Free Republic

Key bits: "A new poll released Tuesday finds a dramatic surge in Palestinian support for Hamas following last month’s Gaza war"; "The poll found that 53% of Palestinians believe Hamas is “most deserving of representing and leading the Palestinian people,” while only 14% prefer Abbas’ secular Fatah party."

FULL HEADER: Trump's approval rating among likely voters soars to his best in 23 MONTHS at 52 per cent after State of the Union address as border-wall shutdown talks intensify Donald Trump's job approval rating among likely U.S. voters hit 52 per cent on Monday in a daily tracking poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports, the polling organization he uses most frequently to promote himself. That number is his highest since March 6, 2017, less than seven weeks after he took office. It has been even longer since Trump's 'strongly approve' and 'strongly disapprove' numbers weren't under water. They were even...

When the Affordable Care Act open enrollment period begins next week, customers will see some changes, including fewer choices and higher prices. In Pennsylvania, the number of insurers in the marketplace has gone from 13 to eight. In Philadelphia, just two insurers are left and premiums are expected to rise 53 percent.Aviva Aron-Dine of Health and Human Services says the size of the hike reflects artificially low rates early on. Pennsylvania had among the lowest rates in the nation. …

BINGHAMTON, United States, April 16, 2016 (BSS/AFP) - What do a New York lawyer, a business owner who calls himself a left-leaning Republican and a construction worker who elected Barack Obama have in common? They're voting for Donald Trump. None of them live on the breadline. They share surprisingly varied opinions. Yet they are profoundly frustrated -- with the economy, with career politicians and with perceptions of declining American prestige. The Republican frontrunner's supporters are often portrayed as undereducated, underearning whites. But in upstate New York, where Trump calls himself "the most popular person that's ever lived," the breadth of...

We are doomed. Charles Cook at National Review caught up with one of the Occupy Wall Street protesters and the result is both comic and depressing … or as Cook puts it, “That being that if there is something someone doesn’t like about their life, someone else somewhere should change it. And if they don’t, well then, the American Dream is dead”