Free Republic

Twenty-six percent (26%) of Massachusetts voters say their state’s health care reform effort has been a success. A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds that 37% say the reform effort has been a failure, while another 37% are not sure. Only 10% of Bay State voters say the quality of health care has gotten better as a result of the reform plan while 29% say it has gotten worse. Most (53%) say the quality of care has not changed. As for cost, 21% say the reform has made health care more affordable in Massachusetts. Twenty-seven percent (27%)...

Although New Haven's firefighters deservedly won in the Supreme Court, it is deeply depressing that they won narrowly — 5-4. The egregious behavior by that city's government, in a context of racial rabble-rousing, did not seem legally suspect to even one of the court's four liberals, whose harmony seemed to reflect result-oriented rather than law-driven reasoning. The undisputed facts are that in 2003 the city gave promotion exams to 118 firemen, 27 of them black. The tests were prepared by a firm specializing in employment exams and were validated, as federal law requires, by independent experts. When none of the...

I arrived home today after work to find my wife had died. She suffered an apparent heart attack and passed very peacefully while taking her afternoon nap. Cynthia Marie was 52 and we have been together since the 4th grade. Our daughter is 21 and will be home in the morning. Please say a prayer for my Cindy tonight, she's with God in Heaven with our infant Elizabeth, my mom, her dad and all the Angels. Love to you all. G

It was 1,300 pages long and had to voted on the next day.Who had time to read it? A prudent Government official especially one is that is the "Czar" would make time to read it would they not given the horrible negative affect this is going to have on the Economy your bills and Jobs! Cap-and-Trade = The Biggest Tax Increase In U.S. History The house has currently passed and the Senate is considering a draconian cap & trade bill that will have devastating effects on our economy and your household budget. Obama readily admits that under his plan electricity...

It has been a rocky couple of weeks for the Republican Party as high-profile, traditional-values politicians have faced embarrassing sex scandals. First it was Sen. John Ensign, R-Nevada, who admitted in a news conference two weeks ago to having an affair with a former staffer. Then, last week, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford trumped Ensign. After days in which his whereabouts were unknown by his wife and staff (who thought he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail), Sanford held a tear-filled and rambling news conference to admit to an affair with an Argentine woman, and to apologize to his staff...

Every general studies the mistakes of the last war, and President Obama's style has been much influenced by the difficulties of Bill Clinton's presidency. In particular, Obama has shied away from handing Congress his own plans on "stone tablets," a phrase much loved by senior adviser David Axelrod, and instead allowed it room to legislate. The president has won a lot, including a decent stimulus bill and laws on children's health coverage, tobacco regulation and employment discrimination that, in less exciting times, would have been seen as landmarks. But the stimulus bill was neither as good nor as large as...

The Supreme Court's rejection of a decision against white firefighters endorsed by Judge Sonia Sotomayor gives Republicans a renewed chance to attack her speeches and writings but is not expected to imperil her confirmation to the high court, political and legal sources said yesterday. The decision that the New Haven, Conn., firefighters were unfairly denied promotions because of their race comes two weeks before Sotomayor's Senate confirmation hearings and is an unwelcome distraction for the White House from what had seemed like a relatively smooth confirmation process. It is also somewhat of an embarrassment, forcing administration officials to explain why...

SNIPPET: "A young schoolboy was “converted” to Islam on the streets of Birmingham by a radical Muslim preacher, the Sunday Mercury can reveal. The bewildered-looking 11 year-old, who gives his name as Sean, was filmed repeating Arabic chants and swearing allegiance to Allah. The white schoolboy is prompted throughout by controversial cleric Anjem Choudary, a follower of exiled hate-preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed.

Last night’s 2009 BET Awards serenaded the nation with the hottest names in the entertainment business, as well as honoring the late Michael Jackson for his great contributions to the music industry. Meanwhile, a glamorous gathering of celebrity divas, ornately attired and dazzling to behold, regaled us at the BET’s red carpet. Zoe Saldana kept it minimal by wearing a white Calvin Klein dress and Brian Atwood heels.

Most political and media discussions of medical care have an air of unreality reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland. There is an abundance of catch-phrases but remarkably few coherent arguments. Let's start at square one. Why is there alarm about American medical care? The most usual reason given is because its cost is high and rising. That is certainly true. We were not spending nearly as much on high-tech medical procedures in the past because there were not nearly as many of them. And we weren't spending anything at all on some of the new pharmaceutical drugs because they didn't exist....

In his memoir, former CIA Director George J. Tenet described the agency's first course of action in a crisis. "Despite what Hollywood might have you believe," Tenet wrote, "you don't call in the tough guys; you call in the lawyers." For more than three decades, that almost always has meant making a call to John A. Rizzo. The acting general counsel at the CIA, Rizzo has guided generations of agency leaders on the legal contours of clandestine operations and the often-ensuing investigations. At CIA headquarters, he is known for his eye-watering wardrobe -- with ties, cuff links and suspenders colored...

As analysts project $10 trillion in deficits this decade, President Obama's main path to fiscal fitness is to curb federal health care outlays long term.Obama's public insistence on budget-neutral reform has put Washington's focus on the difficult job of paying for an expansion of health care coverage. Budget watchdog groups generally approve of this pledge to fully pay for a new health care entitlement, though it's not at all clear that Congress will deliver such a plan. But using health care cost cuts to finance a big spending expansion — rather than reduce the deficit — may entrench near-term budget...

The Bible calls the Church "the Body of Christ." Today, that body is bleeding profusely, says a Christian author and sought-out speaker. "The next generation of believers is draining from the churches, and it causes me great personal and professional concern," said Ken Ham, founder and president of Answers in Genesis and a Young Earth creationist. Hoping to shed light on what he believes is a monumental problem, Ham enlisted the services of America's Research Group to study why young people were leaving. The results, published in Already Gone, will shake many churches to their very core, Ham states in...

There is a decent amount of buzz brewing today over a the cost-benefit analysis put together by Jim Manzi on the Waxman-Markey bill. The analysis is very well worth the read and I would suggest reading the whole thing. For those of you unwilling to read it all, the result of his analysis is that: "The costs would be more than ten times the benefits, even under extremely unrealistic assumptions of low costs and high benefits. More realistic assumptions would make for a comparison far less favorable to the bill." The left is a-twitter, already rationalizing away the reasons why...

Police say that the gang usually is comprised of four members, one adult and three younger ones. While the three younger ones, all appearing sweet and innocent, divert their "mark" (or intended target) with a show of friendliness, the fourth -- the eldest -- sneaks in from behind the person's back to expertly rifle through his or her pocket or purse for any valuables.

The chief counsel with the Pacific Justice Institute is fighting for the rights of parents to opt out of a controversial curriculum. San Francisco Bay-area Alameda Unified School District has approved a "lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender" (LGBT) curriculum for use with kindergarten through fifth-grade students. The curriculum is intended to deal with issues such as bullying and harassment. Kevin Snider with the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) says the board passed the curriculum despite the objection of 73 percent of the speakers from the community who attended the board meeting. "The fundamental problem with the curriculum is it gives a...

Mich. in talks to possibly take Calif. prisoners By KATHY BARKS HOFFMAN Associated Press Writer Monday, Jun. 29, 2009 LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm sent a letter Monday to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger formally offering to house - for a fee - some of the Golden State's prison inmates. Michigan plans to close two prisons by the end of September: the Standish Maximum Correctional Facility about 145 miles northwest of Detroit and a medium-security prison in Muskegon, located in central Michigan. Michigan could save the jobs of about half of the 1,000 prison guards it plans to lay...

It's time for a Tea Party. July 4, 2009, and you're all invited.

Jeff Immelt, chairman and chief executive of GE, has highlighted his fears of protectionism and called on President Barack Obama to steer US foreign policy toward more open relations with rest of the world, particularly China and the Middle East, to help American companies foster exports and drive economic growth. Jeff Immelt has called for President Obama to initiate more open foreign relations In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph before the opening of the London Business School's Global Leadership Summit on Monday, Mr Immelt said: "US foreign policy needs to be first and foremost focused on the US...

Note: The following text is a quote: YOU ARE HERE: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report Warden Message: Mauritania Kidnapping Threat CONSULAR AFFAIRS BULLETINS Sub-Saharan Africa - Mauritania 27 Jun 2009 U.S. Embassy Nouakchott released the following SMS Warden Message on June 27: Embassy advises American citizens in Nouakchott of a credible threat of a kidnapping attempt tonight, June 27. Americans should exercise utmost security and remain securely locked in their residences and take extreme caution while in vehicles or offices. RELATED REPORTS 23 Jun 2009 WARDEN MESSAGE: MAURITANIA SECURITY AWARENESS FOLLOWING U.S. CITIZEN MURDER 12 Jun...