Free Republic

"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...

Increasingly even many Democrats are recognizing that the American ship of state is foundering. It's Captain seems out of touch with reality. The Captain may be stressed out or the problem may be more serious. The American people are losing confidence in President Barack Obama's leadership. Movie Director Michael Moore says Obama has only one accomplishment. "100 years from now: 'He was the first black American that got elected president.' And that's it." Republican voters are increasingly vocal in their calls for impeachment. There is a less divisive way of dealing with a situation in which a president is out...

President Obama is “absolutely” the most transparent president in history, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Sunday after the White House received a letter from signed by a dozen top journalists’ groups complaining about the administration’s policies toward the media. “There are a number of steps that we've taken to give people greater insight into what's happening at the White House,” Earnest said in an interview with CNN’s “Reliable Sources.” The letter, signed by the Society of Professional Journalists and the Poynter Institute, among others, accuses the White House of "politically driven suppression of news and information about federal...

FULL TITLE: EXCLUSIVE: HHS Bankrolled Catholic and Baptist Church from 2010 to 2013 to Prepare for Obama’s 2014 Invasion!//// A month or two ago news broke that Obama’s HHS was calling for private contractors to help transport illegal aliens throughout the interior United States. What made this already big news even bigger is the fact that the original call for proposals came out in January, long before the bulk of the illegal alien surge began. The breaking news you’re about to read is ten times bigger, because the following proves the Obama administration was bankrolling America’s churches back in 2010....

Republican Iowa U.S. Senate candidate Joni Ernst attempted Tuesday night to walk back statements made at a January event in which she said President Barack Obama had “become a dictator” who should be “removed from office” or face “impeachment.” In a statement provided to Yahoo News, reacting to a story published earlier Tuesday, Ernst said that she did not believe Obama is a dictator but rather “his repeated use of unilateral action sure makes him look like one.” “To be clear, I have not seen any evidence that the President should be impeached,” the statement read.

White House may not cooperate with Benghazi select panel By Justin Sink - 05/05/14 02:40 PM EDT The White House suggested Monday it may not cooperate with a new House select committee investigating the terror attack in Benghazi. Press secretary Jay Carney said that the White House has "always cooperated with legitimate oversight," but called the new probe a “highly partisan effort to politicize” the deadly attack. "If you look at even what some Republicans have said, it certainly casts doubt on the legitimacy of an effort that is so partisan in nature," Carney said. "I don't think there are...

Today, U.S. Congressman Blake Farenthold (TX-27) attended a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Attorney General Eric Holder was the sole witness. Today marked the seventh time General Holder has testified before the Judiciary Committee since his confirmation in 2009. Congressman Farenthold did not question Holder during the hearing because he felt that, since the Attorney General has been held in contempt of Congress, it was not appropriate for him to appear before Congress as if nothing was wrong. Instead, Congressman Farenthold made the following remarks during his designated questioning round in today’s hearing:...

Eric Holder ventured off script in a speech Wednesday to the National Action Network, the organization led by MSNBC host and recently-exposed FBI informant Al Sharpton. “I’m pleased to note that the last five years have been defined by significant strides and by lasting reforms,” said Holder at the conference of black activists, before improvising “even in the face, even in the face, of unprecedented, unwarranted, ugly, and divisive adversity.” “If you don’t believe that, if you look at the way, forget about me, forget about me, if you look at the way the attorney general of the United States...

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) said Tuesday night that he left President Obama's State of the Union speech early after "hearing how the President is further abusing his Constitutional powers." "I could not bear to watch as he continued to cross the clearly-defined boundaries of the Constitutional separation of powers," Stockman said in a release shortly after Obama's speech ended. "Needless to say, I am deeply disappointed in the tone and content of tonight's address." Stockman said he was reacting to Obama's promise to "break his oath of office and begin enacting his own brand of law through executive decree." "This...

A well-respected constitutional expert is blasting President Obama’s unprecedented abuse of powers, and has decribed him as worse than Richard Nixon. He even goes so far as to call him the most un-American president in the history of the nation. The words of an arch-conservative? Hardly. The warnings of a liberal icon. Nat Hentoff, historian, novelist and syndicated columnist, is not a fan of Barack Obama. In fact, Hentoff says it’s time to consider impeachment — citing Obama’s tendency to resort to executive orders or actions whenever his proposals are rejected by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. “Apparently he doesn’t...

If you're unawares, an offshoot of TeaParty.net -The Tea Party Leadership Fund- has come up with an efficient, direct plan to primary and surgically-remove Agent Orange from office- thus freeing our party from his destructive influence while scaring the crap out of any other Gee Oh Pee Establishment fossil who dare declare war on the party's own base...  Not that there's any shortage of other reasons to dump his pathetic, whimpering butt: Speaker Boehner is solely responsible for- Continuing the funding of Obamacare and defeating Ted Cruz's efforts to defeat Obama's signature legislation; Doing Barack Obama's bidding by raising...

"..................Jarrett’s official job description is “somewhat vague,” Becker writes, noting that at least part of her role is to serve as “chief liaison to the business community, state and local governments, and the professional left,” but her influence is undeniable. She commands a staff of nearly three dozen and has a hand in decisions ranging from the invitation list to state dinners and what gifts to give foreign leaders, to who should be nominated to the Supreme Court, appointed to a vacant ambassadorship, or awarded the President Medal of Freedom. When Warren Buffett visits to the White House for lunch,...

About 280,000 Kentuckians will have to give up their current insurance policies in the months ahead and enroll in alternatives that comply with the Affordable Care Act, the federal health care reform law.Kentucky Department of Insurance spokeswoman Ronda Sloan said individual policies for about 130,000 people will be discontinued, as will small group policies for about 150,000 more.Those affected, Sloan said, will receive discontinuation letters when their policies come up for renewal.“This is because their current plans do not meet the requirements of the Affordable Care Act,” Sloan said in an emailed statement. “Instead, they are being transitioned to new...

Former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino, who is running for Congress in Maryland, appeared on the Glenn Beck Program Thursday to discuss why he chose to run for elected office. “We’re at a very dangerous point, Glenn,” Bongino began. “We’re in a lot of trouble. The president sees government — and I think it’s because of his lack of experience, and maybe community organizing in the past — as like this shiny new toy. And for all the disagreements I had with Clinton, Carter, and Bush, there were always limits. There was that line you just didn’t cross — we...

Every day,it seems, more people who have been screaming their hatred for those who predicted all we see coming true are admitting what we have known all along. The president is incapable of telling a truth,and what conservatives have been predicting for three years about ObamaCare has been entirely correct. Indeed,we haven't seen anything close to the worst of what is to come,since the system hasn't even begun to function in its utmost state of disarray and confusion. We've seen a website and estimates of premium and deductible figures which have been panic-inducing all on their own. There is not...

It’s just one tweet, but the sheer mendacity requires its own post. With the media finally in “now it can be told” mode since Obamacare passed and President Obama was reelected, pretty much everyone is admitting what all of us knew four years ago— that no, not everyone would be able to keep their plans if they liked their plans. And, yes, the Obama administration knew it just as sure as its critics did. It was a lie and an obvious one, but the administration, much of the media, and Obamacare supporters happily acted as if it were true and...

Is there a method to President Obama's style of leadership, his methods of decision-making, his habits of attention, oversight and follow-through? In recent months I've been keeping a file of stories that might suggest an answer. See what you think. *** "President Barack Obama went nearly five years without knowing his own spies were bugging the phones of world leaders. Officials said the NSA has so many eavesdropping operations under way that it wouldn't have been practical to brief him on all of them. "They added that the president was briefed on and approved of broader intelligence-collection 'priorities,' but that...

We are going to punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us. –President Barack Obama, October 2010 The Obama Justice Department has increased Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement actions over 65% compared to the prior administration, a dramatic shift that stands to benefit Attorney General Eric Holder’s former law firm Covington & Burling—the firm that helped write the law and describes itself as “a leading voice” on FCPA enforcement and compliance. Several FCPA investigations by the Obama Justice Department have included companies headed by top Republican donors...

European leaders united in anger as they attended a summit overshadowed by reports of widespread U.S. spying on its allies.... Angela Merkel said had shattered trust in the Obama adminstration...

During friendly questioning from Rep. Hank “I fear that Guam will capsize!” Johnson in Congress last week, Attorney General Eric Holder offered the following statement. In regard to potential prosecution of the press for the disclosure of material. This is not something I’ve ever been involved in, heard of, or would think would be wise policy. He made that statement before the facts about the sweep on Fox News’ James Rosen were known. Since then, it’s come to light that Holder himself approved the subpoena that, among other things, named Rosen as a criminal co-conspirator.