Free Republic

Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, revealed in a recent interview that his family goes to a Catholic church and that religious morality inspires a lot of his charity work. He also shared his personal thoughts on God and the biggest issues facing the world today. "The moral systems of religion, I think, are super important. We've raised our kids in a religious way; they've gone to the Catholic church that Melinda goes to and I participate in. I've been very lucky, and therefore I owe it to try and reduce the inequity in the world. And that's...

Socialists, Democrats, Communists and liberals rely on people being kept in the dark about their policies. Things are so much easier for them that way. When the media never asks inconvenient questions, any chance of the truth getting out is generally non-existent. But when the bottom publically falls out of one of their fake “benefits” it becomes impossible for these people to keep us in the dark. When the Berlin Wall was coming down the Communists were still telling people to go back to work at their useless factories where they were making useless commodities no one wanted; but the...

The Supreme Court this June could cut off millions of Americans from affordable Obamacare coverage. The response from the nation’s governors gathering in Washington this week was an assortment of shrugs. POLITICO interviewed more than a dozen governors, from both parties, this weekend at the National Governors Association winter meeting. Most said they’re in a wait-and-see zone. The Supreme Court will hear arguments next week, the decision is likely in late June and no one can foretell how the court will rule on its second major case that could strike at the heart of the president’s signature health law. For...

REP. KEITH ELLISON (D-MN): Oh, I don't agree with that. You know, people are always being asked about what somebody else said. But I have to tell you this, the president definitely is a great lover of America. I mean so much so that 11 million Americans got health care who never had it before. That's pragmatic love of country, when you do things for your countrymen and women. So I don't know. I think that the president's an amazing patriot and one of the best presidents I think our country will ever have seen.

While I normally focus on jaw-dropping examples of hypocrisy by politicians, I realize that our beloved leaders also can be absurdly brazen in their exaggerations, deceptions, and prevarications. But sometimes you can’t help but be shocked by their chutzpah.Sort of like the time back in 2010 that a Greek politician issued an ultimatum that his country should get a giant bailout without taking the necessary steps to rein in bureaucratic bloat.But nothing compares with Obama’s recent claim that his opponents are trying to “bamboozle” voters. President Obama, in a fiery speech to Democrats Friday, accused Republicans of trying to “bamboozle...

As the SCOTUS oral arguments in King v. Burwell draw near, the cacophony from liberal outlets is nearly deafening. The plaintiffs’ position is “absurd ,” they cry. Congress “never contemplated withholding premium subsidies” in noncooperative states. Even the Obama administration argued that “it would have been perverse for Senators concerned about federalism to insist on pressuring States to participate in the implementation of a federal statute.”[1] Perverse? Jonathan Gruber (whose position on the issue is “complicated”[2]) is equally disdainful, calling the challengers’ stance “nutty,” “stupid,” and a “screwy interpretation” of the law. Really? Were Obamacare architects incapable of using “sticks”...

Almost half of uninsured adults are unaware that there is a financial penalty for lacking health insurance, according to a study released Thursday by the Urban Institute. The study, using data from December, found that roughly 25 percent of uninsured people above the poverty line had heard “nothing at all” about the penalty, and around 20 percent had heard “only a little.” Fifty-three percent had heard some or a lot. Under ObamaCare, people without health insurance who do not qualify for an exemption must pay a penalty. For those lacking coverage in 2014, the penalty is $95 or 1 percent...

The administration sent incorrect tax information to 800,000 people who have enrolled in ObamaCare, the administration announced Friday. Because of the mistake, tax credits were calculated either too high or too low, and officials are asking people to delay filing their taxes until the problem is corrected. Affected people are now being contacted by phone and email. The administration said that 50,000 of the people affected had already filed their taxes, and the government would now work with them to correct the problem. The error involves the "benchmark" health plan that is used as part of the formula for calculating...

Hypocrisy: If ObamaCare is so great, why do Democrats repeatedly try to hide its more unpleasant features? The latest example is their desperate effort to grant still more exemptions to the law's individual mandate.

Longtime presidential adviser David Axelrod claims 'there hasn't been a major scandal' in the Obama White House – and draws a mix of applause and laughter Longtime Obama administration political insider David Axelrod claimed on Monday that the Obama administration hasn't been tainted by a smidgen of scandal. The surprising boast came during a Q&A at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, an organization he founded and leads. 'I'm proud of the fact that basically you have had an administration in place for six years in which there hasn’t been a major scandal,' Axelrod said. 'And I think that...

Obamacare's second enrollment period has been far less technologically embarrassing than the famous debacle of 2013 and 2014 -- but despite billions of taxpayer dollars having been spent on the website, it still didn't go off without a hitch: A technical problem that had been interfering with sign-ups for President Barack Obama's health care law has been fixed, officials say. Any consumer whose enrollment was hampered by the glitch will be provided with a special enrollment period. The problem popped up the day before a Sunday deadline to sign up for subsidized private health insurance. It had been intermittent, meaning some people were...

Who dealt this mess, anyway? Yea, it's an old card player's term, but sometimes you can use the old switcheroo and it can be applied to ... Frontal politics -  Wide, Wide River; The Fugs (1968)CAUTION: Mildly NSFW or CHILDRENThere’s no reason you should be familiar with the Fugs unless you’re a conservator of semi-popular rock protest bands from the ‘60’s. Butt when I heard that Democratic Representatives Sander Levin (D-MI), Jim McDermott (D-WA), and Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) were demanding relief From Obamacare Penalties for their constituents because they were likely to get hit with a huge “tax” penalty in –...

NEW YORK – Advocates are struggling to get students to eat “healthy” lunches – even if they’re free. It’s not too hard to see why. Timothy Martinez qualifies for free lunches, but he and his classmates often skip meals and go hungry because the cafeteria food at Bronx Academy of Letters is inedible, according to DNAinfo. “When they serve us pizza, sometimes it’s not reheated all the way and you can see the frozen pieces in the dough,” Martinez says. “It’s the same thing with the taco meat. And they serve us ices instead of juice,” referring to the liquids...

Senior Democrats seek sign-up extension for people facing health law penaltiesThe official sign-up season for President Barack Obama's health care law may be over, but leading congressional Democrats say millions of Americans facing new tax penalties deserve a second chance. Three senior House members told The Associated Press that they plan to strongly urge the administration to grant a special sign-up opportunity for uninsured taxpayers who will be facing fines under the law for the first time this year. The three are Michigan's Sander Levin, the ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, and Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of...

**SNIP** Meredith is one of about 6 million people whose subsidized insurance hangs in the balance as the Supreme Court takes up a case that poses the most serious challenge to the Affordable Care Act since the court found the law constitutional more than two years ago. The plaintiffs in King v. Burwell insist that people who buy coverage on the federal exchange are not entitled to subsidies, noting that the law says financial help is available for those who enroll through exchanges “established by the State.” The Obama administration argues that Congress clearly intended to help everyone who qualifies...

Consumers who tried to enroll in Obamacare last weekend but couldn't finish because of technical problems will have another week to complete the task, Department of Health and Human Services officials said Monday. The new deadline for enrolling in federally mandated health insurance has been extended through Feb. 22. A few reasons that qualify people for the extension include: longer than normal call center wait times and a glitch on the site verifying income. Officials also said that individuals who experience "life-changing events," including getting married, having a baby, or losing job-based coverage, can always apply. Officials with the department...

As President Obama fights in Congress and the courts to preserve the nation's sweeping healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act faces still another threat to its viability: Republicans in statehouses, many bucking governors of their own party eager to accept its flow of federal dollars.When a group of Republican governors filed suit to overturn Obama's signature achievement, Wyoming's Matt Mead was among them, arguing the legislation was a vast overreach that violated the Constitution and trampled the right of states to set their own policies.But after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected that argument, Mead decided it would be foolhardy to...

RUSH: Here's this AP story on the Democrats. "Democrats Seek Relief From Obamacare Penalties -- The official sign-up season for President Barack Obama's health care law may be over, but leading congressional Democrats say millions of Americans facing new tax penalties deserve a second chance." A second chance? You're the ones that saddle them with this mess. This is the Limbaugh Theorem on display. Here we have congressional Democrats acting like they had nothing to do with this law, that their voters are a bunch of victims of something. And they need a second chance. They need a second chance,...

The Hill reports: “Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will be among the possible 2016 Republican presidential candidates speaking to a prominent group of conservatives in Iowa this spring. Walker and Cruz will speak at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition’s spring kickoff event on April 25, the group announced in a Monday statement.” Ironically, in an election cycle in which many pundits discount the influence of Christian conservatives, they could play a critical role in selection of the nominee. In past cycles, these values voters have split their vote, never managing to unite behind a single,...

An Opinion article in the Washington Post by John R. Graham explains How Domestic Medical Tourism Could Save Us All Money. One of the most under-reported medical success stories in recent years has been the increase in medical tourism: traveling abroad to get high-quality care at a fraction of what it would cost in the United States. The same Lasik eye surgery that might cost $4,400 here (for both eyes) is available in India, for example, for $500, according to the Medical Tourism Association. A heart-valve replacement that might cost $170,000 in the United States could cost less than $30,000...