Free Republic

A new survey of Fortune 100 companies finds that the health care overhaul, contrary to the claims of its authors, created some perverse incentives for employers to drop workers from company insurance plans. Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee surveyed the top 100 companies about how much they spent on health care -- a total of 71, covering 5.9 million employees, responded. The results suggested it would be far more attractive for companies to drop workers from those plans than keep them.

Politico Co-Founder: Most Journalists I've Known Are Democrats By Matthew Sheffield Created 04/23/2012 - 12:33pm In one of the more honest admissions of the obvious, Politico co-founder Jim VandeHei admitted earlier this month that the majority of the journalists that he's known in his career at a variety of publications "vote Democratic." "If I had to guess, if you put all of the reporters that I’ve ever worked with on truth serum, most of them vote Democratic," VandeHei said during the March 14th edition of C-SPAN's "Road to the White House" program. Video follows. Thanks to the Washington Free Beacon...

When George Zimmerman’s lawyer, Orlando-based criminal defense attorney Craig Sonner, defended his client to TIME on Sunday night, he would not say whether he is gathering evidence for a trial. But he hints he is thinking ahead to a criminal case. “I err on the side of preparedness,” he says. “Every time I take a case I prepare as though I am going to trial.” Sonner continues to remain mum on the specifics of the incident, like why police surveillance cameras showed Zimmerman with no apparent blood and grass stains soon after the shooting, or whether or not he has...

A new report by the University of Illinois at Chicago concludes, based on conviction rates since the 1970s, Chicago is America's most corrupt city and Illinois its third most corrupt state. Among our initial reaction: Another taxpayer-funded study belabors the obvious. "What has come to be called 'The Chicago Way' or 'The Illinois Way' of public corruption has undermined ... voters' sense of political efficacy," the authors wrote. "Why report corrupt officials if you know they won't be punished and they may turn the powers of the government on you?" A good question. But the fear of reprisal finishes a...

Barack Obama has spent the last several months insisting on a tax hike for higher income earners in the US, casting it as an issue of “fairness” and of deficit reduction. In his State of the Union speech, Obama used the word “fair” or a derivative nine different times, and calling for the wealthy to pay their “fair share” of taxes — even though the wealthy account for a much higher percentage of income-tax revenues both as a share of the revenues and as a share of income than the rest of the population. Democrats have tried to push through...

A new report published by the World Bank has come to a spellbinding conclusion: High government spending and large public sectors substantially diminish economic growth. In fact, a slew of establishment economists and organizations have come to a similar conclusion. Daniel J. Mitchell (left), senior fellow at the Cato Institute, explained in a recent article that the era of socialism is over, and the field of economics is migrating toward a more laissez-faire ideology, where governmental authority is weakened and economies become more privatized. In chapter seven of the World Bank’s lengthy report, which chronicles the economies and governments of...

California's combination of business, sales, income and other taxes ranks it close to the bottom of the 50 states for being business-friendly, according to an index put out by a conservative Washington think tank. California placed 48th, ahead of only New York at 49th place and New Jersey at 50th, said a report released Wednesday by the Tax Foundation. According to the foundation, the top 10 states with business-friendly taxes were Wyoming, South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Florida, New Hampshire, Washington, Montana, Texas and Utah, the report said.

If America's top hockey mom decides to make an endorsement in the Republican presidential primary, it doesn't sound like Mitt Romney will win that sweepstakes. (As Katie notes below, Palin's husband has decided to back Newt). Via Fox News: Her logic is certainly worth considering. The Democrat/MSM playbook against Romney isn't an especially well kept secret. Cast him as an out of touch, greedy one-percenter who "likes being able to fire people." That would be the formula: craven blame shift and nuclear class warfare. If Republican voters believe that dual strategy will eclipse Obama's woeful record as president -- and...

...The trouble for Gingrich is that Cain isn’t doing what Perry is and hanging on. Cain maintained his Real Clear Politics Average high-point of 26 percent, essentially tied with Mitt Romney, for only two weeks. And he may go front frontrunner to hash mark in less than a month. Gingrich would have been better off if Cain’s candidacy would have slowly withered. Gingrich wants to be in a two-way race with Romney and to have only to appear more conservative and more consistent than Romney. Gingrich might survive daily releases of new skeletons from his past...[snip]....But only if juxtaposed as...

At a town hall meeting at the Institute of Politics at New Hampshire’s Saint Anselm’s College Tuesday, Rick Perry asked that all of the college students in the crowd who will be 21 by Nov. 12 support his bid for the presidency. Say what? The voting age in the United States is, of course, 18. And the 2012 election will be held on Nov. 6, 2012. (The New Hampshire Republican primary, which brought Perry to the state, will take place on Jan. 10). “Those who are going to be over 21 on November 12th, I ask for your support,” Perry...

Here’s the latest on who makes what from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (whose workers, we’ll point out here, happen to be public employees): Workers in the private sector made an average of $28.13 per hour in total compensation in June (wages contributed $19.81 to that, and benefits added $8.32)While state and local government workers made an average of $40.40 per hour (wages were $26.41, and benefits, $13.99). Of course, the amount one earns is a function of the skills and education one possesses. Our colleague Jan Norman tells you a bit more about the breakdown by job type here.It is often argued that many state and local government workers...

After wasting three years and more than a trillion dollars of "stimulus" money, the President has announced he has a new plan for creating jobs. The problem is: Government doesn't create jobs that add value to the economy; companies and entrepreneurs do. Through taxes, mandates and regulation the government typically discourages hiring and destroys jobs. What Washington should do right now is step aside. To show how serious he is, the President has enlisted noted labor economist Alan Krueger of Princeton University to head the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Unfortunately, one thing Krueger is known for is his...

People do stupid things all the time and they do them in all geographic regions, but as any regular viewer of Comedy Central’s "Tosh 2.0" can tell you, there does seem to be an uncanny correlation between certain regions of the country and the kind of risk-taking behavior that could get you seriously hurt or even killed. That’s the premise of a new study out today in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. The three authors, all from the University of Oklahoma, found that states with a “culture of honor” –- in the South, and the West, mainly --...

President Obama took to the podium today to talk to Americans about the White House’s initiatives to help veterans get back into the work force and what the government is doing to encourage a health economy. But before he dove into the details, the President stood at his podium for a good minute or so in silence, interrupting only to let the audience know that he was “just waiting, here.” The President didn’t quite specify what he was waiting for as he stared out into the audience for the minute, though a number of things could have been delaying his...

[snip] "In addition, the incidence for schizophrenia is almost doubled for individuals who are born and brought up in cities. "These values are a cause for concern and determining the biology behind this is the first step to remedy the trend." He and colleagues studied a series of brain scans from healthy volunteers from rural and urban areas to reach their conclusion. Dr Pruessner said: "These findings suggest that different brain regions are sensitive to the experience of city living during different times across the lifespan. "Future studies need to clarify the link between psychopathology and these affects in individuals...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I read today a piece written by a friend of mine named Michael Ledeen. I've quoted Michael Ledeen on this program before. He's a noted scholar and think tank thinker, and he's done a lot of thinking for a lot of different think tanks. He's been associated with I think Heritage and a number of them. Now, what he's primarily known for in recent years has been championing the cause of the Iranian people against the oppression that they face each and every day. He's always been a staunch supporter of the United States military, keen observer,...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.- A Florida judge says red light tickets issued by police officers are unconstitutional because they impose more severe penalties than red light camera citations. Broward County Judge Fred Berman noted last week police write tickets for $260 when they observe a motorist blowing through a red light while $158 citations are issued to motorists caught by the red light cameras, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Friday. Berman said the police-issued tickets, which also impose points on driver's licenses, violate equal protection provisions in the U.S. and Florida constitutions. The ruling eliminated a ticket issued to a motorist...

California's attempts to switch to green energy have inadvertently put the survival of the state’s golden eagles at risk. Scores of the protected birds have been dying each year after colliding with the blades of about 5,000 wind turbines. Now the drive for renewable power sources, such as wind and the sun, being promoted by President Obama and state Governor Jerry Brown has raised fears that the number of newborn golden eagles may not be able to keep pace with the number of turbine fatalities. The death count along the ridgelines of the Bay Area’s Altamount Pass Wind Resource Area...

For the seventh year in a row, a survey of chief executives has ranked California as the nation's worst state in which to do business. More than 500 U.S. CEOs polled by Greenwich, Conn.-based Chief Executive magazine based their opinions on numerous factors, including regulations, tax policies, work force quality, education resources, quality of living and infrastructure.

A Government Accountability Office report to be released on Tuesday concludes the federal government "could potentially save billions of taxpayer dollars annually" by "reducing or eliminating duplication, overlap, or fragmentation" in federal government programs. The report was mandated by a provision included by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., in a bill passed last year raising the federal debt ceiling. And Coburn said on Monday evening that the findings bolster his long-standing attempts to consolidate or eliminate duplicative programs. "It makes us all look like jackasses," Coburn told reporters, arguing both the legislative and executive branches can barely track federal programs. "Anybody...