Free Republic

There is a way out. The path to freedom is available -- and increasingly possible as Obamacare opposition grows and support for repeal increases. Here is a starter package of much-needed policy changes: ⦁ Repeal every word of Obamacare, including the ban on pre-existing condition exclusions. ⦁ Refuse to legalize Obama’s illegal subsidies if King wins King v. Burwell. ⦁ Refuse to build a state exchange no matter who wins King v. Burwell. ⦁ Restore access to indemnity (catastrophic) policies – true health insurance ⦁ Offer individual insurance pre-birth, with ownership linked to the baby. ⦁ Encourage ownership of insurance...

1629 Charles I of England dissolves Parliament and rules alone for 11 years.

As we await a decision in the big Obamacare Supreme Court case, King v. Burwell, progressive pundits have continued to predict a health care apocalypse if the Court sides with challengers to the Obama administration. That’s a wild exaggeration. But there will be some disruption, and Republicans in Congress have been debating the best way to mitigate that disruption. That’s where Associate Justice Samuel Alito comes in. At oral arguments on Wednesday, Alito hinted at another way to overturn illegal subsidies while avoiding near-term problems for the newly insured. The Northern Pipeline precedent At the hearing, President Obama’s Solicitor General,...

In a dispatch on King v. Burwell, the closely watched Obamacare challenge, NPR’s Nina Totenberg observed that the plaintiffs’ attorney, Michael Carvin, argued before the Supreme Court with “red-faced passion.” Indeed, Justice Sonia Sotomayor hadn’t even finished the preamble to her first question when Carvin interrupted her to finish an earlier thought. He then caught himself and apologized, at which point Sotomayor tempered him: “Take a breath.” Carvin needed that moment, because Sotomayor was about to ask a bombshell question about federalism, a subject that later dominated a key portion of the hearing.

During oral arguments in King v. Burwell on Wednesday, Justice Anthony Kennedy expressed skepticism about the government’s claim that the Supreme Court should defer to the Internal Revenue Service’s interpretation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as allowing certain taxes and subsidies in all states, when the statute authorizes those measures only in states that have an “Exchange established by the State.” Specifically, Kennedy expressed skepticism that the IRS interpretation was eligible for so-calledChevron deference, telling Solicitor General Donald Verrilli: And it seems to me a little odd that the director of Internal Revenue didn’t identify this problem...

Supporters of the “Affordable Care Act” have been rather glum of late. Since the Supreme Court agreed to hear King v. Burwell, a lawsuit that challenges the Obama administration’s decision to funnel insurance subsidies through federal exchanges established in the 36 states that refused to create PPACA “marketplaces,” they have rather ironically bemoaned the possibility that five unelected justices could do irreparable damage to the law with one “wrong ruling.” Consequently, they have desperately grasped at a thin straw tossed their way by Justice Anthony Kennedy during Wednesday’s oral arguments about the case. In an exchange with Michael Carvin, who...

One attorney is known for his measured, authoritative approach, the other for a brash, confrontational style. And when the Affordable Care Act brings both of them back before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, these differences may be on display as much as their legal points.In what’s arguably the most important case of the court’s term, Michael Carvin will argue for plaintiffs seeking to upend a fundamental aspect of Obamacare, and Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. will again defend the government. Both are hailed as brilliant litigators steeped in case law, and their first round in 2012 concluded with each man...

When the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in King v. Burwell this week, all eyes will be on Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., trying to figure out which way he's leaning. He's too good a lawyer to do otherwise.

Long Island's Rep. Peter King said Friday he had run out of patience with the House Republicans who are bent on defunding the Homeland Security Department to protest President Barack Obama's immigration executive orders. "It's wrong politically because we'll be blamed for shutting down the department," said King (R-Seaford). "It's wrong morally because we are putting American lives at risk to satisfy a political imperative." That cliff -- the expiration of funds for DHS as of midnight Friday night -- was avoided with Congress' late action. But it was just hours away when 52 conservative Republicans and 172 Democrats voted...

There’s a lot I like about Christie, and I know there’s a lot of people across the country going ‘I can’t believe she’s saying that! Christie’s a liberal!’ First of all, Christie’s not a liberal. (Laugh-snorts), okay? For the record, since bribing and cajoling his way into the governor’s mansion in 2009, the severely conservative Chris Christie has: Signed Hitlerian anti-gun legislation Endorsed Obama’s unconstitutional police state Confessed to agreeing with Andrew Cuomo on “98%”

Southern California Edison (SCE) IT workers replaced by H-1B contractors have become the latest Exhibit A in Congress for reformers of the visa program. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who has long advocated for changes to the H-1B program to protect U.S. workers, said the Edison layoffs illustrate how some employers "are potentially using legal avenues to import foreign workers, lay-off qualified Americans, and then export jobs overseas. "I was shocked by the heartless manner in which U.S. workers were injured," said Grassley in a Senate floor speech Wednesday. (SNIP) "The sponsors of the bill claim it will 'boost our competitiveness...

What Obamacare gave, the Supreme Court could take away. The Supreme Court next Wednesday hears a case that could end Obamacare subsidies in 34 states that use HealthCare.gov. If the justices rule that the subsidies are illegal through the federal exchange, they would largely unravel President Barack Obama’s health care law, which has helped millions of Americans get insured. Story Continued Below . . The circumstances are different than the last time the court had a chance to gut Obamacare. That was in 2012, and the court narrowly upheld the law and its unpopular individual mandate. Back then, most of...

Rep. Steve King said Wednesday that a federal judge’s ruling has undercut Democrats’ filibuster of the homeland security funding bill, and urged his colleagues to stand strong on defunding not only the new deportation amnesty but also the 2012 program that granted tentative legal status to so-called Dreamers. Mr. King, Iowa Republican, also bristled at Mexico’s criticism of the ruling, which halted the new amnesty and which the Mexican government said it “regrets” because it denies illegal immigrant Mexicans benefits they’ve earned. “I shouldn’t be surprised that the lawless land of Mexico doesn’t understand the Constitution or the rule of...

(Reuters) - Five Republican state governors say they will not rescue a crucial part of Obamacare if it is struck down by the Supreme Court, underlining the prospect for a chaotic aftermath to a ruling that could force millions of Americans to pay much more for coverage or lose their health insurance. The Supreme Court is due to hear opening arguments in the case known as King v. Burwell on March 4, marking the second major challenge to President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) after the justices ruled in 2012 against a claim that it was unconstitutional. The latest...

In the wake of a blue comment from House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday, we were issued a challenge, of sorts, by our colleague Paul Kane. (SNIP) 1. "a piece of s—" May 2007. Referring to President George W. Bush's immigration reform proposals. Curse strength: 8. Crisis size: 4. 2. "In Congress, we have a red button, a green button and a yellow button, all right. Green means 'yes,' red means 'no,' and yellow means you're a chicken s—. And the last thing we need in the White House, in the Oval Office, behind that big desk, is some chicken...

On Feb. 3, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) re-introduced his Protect Interstate Commerce Act (PICA), which he attempted to amend into last year’s farm bill. King’s bill would prevent states and local jurisdictions from interfering with the production and distribution of agricultural products in interstate or foreign commerce. In his statement about PICA, King referenced California’s statewide ban on the sale of eggs from hens raised in battery cages. “Just within the last month in anticipation of the new law coming into effect, California experienced a 79 percent increase in egg prices,” King said. “Outside of California, the Midwest has seen...

The Strangest of Kings! A Homily for the Feast of Christ the King By: Msgr. Charles PopeThe reading today on this Feast of Christ the King evokes three images of Christ as King. All of them are to some extent paradoxical, for they emphasize things about a king that we don’t usually think of in relation to a king. They also tell us that we have already met King Jesus, even if we didn’t know it. Let’s look at these three images of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of all Creation.I. Caring King - The first reading, from Ezekiel...

It should have been Mike Pence's strongest moment as Indiana governor -- a chance to showcase his style of executive leadership on the national stage. Instead, the week turned into a calamity of Team Pence's own making. The leaked details of a bizarre proposal to create what sounded like a state government-run news agency sucked all the oxygen out of Indiana's political media, right when Pence was supposed to explain a complicated conservative approach he's taking to expanding Medicaid. Pence immediately backtracked, but the damage was already done. (SNIP) Indiana's Republican House speaker, Brian Bosma, even taunted Pence a bit,...

Jordan confirmed on Wednesday that “The Jordanian King Abdullah II will participate personally on Thursday in conducting air strikes against the shelters of the terrorist ISIL organization to revenge the execution of the Jordanian pilot Maath al-Kassasba by the ISIL.” Media outlets reported the King Abdullah II as saying “The war against ISIL will not end and we will fight them in their shelters.”

It wasn't long ago that Sen. Jeff Sessions was waging a lonely battle against comprehensive immigration reform. ABC News called the Alabama Republican a "lone wolf" in his dogged quest to kill the Senate's immigration reform bill, which passed the upper chamber in June 2013 on a 68-32 bipartisan vote. At one point, Sessions introduced an amendment to slash the number of immigrants allowed to enter the country legally—not even Texas firebrand Ted Cruz voted for it. (SNIP) Not long before his nomination, Sessions had prosecuted three civil rights activists, a group known as the Marion Three that included a...