Free Republic

ST. LOUIS — With drugs needed for lethal injection in short supply and courts wrangling over how to execute prisoners without them, Missouri's attorney general is floating one possible solution: Bring back the gas chamber. In court filings and interviews this week, Attorney General Chris Koster noted that Missouri statutes allow two options for executions: lethal injection and death by gas. Koster's comments come amid his growing frustration over the Missouri Supreme Court's refusal to set execution dates until lethal injection issues are resolved. "The Missouri death penalty statute has been, in my opinion, unnecessarily entangled in the courts for...

GOP gloats over Obamacare delay By: Jason Millman July 2, 2013 08:31 PM EDT Obamacare opponents on Tuesday had a “We told you so” moment. As the Obama administration announced a one-year delay in the employer mandate, leading Republican lawmakers and political strategists painted the decision as an admission of the law’s failures – and a blatant attempt to shield Democrats during the 2014 elections. “Delaying the employer mandate is a clear admission by the Administration that the health care law is unaffordable, unworkable and unpopular,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said in a statement. “It’s also a cynical political ploy...

On Tuesday, I offered my opening thoughts about the surprise decision by the Obama administration to delay a central element of Obamacare that requires employers to provide insurance the federal government deems acceptable or pay penalties. Over at Cato, Michael Cannon argues that the delay in the employer mandate necessitates a delay in the rest of the law, because of the way it interacts with another core provision. One of the main ways that President Obama’s health care law plans to expand insurance coverage is by offering subsidies for individuals to purchase insurance on government-run exchanges. There are a number...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Physicians could face dramatic financial challenges for treating patients who receive health coverage through the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) exchanges starting next year. Insurance companies will not process claims on patients who haven't paid their premiums in 3 months, leaving doctors on the hook to recoup payment directly from the patients. The ACA provides a 3-month grace period to individuals who haven't paid their premiums, and the provision could prove problematic for physicians, said Elizabeth McNeil, vice president of federal government relations at the California Medical Association (CMA) in Sacramento. Plans will hold off on processing claims...

Asked by Politico’s Roger Simon whether President Obama has the authority to delay the election, White House spokesman Jay Carney said, “I don’t know.” The correct answer is no, as a matter of law and good sense. … In 2004, the Congressional Research Service published a paper examining the possibility of postponing elections. It turns out that various allowances can be made to states in the event of emergencies or disputes to hash out the results of a Presidential election, at least in time for the Electoral College to meet in December. But the CRS paper is unequivocal on one...

The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The presidential election is Nov. 6, but it could take days to figure out the winner if the vote is close. New voting laws are likely to increase the number of people who have to cast provisional ballots in key states. Tight races for Congress, governor and local offices also could be stuck in limbo while election officials scrutinize ballots, a scenario that would surely attract legions of campaign lawyers from both parties. "It's a possibility of a complete meltdown for the election," said Daniel Smith, a political scientist at the University of Florida. Voters...

CHICAGO, July 26, 2012, (Operation Rescue)—New documents released in the Tonya Reaves tragedy reveal a timeline leading to her death that clearly shows Planned Parenthood delayed summoning emergency care for the dying woman for five-and-a-half hours after a severely botched abortion. At 11:00 a.m. on Friday, Reaves received a second-trimester dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortion at Planned Parenthood, located at 18 S. Michigan Ave. in Chicago. After the abortion, Reaves suffered bleeding. The bleeding continued at Planned Parenthood for five-and-a-half hours before a Fire Department ambulance finally took her to Northwestern Memorial Hospital at 4:30 p.m. according to a report...

A cat escape caused a four-hour delay for an Air Canada flight Thursday as airline staff in Halifax struggled to get the feline from its hiding place in cockpit wiring. (Jan. 27) [Associated Press]

LONDON (Reuters) - A weaker sun over the next 90 years is not likely to significantly delay a rise in global temperature caused by greenhouse gases, a report said Monday. The study, by Britain's Meteorological Office and the university of Reading, found that the Sun's output would decrease up until 2100 but this would only lead to a fall in global temperatures of 0.08 degrees Celsius. Scientists have warned that more extreme weather is likely across the globe this century as the Earth's climate warms. The world is expected to heat up by over 2 degrees Celsius this century due...

The White House is delaying for one week the release of President Obama's budget for the 2013 fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, a decision that administration officials say was based on "the need to finalize decisions and technical details" but which Republicans say is a direct violation of law. "This will mark the third time in four years the president has missed his statutory requirement to present a budget on time, while trillion-dollar budget deficits continue to mount. As the president announces another missed deadline, tomorrow marks the 1,000th day Senate Democrats have gone without any budget at all,"...

Obama delays budget for 2013 By Erik Wasson - 01/23/12 02:08 PM ET President Obama will release his 2013 budget one week late, an administration official said Monday, the third time the administration has missed the legal deadline. Under the law, the budget is to be released on the first Monday in February, but the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) will be releasing the 2013 budget on Feb. 13. The Obama administration also delayed the release of the budget last year, waiting until Feb. 14. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said the delay is symptomatic of a...

MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin residents have overwhelmed the state Justice Department with so many concealed weapon permit applications agency officials say they probably won't meet deadlines for issuing approvals this month despite pulling dozens of employees from other tasks to help.

The inevitable appears about to take place: The Obama administration is said to be considering a manoeuvre that would save it from having to render a decision on the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Alberta until after the presidential election next year. The [external] Los Angeles Times reports: The Obama administration is considering a move that could delay a decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline by requiring sponsors to reduce the project’s environmental risks before it can be approved, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations. The step might put off a decision until after the 2012 election...

A top Palestinian official said Wednesday that President Mahmoud Abbas would accept no political delays on his bid for membership in the United Nations, rejecting mounting pressure from the United States and France to first return to negotiations with Israel. The Palestinians plan to submit their letter of application on Friday when Abbas is to speak to the U.N. General Assembly, but he faced a withering lack of support as the world body opened its annual meeting. President Barack Obama said there could be no "shortcuts" in the quest for Middle East peace, a message that was echoed by French...

President Barack Obama and other administration officials are considering releasing a photo of Osama bin Laden's corpse on Tuesday, according to a report. Also being considered for release are videos from "helmet cams" of the Navy SEALS elite team that carried out the operation in a town just north of Islamabad, Pakistan, ABC News reported. The troops captured the mission on tape wearing the helmet cameras. "We are looking at releasing additional information, details about the raid as well as any other types of material, possibly including photos. We want to understand exactly what the possible reaction might be to...

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an “ongoing victory,” and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget. Mr. DeLay was defending Republicans’ choice to borrow money and add to this year’s expected $331 billion deficit to pay for Hurricane Katrina relief. Some Republicans have said Congress should make cuts in other areas, but Mr. DeLay said that doesn’t seem possible... Asked if that meant the government was running at peak efficiency, Mr. DeLay said, “Yes, after 11 years of Republican majority...

Moammar Khadafy can survive and even prevail over the vastly more pow erful and technologically advanced NATO-led coalition. To do so, the Libyan dictator can not only exploit the inherent weaknesses of any coalition, but even turn NATO's technologies into a weakness. From the Navy's Top Gun to the Army's OPFOR (Opposing Force), the US military systematically trains to think like its enemies -- to anticipate how the enemy will try to overcome US advantages, pitting his strengths against our weaknesses. This classic "Red Hat versus Blue Hat" analysis begins by comparing objectives. The United States and NATO want to...

Judge bows out of DeLay associates' trialReason for removing self remains secret; trial set for April is likely to be postponed. By Laylan Copelin AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Updated: 10:26 p.m. Thursday, March 10, 2011 The judge who sentenced former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to three years in prison removed himself Thursday from the upcoming trial of two DeLay associates, John Colyandro of Austin and James Ellis of Washington. A few hours later, Senior District Judge Pat Priest denied DeLay's motion for a new trial, kicking off DeLay's appeal of his felony conviction. In those two separate actions, Priest apparently...

Back in November, we editorialized that to get a better idea of how credible is the conviction of Tom DeLay, "look to the sentencing phase." Well, the sentence has been rendered and it's easy to see that the conviction has virtually no credibility.

AUSTIN — The three-year prison sentence meted out to former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in a political money laundering case is far harsher than sentences recommended for two other public offenders recently convicted in Central Texas. .. likelihood that DeLay's case will be overturned on appeal before he ever sees the inside of a prison cell, according to several criminal defense lawyers. DeLay's sentence may reflect more on his remorseless attitude before visiting District Judge Pat Priest than on the seriousness of the crime, .. "Maybe DeLay flunked the attitude test in front of Pat Priest," William Allison,...