Free Republic

Securing an appointment to see a doctor in the United States is exacerbated by soaring health care demand and fewer doctors. Many specializations are increasingly affected by this trend, but primary care and emergency medicine are among the hardest hit.The average wait time to see a doctor has increased since 2017 and continued to rise after the demand spike brought on by COVID-19. A survey conducted by AMN Healthcare in 2022 of 15 large metro markets revealed the average time to see a physician was 26 days—an 8 percent increase from 2017 and a 24 percent spike since 2004.Staff constraints...

Attorneys general in 25 states have banded together to file a legal challenge to another "unlawful" Environmental Protection Agency policy that is part of President Joe Biden's crusade to "end" fossil fuels and force an energy "transition." At issue this time: the EPA's final rule establishing "New Source Performance Standards for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From New, Modified, and Reconstructed Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units" as well as "Emission Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Existing Fossil Fuel-Fired Electric Generating Units" and the "Repeal of the Affordable Clean Energy Rule." Stemming from a 2009 Obama-era EPA "conclusion" that greenhouse gas (GHG)...

We’re nowhere near slam-dunk territory on this, but it’s something to watch. For Democrats, it could be an area that could produce another episode of politically induced heartburn. Jonah Goldberg is a notable anti-Trump commentator. He has been a vocal critic of the former president, though he’s returned to his classic roots amid the chaos on our college campuses. Still, while Biden has been disappointing for some Republicans who might have crossed party lines in 2020, Goldberg’s tweet about the rumblings he’s heard from within the Never Trump wing is interesting: Fwiw. I’ve heard from a LOT of reliably anti-Trump...

LGBT activists are trying to make it impossible to report violations of laws protecting women and children, putting real people in danger.In an environment of endless protest from the left, trans activists have moved from public disruption to simply disabling systems they do not like. On May 1, 2024, Utah launched a reporting form to enforce H.B. 257, a law signed by Gov. Spencer Cox in January that protects sex-designated spaces such as restrooms or locker rooms from intrusions by members of the opposite sex. The state auditor is required to investigate these reports, but within a week, the office...

Three years after reports of indigenous mass graves triggered the torching or vandalism of 85-plus churches, no graves have been found.Three years ago, a major story broke in Canada that seemed to confirm every left-wing prejudice against Christians imaginable: A mass grave containing the remains of indigenous children was supposedly discovered on the grounds of what had once been a government boarding school run by the Catholic Church.It turns out the whole thing was a hoax, a modern-day blood libel against Christians that ended with at least 85 Catholic churches across Canada destroyed by arson, vandalized, or desecrated. Canadian political...

If you haven’t tuned into the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting to see highlights, a certain moment is grabbing headlines but another more nuanced one is where your attention should go.The most poignant moment of the day was when Warren turned to his new right-hand man Greg Able but invited former lieutenant Charlie Munger for his views. The simple question “Charlie?” was enough to melt hearts as it became clear the one-two punch duo of Charlie and Warren that had been a staple of these Woodstock for Capitalists meetings for decades still lived on in Warren, and is a habit...

Controversial televangelist Benny Hinn said his two “biggest regrets” in his decades-long ministry include promoting prophecies he now admits “were not accurate or from the Lord” and pushing “prosperity theology."“The two things I regret most in ministry: I was not too wise a number of times with prophecy,” the 71-year-old charismatic preacher told Stephen Strang, host of The Strang Report, in a recent interview. “I had guests come to the crusades that I think brought harm to not only people’s lives but also to my reputation because their prophecies were not really prophecy. They went outside the borders of redemption.”“And...

The city of Denver has seen more than 40,000 illegal aliens arrive within the city limits in the last few months, as the city's resources have been stretched to the breaking point. The illegals are grateful, for sure. Well, some of them are grateful. A group of illegals staying in an encampment under a railroad bridge made a list of 13 demands they sent to the mayor. If the mayor doesn't play ball, the illegals are threatening to stay outside. Given that summer will be here in a few weeks, it's not much of a threat. But these illegals have...

Bret Stephens warned his New York Times readers on Friday that Presidentish Joe Biden "just made his biggest blunder" when he paused delivery of more than 3,000 much-needed aerial bombs to Israel this week. Stephens is the NYT's Conservativish™ writer, so he must drag his readers to the truth like a dog on a leash when he figures out you're taking him to the vet. That's why Stephens has to include phrases like Biden's "laudable motive" and to remind readers that the absolute worst part is that the suspension is "a political gift to Donald Trump." But the truth is...

Democratic Montana Sen. Jon Tester appears to be changing his tune on supporting the Republican-led Laken Riley Act, named after the 22-year-old nursing student who was allegedly murdered by an illegal alien in February on the University of Georgia’s campus.Tester voted with Democrats on March 23 in blocking GOP Sen. Ted Budd’s amendment he described as being a “modified version” of the Laken Riley Act to the second government funding package. The senator is now co-sponsoring the bill, according to a press release on Thursday, which would require federal officials to detain illegal aliens who commit “burglary, theft, larceny, or...

As a Breitbart New item described it, there’s been a “narrative collapse” on the left, because the open borders mass migration scheme embraced by the globalist politicians in the West “has not actually stimulated the economy” as they promised, and has also been found to be “a major drag on public services and the housing sector.”No kidding?Here are the details, from journalist Kurt Zindulka:While globalist advocates of mass migration argue that it increases tax revenues and lifts overall GDP, thereby giving governments talking points, on an individual basis there is a different story.According to data from the Organisation for Economic...

Carbon capture and underground storage (CCUS) tops the list of silly schemes “to reduce man-made global warming.” The idea is to capture exhaust gases from power stations or cement plants, separate the CO2 from the other gases, compress it, pump it to the chosen burial site, and force it underground into permeable rock formations. Then hope it never escapes. An Australian mining company who should know better is hoping to appease green critics by proposing to bury the gas of life, CO2, deep in the sedimentary rocks of Australia’s Great Artesian Basin. The people running this company have chosen the...

The rising problem of squatters illegally occupying people’s homes has become so obvious that even the mainstream media have recently been paying some attention to it, and lawmakers are beginning to take action.A survey by the National Rental Home Council found 1,200 homes in Atlanta alone have been taken over by squatters, News Channel 8 in Atlanta reports. Georgia enacted a law in late April to speed up evictions of squatters. “We will be watching this develop over the next year,” Atlanta’s Fox 5 TV channel stated.NBC Nightly News ran a national story on property owners’ difficulties in getting governments...

Forty-two was the mystical number that explained “life, the universe, and everything” in Douglas Adams’ comic novel, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Today, another mystical number, the so-called social cost of carbon (SSC), is providing the excuse for the Environmental Protection Agency and green-energy-enamored state regulators to enact crippling energy policies.The SCC is the thumb on the scale that can justify virtually any policy aimed at eliminating fossil fuels. When the EPA first proposed its rule to reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants, the agency’s cost-benefit analysis determined the benefits would be minuscule. Any putative benefits, it turns...

While pundits, politicians and the press have long expressed outrage over attacks on judges by former President Donald Trump, many are now attacking any judge who delays any trial of Trump before the election. Democrats have accused Judge Aileen Cannon of being politically compromised, if not conspiratorial, in her delay of the Florida trial over the mishandling of classified documents. Yet, there is ample reason for the delay that many of us anticipated in this type of case when it was filed.For months, many of us have said that we doubt that this type of trial could be held on...

The pro-Hamas protests that have engulfed campuses across the nation have claimed another victim, Cornell University president Martha E. Pollack, who announced in a surprise email Thursday that she is stepping down in June after a seven-year reign. The Ivy League school has been at the center of two controversies in recent times: its racist promotion of DEI at all costs and its failure to take effective action against antisemitism on its campus. Background:Ivy League School Offers Rock Climbing Class for Everyone But White StudentsCornell Professor Who Was 'Exhilarated' by Hamas's Attacks Is Now So Very Sorry (but Is He...

President Javier Milei entered office like Jack Nicholson breaking his way into the bathroom in "The Shining" — with an axe. Armed with emergency powers granted by the Argentine Congress, he balanced the country's out-of-control budget in one month, fired government workers by the thousands, eliminated more than 200,000 "corrupt" social welfare programs, and even cozied up to NATO. “There’s a lot more chainsaw" to come, Milei promised in March, and I momentarily almost became gay.The usual fearmongers mongered the usual fears.A few weeks ago, the New York Times ran an opinion piece — complete with a demonic-looking, high-contrast black-and-white...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video message on Thursday vowing that Israel "will stand alone" to defeat Hamas, if necessary, after President Biden threatened to withhold weapon shipments to the Jewish State should Netanyahu proceed with an invasion of Rafah. Netanyahu echoed the 1948 Israeli war of independence in his remarks, saying that despite a weapons embargo on Israel, Israelis had fought and defeated the Arab nations who attacked the nascent Jewish state, thanks to their bravery and unity. "Today, we are much stronger," the prime minister said. "We are determined, and we are united in order to...

Reports confirm Washington has created a vicious cycle for struggling families, not to mention the federal government as a whole.It took a hot second, but even entities on the political left have begun to discover how Washington’s uncontrollable spending has made life worse for American families.In recent weeks, both The New York Times and International Monetary Fund (IMF) — no raging conservatives — have analyzed how persistent budget deficits caused by Washington’s spending have exacerbated inflation woes. The moves suggest a solution underpinned by a return to basic common sense: namely, that if Washington finally gets its own fiscal house...

‘There is currently an unprecedented and a clear and present danger to the integrity of our election system,’ Speaker Mike Johnson said. Millions of illegal immigrants have poured through the U.S. southwest border since Joe Biden took the presidential oath of office in January 2021. By design. Contrary to the sentiments of the vast majority of Americans, Biden and congressional Democrats would very much like these “newcomers” to be able to vote — in November’s election, if possible. At least enough to keep the empty-vessel Democrat who currently occupies the White House for another four years. And they’re not...