Free Republic

Congressional Democrats have yet another thing to worry about going into this year's midterm elections.A temporary pandemic relief program aimed at lowering healthcare premiums under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, is set to expire unless Democrats can revive a reconciliation bill that extends the financial assistance past the end of the year. And that means striking a deal with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV).If they can't, roughly 13 million Americans will be hit with steep price hikes amid crippling inflation, in what Insider describes as a "time-bomb.""There's no denying that if they are not extended, then there...

At Granny Shaffer’s restaurant in Joplin, Missouri, owner Mike Wiggins is reprinting the menus to reflect the 5¢, 10¢ or 20¢ added to each item. A two-egg breakfast will cost an extra dime, at $7.39. The price of a three-piece fried chicken dinner will go up 20¢, to $8.78. The reason: Missouri’s minimum wage is rising. Wiggins said the price hikes are necessary to help offset an estimated $10,000 to $12,000 in additional annual pay to his staff as a result of a new minimum wage law taking effect Tuesday. […] New minimum wage requirements will take effect in 20...

For Americans hitting the drive-thru at their local McDonald’s, a $15-an-hour minimum wage could hit them in their wallets. According to a January report released by James Sherk, a former research fellow in labor economics at The Heritage Foundation, fast-food prices would rise by 38 percent under a $15-an-hour minimum wage and cause a 36 percent drop in employment. Sherk’s research comes after several cities and states across the country voted to raise their minimum wages, with increases typically phased in over the next five years. Additionally, several Democrats have advocated a $15-an-hour minimum wage at the federal level, as...

<p>Fast food fans, we've got some bad news. Wholesale prices on a bunch of your favorite food products have seen sharp increases this year. Among those, beef and avocados are through the roof, hitting burrito-makers doubly hard.</p> <p>Because of huge price increases for beef and avocados, Chipotle is raising menu prices for the first time in three years. It's a reality that a lot of restaurants are facing due to rising food prices.</p>

Let’s start with this video, in which KMOV continues investigate the billion-dollar contract awarded by HHS that apparently solved more Pictionary puzzles than processed applications. After their first report, KMOV heard from a number of Serco employees validating the initial whistleblower — who updated Chris Nagus and Dan Greenwald to say that nothing had changed since. One former employee told Nagus on a Skype call that spending seven months doing nothing all day long made her wonder about her own sanity, but more so about the program’s sanity. A supervisor told her in December — when the approaching date...

Madison — In a bit of a political mismatch Thursday, Republican Gov. Scott Walker will meet with President Barack Obama, while Walker's opponent will skip the chance to be seen with the nation's highest-ranking Democrat. Walker plans to greet Obama at the airport Thursday and talk to him about the state's propane shortage. Walker isn't attending the event Obama is headlining at a GE plant in Waukesha as he touts themes he hit in Tuesday's State of the Union address. Mary Burke, the Democrat challenging Walker in the Nov. 4 election, will not be at the airport or the Waukesha...

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, aiming to encourage health insurance companies to offer child-only policies, said Wednesday that they could charge higher premiums for coverage of children with serious medical problems, if state law allowed it. Earlier this year, major insurers, faced with an unprofitable business, stopped issuing new child-only policies. They said that the Obama administration’s interpretation of the new health care law would allow families to buy such coverage at the last minute, when children became ill and were headed to the hospital. In September, the administration said that insurers could establish open-enrollment periods — for example, one...

Sunday, March 15, 2009 DOD Ends Sale of Expended Military Brass to Remanufacturers AND SO IT BEGINS...We all wondered when it was going to start--when the new administration would make their move against us as gun owners. Oh, everyone got upset about HR45--I'll bet I got over 100 e-mails warning me about this draconian gun registration bill that had been introduced in Congress. I was really glad to see Tom Gresham, host of "Gun Talk Radio," an editor, writer, television host on "Self-Defense TV," and one of the foremost gun spokespersons, come out and tell everyone to stop worrying about...