Free Republic

Health Plan Premiums Are Skyrocketing According To New Survey Of 148 Insurance Brokers, With Delaware Up 100%, California 53%, Florida 37%, Pennsylvania 28%13 Health insurance premiums are showing the sharpest increases perhaps ever according to a survey of brokers who sell coverage in the individual and small group market. Morgan Stanley’s healthcare analysts conducted the proprietary survey of 148 brokers. The April survey shows the largest acceleration in small and individual group rates in any of the 12 prior quarterly periods when it has been conducted. The average increases are in excess of 11% in the small group market and...

Fred Karger knew he was a 2012 long shot, but wanted to make history.During the last presidential election, Fred Karger’s run was a big first, but he was barely heard of by most. Karger, a longtime political consultant who advised the campaigns of former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, was the country’s first openly gay presidential candidate from a major political party – and he was a Republican, which made his journey as a political anomaly a worthy watch. This month, Karger is back campaigning in New Hampshire, but now it's for a new film by John Fitzgerald...

The Democratic Party's official talk radio host got violent yesterday, in an altercation he described as an effort to protect free speech. Attending a Howard Dean rally in New Hampshire, unfunny funnyman Al Franken physically assaulted a heckler in the crowd, wrestling him to the ground in a bid to silence him. "I got down low and took his legs out," Franken boasted to the New York Post afterwards. The altercation was witnessed by NBC Washington Bureau chief Tim Russert, who called Franken's antics "unbelievable." "One of the Lyndon LaRouche guys got up and started screaming and yelling," Russert...

The Democratic Party's official talk radio host got violent yesterday in an altercation he described as an effort to protect free speech. Attending a Howard Dean rally in New Hampshire, unfunny funnyman Al Franken physically assaulted a heckler in the crowd, wrestling him to the ground in a bid to silence him. "I got down low and took his legs out," Franken boasted to the New York Post afterward. The altercation was witnessed by NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert, who called Franken's antics "unbelievable." "One of the Lyndon LaRouche guys got up and started screaming and yelling," Russert told...

"Comedian" Al Franken is running for the U.S. Senate seat from Minnesota, this the media is happy to report. But, for some unexplainable reason, the media isn't so interested in reporting Franken's odd behavior. It seems that an ungovernable rage is always just under the surface with Franken, a rage that has several times broken free and resulted in assault and other violent or antisocial behavior. Why the media doesn't highlight this man's unstable behavior can only mean that they are lending him as much cover as they can to assist his campaign. His unprofessional and intemperate language is well-known,...

<p>Wise-cracking funnyman Al Franken yesterday body-slammed a demonstrator to the ground after the man tried to shout down Gov. Howard Dean. The tussle left Franken's trademark thick-rim glasses broken, but he said he was not injured.</p> <p>Franken - who seemed in a state of shock and out of breath after the incident - was helped back to his feet by several people who watched the tussle. Police arrived soon after.</p>

<p>January 27, 2004 -- EXETER, N.H. - Wise-cracking funnyman Al Franken yesterday body-slammed a demonstrator to the ground after the man tried to shout down Gov. Howard Dean. The tussle left Franken's trademark thick-rim glasses broken, but he said he was not injured.</p>

<p>Could Al Franken's life take an unfunny turn? The liberal comedian may have crossed the line after brawling with hecklers during a Howard Dean rally in New Hampshire.</p> <p>Though accounts of the fracas vary, the beefy comedian essentially bearhugged, then brought down an agitated Lyndon LaRouche supporter who screamed Mr. Dean was "a liar" from the back of the Palace Theatre in Manchester, where the Democratic presidential hopeful took questions.</p>

I'm in a rental car with Al Franken, and we're driving across New Hampshire on the Sunday before the nation's first primary, heading to a John Edwards rally. The Democrats are in a kooky mood following the sudden collapse of Howard Dean in Iowa, and Franken -- comedian, celebrity, scourge -- is spending two days in the state not in any official capacity but as a sort of good-will representative from the party's satiric wing. He is not, as you might think from the outrageous trappings of his comedy, an extreme lefty but rather a devout party man, one who...

Lone Female Democratic Governor Celebrates #EqualPayDay Andrew Stiles // April 8, 2014 5:01 pm New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan (D), fourth from left. New Hampshire governor Maggie Hassan (D) celebrated “Equal Pay Day” on Tuesday: Governor Hassan Proclaims Equal Pay Day, Urges Support for New Hampshire Paycheck Fairness Act http://t.co/FcVQiPlJZM— Gov. Maggie Hassan (@GovernorHassan) April 8, 2014 Of the 21 Democratic state governors, Hassan is the only woman. From the Democratic Governors Association website:There are four times as many female Republican governors:Women are amazing. Why do Democrats hate them so much?

<p>Former senator Scott Brown (R-Mass.) was so busy picking a new state that he forgot to pick a party.</p> <p>Whoever filled out Brown’s formal statement of organization for his campaign exploratory committee left blank the small gray box asking for the candidate’s party affiliation.</p>

What a shock- a Russian-Ukrainian billionaire who made his initial fortune from dubious stock shares eminating from the breakup of the Soviet Union has been sending big, fat checks this year to establishment Republicans and Democrats who aren't too uppity re. foreign policy.Of course, most billionaire Russians who are part owners of huge Russian mining/energy companies over there are KGB/FSB and/or mafia-connected... just like Putin And London resident Leonard Blavatnik is a typical pro-Putin oligarch, getting rich off looting the Russian state then utilizing that ill-gotten fortune to spread Russian influence around the globe. In this case, Blavatnik made almost 20 BILLION from the Russian oil/mining industries...

Update 1145am EST. Many of you are asking for the list of the anti-drilling Republicans. The group who succeeded in pressuring the GOP to cave in calls itself the "Republican Main Street Partnership." They're holding a press conference at 130pm EST in Washington, D.C. to bray about their "victory." Here's some more info: Main Street Leaders who helped broker the deal to eliminate ANWR from budget cuts: Rep. Charlie Bass (R-NH), Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), Rep. Jim Walsh (R-NY), Rep. Joe Schwarz (R-MI), RMSP Executive Director Sarah Chamberlain ResnicHere's the complete list of "Main Street" members in Congress. 1pm EST....

My illness over the stunts pulled during the last election and my disgust with the NH Spineless party has kind of worn off so I need help. Carol Che-Porter is a disgusting liberal bag lapper and possibly a clam digger. She lied about her support of Veterans and most every thing else, name an issue and she will lie about it. I am a Life Member of the VFW and we tossed the VFW PAC because we were infiltrated by lefties, scum. The Department Commander almost had a stroke when they endorsed her. Now is the time to retire Che,...

MASON CITY, Iowa — By now, Sen. Ted Cruz’s tea party credentials are unassailable. But as he mulls a presidential run, he’s reaching out to other key parts of the Republican base, including Christian conservatives who dominate the Iowa GOP caucuses every four years.With enduring friction between grass-roots activists and the “establishment” that Cruz so often denounces, a candidate who can appeal across several factions would have an edge. That was a subtext for his latest visit, with a side trip last week to a corner of Iowa where no Texas politician pops up by accident.After an introduction that mentioned...

A majority of the cigarettes for sale in New York are illegally smuggled into the state, according to a report out Wednesday from the conservative research group the Tax Foundation. According to the report, 56.9% of the cigarettes sold in New York—the highest importer of smuggled cigarettes—originated from out of state. Since 2006, cigarette smuggling in the state has risen sharply, by 59%, in tandem with a massive hike in cigarette taxes of 190%. New York state now has the highest cigarette taxes in the country, at $4.35 a pack. Residents of NYC must also pay an extra $1.50 per...

A marrow spoon attributed to silversmiths Daniel Henchman and Nathaniel Hurd will be for sale at an antiques fair in England in April. Asking price: almost a quarter million dollars. The spoon has a cast 3-D hand at the end of the handle and a scalloped bowl. It's dated 1766-68. The high price is based on the quality of the silver work and the spoon's history (provenance), proven by the engraved words "John Wentworth Esq to Thomas Smith." Wentworth was the wealthy British Colonial governor of New Hampshire from 1767 to 1775, and Smith, also important in the Colonies, was...

Former Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown announced Friday that he is laying the groundwork for a possible challenge against incumbent Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire, but Shaheen is comfortably ahead of Brown for now in Rasmussen Reports’ first look at the possible U.S. Senate race in the Granite State. A new statewide survey of Likely New Hampshire Voters finds Shaheen with 50% support to Brown’s 41%. Four percent (4%) like some other candidate in the race, and five percent (5%) are undecided.

Former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown on Friday will announce he is launching an exploratory committee for a run for the New Hampshire U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. A source close to Brown confirmed the announcement is at hand, and said it will be made in Nashua, where the state Republican Party will begin its two-day Northeast Republican Leadership Conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Brown has been flirting with a Senate run in the Granite State for the better part of a year and recently moved full-time to what had been his vacation home in Rye and...