Free Republic

Stephen Colbert started off his biggest "Late Show" interview yet by flattering his subject. "Everybody loves Joe Biden," Colbert said, eliciting a loud cheer from a younger-skewing audience. In the nearly 20 minutes of back-and-forth, emotional, and, at times, gut-wrenching conversation that ensued, Biden showed why — although Colbert's statement is a bit of a hyperbole — that is largely true. Joe Biden embodies authenticity at a time when the voting public craves it. For his part, Colbert surmised that "everybody loves Joe Biden" because "when we see you, we think we're actually seeing the real Joe Biden. You're not...

Last fall, TIME magazine declared Paul the "most interesting man in politics" and stamped him on its cover. Paul launched his campaign earlier this year pledging that he was a "different kind of Republican." Four months later, though it's still early in a crowded, fluid race, it's clear that many Republicans want different — but not him. His campaign is struggling to keep up with his rivals in fundraising. Two of his political allies running an outside super PAC supporting his candidacy were recently indicted on campaign-finance fraud charges. Significant plunges in polling are starting to correspond. And Trump has...

Monica Lewinsky is stepping out of the shadows, writing for the first time about her mid-1990s affair with former President Bill Clinton in this month’s edition of Vanity Fair. […] Lewinsky says she is going public in part because of the tragic story of 18-year-old Rutgers student Tyler Clementi, who killed himself in 2010 after his roommate filmed him, without his knowledge, kissing another man. Lewinsky says the incident took her back to the days of her own scandal, when her mother worried she would try to commit suicide. Lewinsky says now she believes it is important to tell her...

Spending on health care grew an astounding 9.9% in the Bureau of Economic Analysis' advance estimate of first-quarter GDP. It's the biggest percent change in health-care spending since 1980, when health-care spending jumped 10% in the third quarter. Analysts said it's primarily due to a consumption boost from the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Adjusted for inflation, America is spending more on health care than ever before.Personal consumption grew by 3.0%, about half of which was due to the growth in health-care spending, said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist for Pantheon Macroeconomics. "If health-care spending had been unchanged, the headline GDP growth number would have...

A New Democratic Poll Is Warning Of Midterm Disaster For Democrats