Free Republic

[SNIP]To figure out whether an individual mandate would count on the federal books — whether it would be more like the coal miners’ insurance or the wheelchair ramps — the C.B.O. laid out several factors. Would consumers be able to choose among a number of insurance plans? Would plans have differing levels of coverage from which people could choose, and be offered by different companies? The more clearly the answer to those questions was “yes,” the more lawmakers could rest assured that the individual mandate wouldn’t shift trillions of dollars in private-sector health spending onto the government’s books.And for advocates...

".......Gruber’s comments have been much-remarked-upon, particularly on the right, not only for confirming what Obamacare critics have said for five years but also for capturing at least in part the ethos of modern progressive liberalism: smarter-than-thou zealotry masquerading as for-the-greater-good pragmatism. (That he did it at sound-bite length is simply an added perk.) But for a movement that touts its stratospheric intelligence, the response to Gruber’s comments from his longtime supporters, both on Capitol Hill and in the media, reminds observers of something else: that liberalism tends to handle its PR nightmares with an iron first. Consider what is happening...

From the Washington Examiner President Obama did something extraordinary, perhaps unprecedented, in his post-election news conference Wednesday: He claimed a mandate on behalf of voters who didn't vote. "To everyone who voted, I want you to know that I hear you," the president said. "To the two-thirds of voters who chose not to participate in the process yesterday, I hear you, too."...Obama's message to Republicans was unmistakable: My mandate is bigger than your mandate.... LOL. Liberalism is the ideology of anti-intellectual children, the examples of this are too numerous to count, but Obama has the brightest (or more accurately,...

Please tell me why Republicans are expected to compromise and capitulate for the greater good, when Democrats, under the tutelage of one Barack Obama, defiantly implemented the most radical and rogue agenda in our nation’s history? And yet the same discerning media that has demonized any and all dissent during their savior’s tenure now calls it imperative to squash any suggestion of an “implied” conservative mandate granted by a small rabble, but by no means “a wave”, of discontented voters? Because irony and journalistic integrity are known to cause mental and moral paralysis, I’m guessing our righteous critics were sick...

After the astounding victories by Republicans last night, it was only a matter of time until liberals tried to make sense of it all, while still not admitting that they were defeated. Rachel Maddow of MSNBC earned the gold medal for mental gymnastics last night, however, by claiming that Democrats “won the argument” when it came to their policies by… losing the Senate. This sentiment was then echoed on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC blog, in a post titled, “A Win? Yes. A Mandate? No.” The piece says that, with an overwhelming victory, Republicans will say the election was “an endorsement from...

"The IRS last month posted drafts of its new forms for the 2014 tax year. These should by no means be considered complete – Congress can often keep meddling with the tax code deep into December – but looking at the draft 1040 can remind us of the changes ahead. Here are four lines from the 2014 1040 that reflect changes....... Line 61 – “Health care: individual responsibility (see instructions):” This is the much-talked-about individual mandate. The fee for not having health insurance in 2014 is 1% of your yearly income or $95, whichever is higher. The payment amount will...

In the next decade, Florida’s biggest cities will add toll lanes to the state’s busiest highways. Nobody knows exactly how much it will cost. Maybe as little as $3 billion. Maybe double that. What’s clear is that when the toll lanes across the state are complete, they will become one of the largest infrastructure projects in state history. There’s little debate that the toll lanes, also called express lanes or managed lanes, make commutes quicker for those willing to pay as much as $10 to use them. But there has been little debate about the need for the projects —...

Washington, DC – Today, the Administration released its eighth revision to the Health and Human Service (HHS) Mandate. This is the latest step in the administration’s long retreat on the HHS Mandate. It is the eighth time in three years the government has retreated from its original, hard-line stance that only “houses of worship” that hire and serve fellow believers deserve religious freedom. We look forward to reviewing the new rule and its implications for the 102 cases, including religious charities like Little Sisters of the Poor (see video), Mother Angelica’s Eternal Word Television Network (see video), and religious colleges...

Another reminder that when the economic realities of this boondoggle collide with Democrats’ political priorities, the economics ultimately must bow. The first hard lesson in that was the “if you like your plan, you can keep your plan” fiasco. It was never true that people could keep their old plans if they liked them under O-Care, as even Barney Frank admits. The whole point of the law was to cancel low-cost existing plans and steer healthy people to new plans with “comprehensive” benefits that many don’t really need. That’s how you justify squeezing them for the added revenue needed...

Paul Krugman and others on the left routinely sneer at the idea that you can actually increase government revenues by cutting tax rates. (Turns out most of the time you can’t, but in some cases you can.) But there is a similar myth on the left. It’s the idea that by spending more money on health you can reduce overall health care costs. According to The New York Times, President Obama is using that idea to support free contraceptives for women: The Obama administration says the cost of providing contraceptives will be offset by savings that result from greater use...

Robert Gibbs’ prediction that Obamacare’s employer mandate would — and perhaps should — be jettisoned shocked Democrats back in April. By July, the former aide and longtime confidant of President Barack Obama had a lot more company. More and more liberal activists and policy experts who help shape Democratic thinking on health care have concluded that penalizing businesses if they don’t offer health insurance is an unnecessary element of the Affordable Care Act that may do more harm than good. Among them are experts at the Urban Institute and the Commonwealth Fund and prominent academics like legal scholar Tim Jost....

Looked at from a distance, it may seem as if the Supreme Court struck a mighty blow in defense of religious liberty in the case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, which it decided this week. Yes, the court ruled that a law called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act could apply to "closely held" corporations, and under its terms the federal government could not force the Christian family that owns Hobby Lobby to provide insurance coverage for certain drugs and devices that violate the family's religious beliefs. But looked at more closely, the case shows how profoundly the Supreme Court has...

Abortion-rights protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court building on Monday holding signs that read “Birth Control: Not My Boss’s Business.” Much to their chagrin, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito agreed in his ruling in the Hobby Lobby case. Of course, that’s not how supporters of the government’s contraception mandate see it. They actually believe that birth control is their boss’s business, and they want the federal government to force employers to agree. More on that later, but it’s first worth noting how we got here. First, contrary to a lot of lazy punditry, there is no Obamacare contraception mandate. As...

How did women get birth control before President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act? Before Obamacare, a woman could go to a doctor and get birth control. She often had to pay or make a copayment for contraception. But in the 2014 political lexicon, that means she had no access. On Monday, the Supreme Court issued its 5-4 Hobby Lobby decision, which recognized family-owned corporations' religious right to not offer contraception mandated under the Affordable Care Act in their employee health insurance plans. In her dissenting opinion, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg charged that the ruling would "deny legions of women...

Late yesterday, the first fruits of the Hobby Lobby decision fell into the lap of EWTN, the Catholic satellite television station which has fought the HHS mandate into the appellate court. Today would have been the first day that EWTN would have to start paying ruinous fines for refusing to provide free contraception and sterilization in its health insurance coverage. Fortunately, the Eleventh Circuit granted a stay not long after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby: In a resounding victory for religious freedom, today EWTN was granted last minute relief from the Eleventh Circuit Court of...

Yesterday the Supreme Court ruled in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby that closely held corporations cannot be required to provide contraception coverage in employees’ health insurance. Opponents of Obamacare’s contraception mandate claimed victory, as did opponents of the law more generally, as well as many Americans with deep religious convictions. Hobby Lobby, a family-owned business that has grown from a mom-and-pop operation in the 1970s to a chain of 514 stores that employs more than 21,000 people, is the largest company to challenge the health-care law. The company’s statement of purpose says the board of directors is committed, first and foremost,...

The Supreme Court decision in the Hobby Lobby case should be seen as a clear and important victory for religious liberty. The majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, makes it clear that owners of closely held corporations, based on their sincerely held religious convictions, have the right to opt out of the so-called HHS mandate – the regulatory requirement that employers must include free contraceptives, sterilization procedures, and abortifacient products in their health-insurance offerings to workers. The plaintiffs in this case should be commended for having the courage to fight for their rights in court and for seeing their...

In a victory for religious freedom, the Supreme Court ruled today 5-4 in favor of Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. in the case Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (formerly named Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby). The case was the strongest legal challenge to Obamacare since 2012. Justice Alito authored the majority opinion, and Justice Kennedy wrote a concurring opinion.

The U.S. Supreme Court has given the Obama administration (and, hopefully the world) a lesson in the first freedom. I'm sorry it was necessary, but it was—the government cannot (and must not) require people of faith to violate their sincerely-held beliefs. The High Court's Ruling The ruling in favor of Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties underscores religious liberty as our "first freedom." The freedom to exercise religion, enshrined in our Constitution's Bill of Rights, has been called "the cornerstone of the American experiment" because it is from our religious freedom all of our other freedoms flow. Below is a...

A few years ago, Vice President Joe Biden called a wind turbine facility in Saginaw one of the top "100 Recovery Act Projects that are Changing America." In 2010, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act awarded Merrill Technologies Group a $22 million advanced energy manufacturing tax credit that then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office said was used to buy advanced manufacturing equipment needed to create wind turbine components in a facility in Saginaw. The Recovery Act also gave Merrill Technologies another $3 million. The former governor trumpeted the facility as the future of Michigan's economy that would help create 89,918 clean energy...