Free Republic

Senate Democrats said Wednesday that the Supreme Court has stretched the First Amendment too far when it comes to campaign finances, and vowed to hold a vote to amend the Constitution and undo a number of landmark decisions. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat and chairman of the Rules Committee, said he will push a constitutional amendment to the full floor later this year that would give Congress the power to impose strict limits on campaign finance. “It will draw to a fine point where we are at — and that is, the First Amendment is sacred, but that...

Does the Environmental Protection Agency really need armed agents? Outside of law enforcement, federal agencies now employ over 25,000 people as armed agents. They are more than guards. They’ve become like private armies that can push around private citizens. Over 70 non-military federal agencies now have their own armed agents. You expect armed agents with the FBI, the U.S. Marshal Service and the Border Patrol. But the EPA? The Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, even the Social Security Administration and the National Institutes of Health? Even the Department of Education and the Department of Housing and Urban...

The Department of Health and Human Services is proposing a rule that would, if implemented, guarantee that even more Americans who like their health insurance plans cannot keep them. Fixed indemnity plans, which pay insured customers a set amount towards medical expenses and are often cost-effective relative to more comprehensive health insurance, are popular forms of coverage, and potentially becoming more popular in the wake of Obamacare. Health insurance industry representatives say that fixed indemnity plans have been attracting more interest as many Americans look for a way to mitigate against the high deductibles applicable to many insurance policies available...

New York has joined the campaign to effectively end the Electoral College’s role in determining winners of presidential elections. Under the National Popular Vote Compact, which Gov. Cuomo signed off on Tuesday, the state has agreed to award its electoral college votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the national popular vote. Currently New York’s electoral colleges votes go to the winner of the state’s popular vote. …

After the federal Bureau of Land Management agents backed down from their intimidating stance at the Bundy Ranch last weekend, ample evidence has surfaced indicating the standoff between the government and the Nevada ranching family is far from over. Throughout the weeklong stalemate, members of the Bundy family were physically assaulted by armed officers, numerous cows were shot dead, and protesters faced threats of gunfire for merely expressing their outrage. Immediately after what many considered a victory against a tyrannical federal agency, a number of leftist voices – most notably, Sen. Harry Reid – indicated the action against this family...

In case you missed it Obama, our federal Constitution tells us in crystal clear language that our Constitution, and only those “Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof . . . shall be the supreme Law of the Land ….” And so, the question which must be asked and answered to determine if Obamacare is the law of the land is, was Obamacare made in pursuance of our Constitution? As I will have further occasion to establish, Obama care does not meet constitutional muster and turns out to be legislative tyranny backed up by judicial...

    TRENTON, N. J., Oct. 3.--Before an audience which filled the Taylor Opera House, Dr. Woodrow Wilson, Democratic candidate for Governor of New Jersey, defined to-night where he stood on public issues. He was received with immense enthusiasm. His wife, sitting in a box, joined heartily in the applause.     Unmindful of the fact that "Old Nassau" is only sung or played when Princeton men are in danger of defeat, the band played the air when Dr. Wilson was introduced by Chairman Erwin E. Marshall of the Democratic City Committee, but the audience did not know university ethics, and yelled for five...

Since Teddy Roosevelt counseled, “Speak softly and carry a big stick,” U.S. presidents mostly have followed his advice, cautioning adversaries to resolve conflicts peacefully or suffer consequences. Even President Carter brandished America’s big stick upon learning that bad things happen when you’re not respected, prompting him to Think Again about deterrence given “the Soviets’ ultimate goals.” But today, after unilaterally “resetting” relations with repressive regimes including Iran and Russia — whose Ukraine incursion is “the gravest threat to European security and stability since the end of the Cold War,” proclaimed NATO’s chief — America’s posture is more akin to “speak...

March 26, 2014 10:44 AM Read the Complete List of Obamacare Delays By Alec Torres The Obama administration will announce its tenth Obamacare delay later today, this time extending the March 31 enrollment deadline for people who say they’ve been unable to enroll in health plans in the federal marketplace by the deadline. The extension applies to the federal exchange operating in three dozen states and is expected to last for two or three weeks. Can’t remember what all the delays have been? Politico provided a helpful history of Obamacare delays from most to least recent: March 25: Final enrollment...

"Will we hear from you a pledge, a personal promise, that the information provided in the registration process will not be used for deportation purposes in this country?" "Absolutely," Obama said, putting his hand down for emphasis. "It's true that the undocumented are not eligible [for Obamacare], that's how the law was written, but if you are a U.S. citizen or you have a legal presence in this country, you are eligible," he said. "And none of the information that is provided in order for you to obtain health insurance is in any way transferred to immigration services. So that's...

On Friday, Pres. Obama mocked Republicans who complain about his use of executive actions to "fix" Obamacare without involving Congress. **SNIP** "The reason they don't do it, of course, is that we already took the best ideas that are out there about bringing down costs and covering more people. Yes, there have been some disruptions. Yes, we lost that first month out of the gate. And we've worked hard to fix problems that have come up without any cooperation from them; in fact, they've complained when we fix them. They say, how dare you fix the things we were complaining...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia reserves the right to use force in Ukraine to protect Russian-speaking residents there and called the toppling of former President Viktor Yanukovych's government an "unconstitutional coup." *SNIP* He said he understood the desire by Ukrainians for change but said "illegal change" could not be encouraged. "It was an unconstitutional coup and an armed seizure of power that took place. No one argues with that," Mr. Putin said.

Now that tens of thousands of gun owners in Connecticut are in direct violation of a hastily-passed gun control law, a video of a fed-up Navy veteran warning lawmakers that he “will not comply” with the law is just going viral. As previously reported by TheBlaze, as many as 100,000 gun owners technically became felons overnight because they chose not to register their semi-automatic rifles and/or high-capacity magazines. A man, identified as John S. Cinque, reportedly appeared at a public meeting in North Haven, Conn., on April 22, 2013, to confront lawmakers over the gun control law. Cinque started by...

The president issued an executive order last week purporting to raise the minimum wage for employees of federal contractors to $10.10 an hour. The order is unconstitutional. The Supreme Court made clear in Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer that “the President’s power, if any, to issue the [executive] order must stem either from an act of Congress or from the Constitution itself.” Furthermore, “when the president takes measures incompatible with the expressed or implied will of Congress, his power is at its lowest ebb, for then he can rely only upon his own constitutional powers minus any constitutional...

Barack Obama: You can call it ‘Obamacare’ By: Jose DelReal February 17, 2014 09:38 AM EST It may not be polling well, but President Barack Obama isn’t too worried about the Affordable Care Act’s nickname, Obamacare, or the health care law’s impact on his legacy. “I like it. I don’t mind,” the president told former NBA star Charles Barkley in an interview that aired Sunday about the term Obamacare. “And I tell you, five years from now, when everybody’s saying, ‘Man, I’m sure glad we got health care,’ there are going to be a whole bunch of people who don’t...

Full Title: Treasury: Employers must “self-attest” that ObamaCare not behind staffing decisions – under penalty of perjury Old and busted: Businesses will love ObamaCare for its cost savings in health care! New hotness: Businesses had better not make staffing decisions based on cost savings from ObamaCare-fueled price spikes! After its latest delay in implementing the employer mandate, the Obama administration rebuffed criticisms that the law incentivizes employers to shift to part-time work by announcing the Treasury Inquisition — ahem, excuse me, the Treasury Attestation Department: The latest announcement comes after the administration heard from businesses about their concerns with the...

(CNSNews.com) – Once again acting without Congress, President Obama has unilaterally changed his signature health insurance law, delaying its employer mandate – the second time he’s done this -- to 2016, after the mid-term elections. BUT: To be eligible for the additional delay, the Obama administration says an employer “may not reduce the size of its workforce or the overall hours of service of its employees” unless it can justify those reductions to the Internal Revenue Service. On Monday, the administration issued new regulations saying that employers with 50 to 99 workers don’t need to provide minimum essential coverage until...

How will the feds know what employers were thinking when hiring and firing? Simple. Firms will be required to certify to the IRS – under penalty of perjury – that ObamaCare was not a motivating factor in their staffing decisions. To avoid ObamaCare costs you must swear that you are not trying to avoid ObamaCare costs. You can duck the law, but only if you promise not to say so.

(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) says that the newly launched Congressional Full Employment Caucus will “give President Obama a number of executive orders that he can sign.” Jackson Lee made the statement while gathered with Democrats on January 29th to announce the establishment of the Full Employment Caucus. “We will be answering the call of all of America because people need work and we’re not doing right by them by creating work,” Jackson Lee said. “I believe this caucus will put us on the right path and we’ll give President Obama a number of executive orders that he...

Attorney General Eric Holder couldn't explain the constitutional basis for executive orders such as President Obama's delay of the employer mandate because he hasn't read the legal analysis -- or at least, hasn't seen it in a long time. "I'll be honest with you, I have not seen -- I don't remember looking at or having seen the analysis in some time, so I'm not sure where along the spectrum that would come," Holder replied when Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, asked him to explain the nature of Obama's constitutional power to delay the mandate. Lee had based his question on...