Free Republic

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Capitol Hill in 1994 in an effort to lobby support for a universal health care plan for which she was sharply criticized. WASHINGTON, June 9 — No policy issue has bedeviled Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton more than health care. Ever since the collapse of her proposal for universal coverage in 1994, critics have used the issue as prime evidence in their case that she is, at heart, a big-government liberal with a zeal for social engineering. But now, as Mrs. Clinton heads into her re-election campaign and a possible bid...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Supreme Court on Monday blocked a lawsuit that accused the federal government of doing too little to protect undeveloped Western land from off-road vehicles. The court, on a 9-0 vote, said environmental groups cannot use courts to force the federal Bureau of Land Management to more aggressively safeguard about 2 million acres of potential wilderness in Utah. Justices had been asked to clarify when a federal agency can be sued for failing to follow a congressional mandate - in this case, to preserve the pristine quality of lands being considered for wilderness designation. Tina...

<p>April 29, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - Splurging federal workers used their government-issued credit cards to buy Oakley sunglasses, leather bomber jackets, jewelry, fine wine - and even a mounted deer head, according to a bombshell report. One employee also bought two cars, paid for "surgical enhancements" and picked up a motorbike - making dozens of fraudulent purchases worth more than $132,000, the General Accounting Office said.</p>