But a steady stream of people walked out while he spoke, and a heckler interrupted his remarks.

When 19-year-old Dilar and her girlfriends learned last spring that a woman who taught at a local school had died fighting Islamic State, they made a pact: They would join an all-female Syrian Kurdish brigade named in the teacher’s honor. Her unit, the Martyr Warsin Brigade, saw action this summer in a tough battle against the extremist fighters for Ras al-Ayn, a town along the Turkish border. Dilar came away without injury and returned home to a hero’s welcome. Now, during her downtime, she and her female comrades stride with a swagger through their villages east of the embattled city...

Research ecologist Nathan Stephenson crawled around magnificent Giant Forest, checking young giant sequoias for damage from California’s three-year drought. Though the older sequoias have survived past climate warmups, no one knows how these natural treasures will hold up this time. Climate warming is moving faster than it has in the past, scientists say. Some researchers worry that the Sierra will lose some trees that were alive before the time of Christ. They acknowledge it’s possible the giant sequoia will not survive as a species.