Free Republic

Kevin Mooney: Union bosses get major role in Obamacare management Union officials are likely to fill key positions on committees making major decisions if President Barack Obama's government-run health care reform proposal becomes law, according to a new study by the National Right to Work Committee. Sections 123 and 2251 of H.R. 3200, the version of Obamacare being pushed by House Democratic leaders, are of particular concern, according to NRTWC, because they could put union-backed appointees on new government committees that recommend mandatory health insurance benefits provided by private insurers, and personnel policies the bill describes as necessary "to ensure...

President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), Cass Sunstein, says that organs for transplant shortages could be averted by reforming the protocol that determines when organs may be harvested from donors. Currently, persons wishing to donate organs must sign permission documents in advance. Many do not. The number of organs available for transplant would be larger if explicit permission were not required. “Just because a person is born with an organ doesn’t mean he is entitled to keep it if a greater need could be served by a different disposition of this asset,”...

The Marxist, Racist, Radical Jones is out, officially. However, it will be prudent to see where he goes after his resignation. It’s unlikely that we’ve see the last of him, given the immediate efforts, by the State Run Media, to martyr Jones. Even in his statement, he blames everyone, except himself, for his demise. And one can be sure that the administration that appointed him, feels the same: “On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me,” Jones said in his resignation statement. “They are using...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama's leadership is being tested as his poll numbers dip and his supporters question his commitment to fight for them, analysts say. Dozens of interviews this summer in six states conducted by The Washington Post and published Sunday revealed a growing sense of gloom and disappointment by the president's supporters over his administration's present course, especially coming after an August congressional recess dominated by angry attacks from opponents of his healthcare reform agenda.

According to the Left, older Americans are hypocrites to protest Obamacare because they use Medicare. Many opinion articles have been written about this hypocrisy of the elderly. There was the Newsweek article titled, Health Care Hypocrisy, where Daniel Gross wrote:

President Obama will address Congress this week to try and revive the movement for healthcare reform. He's been back and forth on whether or not he supports a single-payer/socialized medicine plan or a plan without a single-payer government option. Until this weekend, I thought that the catch 22 regarding the far left wing of the Democratic Party was whether they could stomach "just" a healthcare reform bill, or if the party would eat its own, attack the moderate Blue Dog Democrats for refusing to back a single-payer plan, and fall on their swords for their socialist medical craving. You see,...

LABOR DEPARTMENT SEEKS TO REVERSE CHANGES MADE DURING BUSH ADMINISTRATION The Labor Department is trying again to roll back Bush administration regulations that made it easier for farmers to hire temporary foreign farm workers. The agency Thursday said it is proposing new rules that would boost wages and increase safeguards for thousands of seasonal workers brought in each year to help farmers pick their crops. It also would require that growers make greater efforts to fill those jobs with American workers. If the rules are adopted, they largely will reverse regulations finalized shortly before President George W. Bush left office...

When my husband Irving was a young man he would go door-to-door around Milwaukee with a Jewish National Fund blue box collecting money to redeem property in the Land of Israel. Although it was during the Depression, everyone put in what they could afford: pennies, nickels and dimes. In the 19th century, wealthy Jews like Rothschild were purchasing large tracts of land for Jews to settle in the Holy Land. The synagogue Ohel Yitzhak in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City, abandoned in 1938 after waves of Arab violence - which we recently rebuilt - was originally built and...

Here's a petition directed to Fox News Channel asking that Glenn Beck and Greta VanSustern be swapped. It's a really well-written petition. I happen to be a Greta fan, but after reading it, I signed.

Barack Obama’s health care initiative is under fire. And the President is firing back, preparing a prime-time speech before Congress, and attacking opponents—apparently believing that the best defense is a good offense.Take, for example, the issue of abortion.Critics say that the health care reform versions being proposed in the House and Senate allow federal funding of abortion on a massive scale. Obama calls this charge “not true” and a “fabrication.” During a conference call with friendly religious leaders, the President accused the critics of “bearing false witness.”And yet the independent FactCheck.org says otherwise: “Despite what Obama said, the House bill...

I was sick much of last month, still don't feel good, I'm just old, tired, aggravated and worn out, I suppose. First is a LITTLE BLUE HERON, next a GREAT BLUE HERON, different birds altogether. I love the color of the Magnolia seeds, nothing else quite like it.

Andrew Romanoff set his sights on a race for the U.S. Senate only after the breakdown of several months of backroom negotiations with Gov. Bill Ritter to find an alternative political opportunity for the popular former state House speaker. the potential deal centered on appointing Romanoff lieutenant governor when Barbara O'Brien — who was considering other options — stepped aside. Romanoff allies said Ritter finally told the veteran state legislator in a meeting between the two men in late June that he would not get the job. That set off a chain of events that led Romanoff to consider a...

Now that Jones has resigned, we need to follow through with two critical policy victories. First, stop cap-and-trade, which could send these groups trillions, and second repeal the unspent portion of the stimulus bill, which stands to give them billions. The Van Jones affair could be an important turning point in the Obama administration if we use it as a window to understand the structure of the left and to stop the huge power-grab now taking place in the name of green jobs. It's also one of the most significant things I've ever had the honor of being involved in....

Superintendent Says He's Ordered Students To Watch Address NEW ORLEANS -- Orleans Parish School Board Superintendent Darryl Kilbert said Friday he's ordering teachers, staff and students to watch President Obama's address designated for schools on Sep. 8. The directive impacts students and staff at four Orleans parish schools. And the Superintendent said he's encouraging charter schools within the district to allow students to watch President's address. “Not only will the President’s speech address civic engagement and personal responsibility, both pillars of Louisiana education goals, it will also allow our students to participate in interdisciplinary lessons and discussions,” Kilbert said. The...

At first glance it seems as if no one has turned up to meet June McCauley and his giant refrigerated truck. But as he drives into the car park, the inert cars suddenly bristle with life. Arms shoot out from car windows, each brandishing a fistful of empty plastic bags. Mr McCauley climbs out of the truck and starts unloading heavy crates of tomatoes, onions, potatoes, milk cartons and bread on to the hot tarmac. Sitting on the kerb nearby, Barbara Britton’s eyes widen. “Ooh, they’ve got some bread, they’ve got potatoes. We got some good stuff this time,” the...

Here is video of former Gov. Howard Dean on Fox News Sunday today reacting to the resignation of Van Jones as President Obama's "Green Jobs" Czar. Howard Dean said he had recently talked with Jones, and he believes Jones was "brought down," and that his resignation is a "loss for the country." Dean defended Jones when Chris Wallace asked him about why Jones had signed the 9/11 "Truther" petition. Dean said Jones signed it because "someone waved a clip board in his face at a rally," meaning he did not know what he was signing. . . (VIDEO)

Muslims will be able to surf the internet without the fear of accidentally encountering sinful material after a Dutch company launched the world’s first Islamic search engine. The ImHalal service works like any other search facility until potentially illicit words are entered, when it rates the search from one to three on its risk of generating “haram” or forbidden material. Reza Sardeha, founder of AZS Media Group which runs the search engine, said: “The idea grew up when some friends of mine complained that when they searched on Google or Yahoo once in a while they bumped into sexually explicit...

In recent weeks one of the many problems Americans have had with plans for the federal government to take over the health care industry has had to do with life and death issues such as rationing, euthanasia and “death panels.”The socialists pushing government health care have tried very hard to whitewash these concerns, but to little avail.  Even the elderly (who are often solid Democrat supporters because of their addiction to the government largess they already enjoy in programs like Social Security and Medicare) are deserting the Temple of Government in droves; apparently the thought of euthanasia and rationing...

The allied commander wants greater effort, but the war looks ever more likely to poison Barack Obama’s presidency Entertaining a group of US historians at the White House this summer, President Barack Obama revealed that he was beginning to worry about Afghanistan and the prospect that his ambitious domestic agenda would come to be overshadowed by an unpopular and unwinnable war. It was an odd moment for Obama to be preoccupied by foreign policy – he was in the middle of a ferocious congressional battle over healthcare reforms – yet his concern turned out to be prescient. As he spends...

EDMONTON - A St. Albert teacher facing child pornography charges was found dead in the St. Albert RCMP detachment parking lot yesterday morning. "Our thoughts go with the family of this person," said Cpl. Laurel Kading, with the St. Albert RCMP. "We know this will be a terrible and trying time for them." About 2:35 a.m., two Mounties returning from patrol found the body of Kerry Glen Avey, 45, lying near his vehicle in the visitor's area of the RCMP detachment parking lot close to the sidewalk, police said. He appeared to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police...