Free Republic

The entire endorsement is a play for the 'we’re all winners' generation. To prioritize one candidate would require courage, which cannot be expected from the newspaper that pushes the ahistorical '1619 Project' for clicks. “Senator Warren is a gifted storyteller,” or so the New York Times would have us believe in what could be termed as one of the strangest pieces of political pamphleteering in modern Western history. The entire endorsement, if one can call it that, is a play for the “we’re all winners” generation. It is like the new fashion in literature prizes, where everyone is a winner...

President Trump told Republican senators Tuesday he supports two bipartisan efforts to stabilize ObamaCare's insurance markets. Trump, during a luncheon on Capitol Hill, said he supports a bill proposed by Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.), that would continue key ObamaCare insurer payments. He also said he supports a bill proposed by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) that would set up a reinsurance fund to help insurers cover higher-cost individuals. "He said he supports Alexander-Murray. He said, more importantly, he supports Collins-Nelson... which has widespread bipartisan support," Alexander told reporters after the lunch. Collins, who...

The White House announced Thursday that President Trump is taking executive action on health care as Congress stalls on efforts to overhaul ObamaCare, calling for a plan that could let employers band together and offer coverage across state lines. An executive order Trump plans to sign Thursday morning aims to offer “alternatives” to ObamaCare plans and increase competition to bring down costs. “The time has come to give Americans the freedom to purchase health insurance across state lines, which will create a truly competitive national marketplace that will bring costs way down and provide far better care,” Trump said in...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new Republican bill to replace Obamacare will be unveiled in the U.S. Senate on Monday with backing from President Donald Trump, according to one of two Republican senators who have crafted the legislation. The lawmaker, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, told reporters he was optimistic the legislation could pass before a Sept. 30 deadline. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has said he will hold a vote if the bill can attract support from enough senators for it to succeed on a simple majority.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said Wednesday that he would support a plan to repeal Obamacare led by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA). ”Yes. You think I wouldn’t be?” McCain told reporters Wednesday, asked if he would support the legislation, the Hill reported. Arizona’s senior senator, whose close friendship with Graham is well known, affirmed that he thought the bill, in The Hill’s words, “has legs before Sept. 30.” The Graham-Cassidy legislation would essentially dismantle much of Obamacare’s federal infrastructure, turning over federal dollars to the states to do with what they wish, though that flexibility at the...

Health care is at the front line in a power play for America. A White House official announced Wednesday that the Trump administration will continue President Barack Obama’s unconstitutional payment of cost-sharing reduction (CSR) subsidies to insurers through August.Despite outward appearances and media commentary, this is not ultimately about health care. The Affordable Care Act is focused on nationwide leveling of American incomes. Redistribution of workers’ wages is taking place through skyrocketing premium subsidies and billions in illegal CSR subsidies.Congress never appropriated money for CSR payments, which are estimated to be around $10 billion in 2018. The payments are...

Premiums for the most popular health insurance plans would shoot up 20 percent next year, and federal budget deficits would increase by $194 billion in the coming decade if President Trump carries out his threat to end certain subsidies paid to insurance companies for the benefit of low-income people, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday. The subsidies reimburse insurers for reducing deductibles, co-payments and other out-of-pocket costs that low-income people pay when they visit doctors, fill prescriptions or receive care in hospitals. Even before efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act collapsed in the Senate last month, Mr. Trump began...

President Donald Trump believes that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not do everything possible to pass an Obamacare replacement bill. When reporters asked Trump why he continued to batter McConnell despite support for the Senate Majority Leader from his Republican colleagues, he replied shortly, “Don’t make anything of it, we should have health care approved.” He hinted that McConnell should have threatened to remove Sen. John McCain, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, or Sen. Susan Collins from their chair positions in the Senate to force them to vote for the health care bill. “He should have known that he had a...

BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The long August congressional recess, which Republicans hoped would begin a conversation about tax reform and must-pass budget measures, has so far seen another round of angry town halls focused on President Trump and the stalled effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Over just one day, in three small towns along Georgia’s Atlantic coastline, Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-Ga.) spent more than four hours answering 74 questions, many of them heated. Just three focused on tax reform; nearly half of all questions focused on health care. “We did our job in the House,” Carter said...

Rep. Jim Jordan said Friday that he’s pushing a clean Obamacare repeal bill in the House in an end-run move around leadership. “It’s the same exact legislation we passed 18 months ago — we all voted for, the Senate voted for. We want to bring this to the floor. Our leadership won’t do that. So the only way to go around them is to start what’s called a discharge petition,” Mr. Jordan, Ohio Republican and a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said on Fox News. Mr. Jordan said he plans to begin gathering signatures for the petition Friday, and...

The conservative House Freedom Caucus on Friday is planning a move to try and force a vote on an ObamaCare repeal bill. A spokeswoman for the group said members plan to file a "discharge petition," which would force a vote on a repeal bill if it gets signatures from a majority of the House. The move is usually used to go around leadership and try to bring up a measure to the floor for a vote. The plan comes as the Freedom Caucus, and some other Republicans, are pushing to keep the repeal effort alive, despite the Senate's failed vote...

Republican donors are protesting GOP lawmakers' failure to repeal Obamacare by withholding donations to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. At least $2 million in contributions originally promised to the NRSC have not materialized, CNN reported Tuesday. The failure of Republicans to fulfill a central campaign promise particularly concerns some donors because it could disillusion core voters heading into the 2018 midterms. The uncertainty could put the Republicans' majority—especially in the House of Representatives—at risk.

After fighting Republicans tooth-and-nail for years on their plans to repeal and replace ObamaCare, Democrats have in a matter of days started touting a slew of proposals aimed at improving the ailing health care system. The Democrats’ scramble to tackle the problem comes after Senate Republicans endured a high-profile failure on their so-called ‘skinny repeal’ replacement bill last week, leaving unclear whether Republicans can ever get the votes to go it alone on health care. Given the difficulty in locking down GOP support, some Republicans have welcomed the prospect of bipartisan talks. At the same time, some Democratic ideas --...

There's nothing like the sight of Republicans and Democrats working together and scrambling to save big time government aid to super-rich corporations. Whether it's a bailout for major banks, tax credits for Big Oil, or big subsidies for large agriculture businesses, this kind of crony capitalism seems to anger almost everyone but nobody really does anything about it. Now, we're about to witness another scramble to provide our hard-earned taxpayer money into the pockets of an industry that's already raking in the big bucks. The Senate Health Committee is going to hold hearings in September to find ways to keep...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) revealed that he spoke with President Donald Trump on Monday and told the president that he can take executive action to allow organizations to offer more affordable group health insurance plans. Rand Paul, one of the Senate’s leading conservatives, told reporters that Trump will consider taking executive action to address the many problems with the healthcare system after Sen. John McCain tanked an Obamacare repeal bill last week. The Kentucky senator’s proposed changes would allow groups such as AARP, which represents retirees, to form associations to allow individuals and small businesses to form larger groups to...

President Trump took to Twitter Monday to ask why insurance companies and Congress are not being hurt by the failings of Obamacare just as the American people are being hit. Trump started the day by noting that the unpopular healthcare law is “hurting people” and asked why it isn’t also hurting insurance companies, and also why Congress is exempt. Trump had previously threatened to end what he called “bailouts” for insurance companies and Congress after the failing of the GOP-led Senate to pass either a healthcare reform bill, a flat-out Obamacare repeal, or a so-called “skinny repeal” of Obamacare. The...

Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., argued Monday that President Trump should follow through on his weekend threat and cancel all subsidies that federal lawmakers get to buy insurance under Obamacare. He also said killing lawmakers' subsidies might be the best way to kill Obamacare. "I think if he moves swiftly on it, I think you'd see a lot of these members and senators, they would want to work to repeal Obamacare very quickly," DeSantis said on Fox News. Trump tweeted Saturday that if Congress can't pass a healthcare bill, "bailouts for members of Congress will end very soon!" Trump reiterated the...

The President has the authority to eliminate its illegal exemption immediately.President Trump, having watched the Senate writhe in protracted labor for weeks without giving birth to even the ridiculous mouse dubbed “skinny repeal,” has taken to Twitter and issued this ultimatum: “If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!” It would be unwise for Trump’s enemies — on either side of the aisle — to disregard this as bluster. The President not only possesses the authority to follow through on both threats without consulting Congress,...

President Trump on Monday blasted ObamaCare, saying the healthcare legislation is "hurting people" and questioning why Congress shouldn't be paying the same as the public. "If ObamaCare is hurting people, & it is, why shouldn't it hurt the insurance companies & why should Congress not be paying what public pays?" On Saturday, he similarly ratcheted up his pressure on lawmakers to pass a healthcare plan with a threat to end ObamaCare's subsidy payments to insurers and cancel some lawmakers' healthcare benefits.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn said Monday that the Senate needs to “show some spine” and help fix the heath insurance problem. “President Trump, I believe, is looking to solve the problem. The problem is we’ve got the Senate who cannot seem to — you know they like to work in gangs. We’ve had the gang of seven or eight. I want the gang of 51. I want the Senate to show spine and fix this problem,” Ms. Blackburn, Tennessee Republican, said on CNN. Mr. Trumptweeted over the weekend to slam the “bailouts” for members of Congress buying insurance on the Obamacare...