Free Republic

In a prank call George W. Bush admits the US broke its promise to Russia not to expand NATO eastwards because “times have changed” and the US was “adjusting to the times”. Important for all nations to know that US agreements have an undisclosed expiry date.

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said at a town hall meeting that if Republicans win back the Senate later this year they would not attempt to repeal Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act. The admission came after the senator, who is running for his eighth term, was asked how the party planned to get Americans affordable healthcare. “It’s not repealing the Affordable Care Act, if that’s your question,” Grassley said Monday in Waukon, Iowa. “Yes, I’m saying that I would not — we’re not going to repeal the Affordable Care Act,” he added after the questioner pushed further.

(CNN)The federal government announced a large hike in Medicare premiums Friday night, blaming the pandemic but also what it called uncertainty over how much it may have to be forced to pay for a pricey and controversial new Alzheimer's drug. The 14.5% increase in Part B premiums will take monthly payments for those in the lowest income bracket from $148.50 a month this year to $170.10 in 2022. Medicare Part B covers physician services, outpatient hospital services, certain home health services, medical equipment, and certain other medical and health services not covered by Medicare Part A, including medications given in...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s campaign committee has repeatedly promised her donors she would personally match their financial contributions, but so far she has not matched a single cent, according to a report. Pelosi has been using a popular deceptive tactic that is used in political fundraising to gather more donations. The tactic, which promise donation-matching, has been under intense scrutiny according to a report by Axios Pelosi’s campaign has reportedly gone a step further by the speaker promising the contribution matching would come from her personal fortune. But, reports show Pelosi has not made a single contribution from herself. According...

Tuesday on FNC’s “Fox News Primetime,” Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) discussed what have been perceived by some to be divisions within the Republican Party in the wake of the election losses over the past few months. Noem argued the path forward for the GOP was to follow through on its promises, which in some situations had been lacking. She pointed to the pledge to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. “I think what people want is a Republican Party that actually follows through on what they say they’re going to do, that actually puts forward and enacts...

“Toll free in ’73.” That was the campaign slogan over five decades ago that promised tolls on Illinois interstates would be a temporary revenue sources. Today, the tolls are higher and the tollway authority is more permanent than ever. Lawmakers promised tolls would help fund 186 miles of interstate construction and would be removed when the roads were paid off. After that, highway maintenance would be funded by the gas tax. In 1968, the General Assembly made the Illinois Toll Highway Authority permanent. What started at just 10 cents at the exits and 25 cents at the plazas has grown...

Dear GOP Politicians Controlling Congress and the White House: You’re arguing that reducing the corporate tax rate ultimately creates jobs. I agree wholeheartedly; been preaching it forever! But, see, the same applies overall to Main St. Once small business and individual’s income taxes are reduced proportionate to your proposed corporate tax reductions, WE can expand our small busineeses and personal buying power… thus more jobs created. See? Just like that obfuscating Obamacare rollout, this tax reform rollout buffalos the people with distractions in what you call “tremendous tax cuts for the middle class.” (For example, eliminating common deductions that average...

In September 2009, President Barack Obama released a highly touted report on the state of health insurance prices in the United States, titled The Burden of Health Insurance Premium Increases on American Families. The report, which was published by the Executive Office of the President (EOP), painted a grim picture of health care costs.“Health insurance premiums continue to rise for American families,” wrote the authors of the EOP report. “Premiums are rising in all states and far in excess of wage growth or inflation. If we do nothing, the soaring rise of health insurance premiums will mean that millions of...

The long association between the Democrats and the KKK is legendary and documented, but you won’t hear that spoken at a democratic fundraiser because they have “cooked” the books so to speak. People like Orval Faubus, George Wallace, Bull Connor and Sheriff Clark had one thing in common. They were Democrats and racist. Research those names from the 1950s and early 60s and see what you find. Research JFK and LBJ and find out that both voted against Civil Rights legislation in 1957. How about this, research the Voting and Civil Rights act of 64 and 65 and see who...

Imagine if the current President were a Republican, and if during the second half of his second term, after having been elected both times with record turnout by blacks, the black unemployment rate remained stagnant at 11 percent while the black poverty rate hit a record high of 27 percent. What would black politicians be saying about that Republican President? We don’t really need to answer that question, do we? But for arguments sake, let’s imagine that almost seven years after the great recession the country was basically back to work, with an official unemployment rate haven fallen from almost...

Judging by the midterm election results, the American public hasn’t forgotten President Obama’s broken promise that “if you like your health plan you can keep your health plan.” The good news for healthcare is that the fallout has disrupted the political status quo so much that a partially patient-centered healthcare reform may be possible soon after the president leaves office. Even partial reform could bring welcomed relief to millions who lost their health plans. In a study released in October, Edmund F. Haislmaier and Drew Gonshorowski of The Heritage Foundation calculate that 3.8 million people lost benefits from their jobs...

President Barack Obama has “once again” broken his promise and retreated from officially recognizing the genocide of 1.4 million Armenians by the Turkish government in 1915-18 on this year’s April 24 “Armenian Remembrance Day,” said the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). “While we do note that the president chose to join in today’s national remembrance, we remain profoundly disappointed that he has, once again, retreated from his own promises and fallen short of the principled stand taken by previous presidents,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian in an April 24 press release. “It’s a sad spectacle to see our...

Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn today proposed making permanent the temporary income tax increase he signed into law three years ago, fully framing the debate over his fall re-election bid against Republican Bruce Rauner who wants the tax hike rolled back. Delivering his budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins July 1, Quinn sought to offer some sweeteners for keeping the tax increase—including a doubling of the tax credit for lower-income workers and offering a flat $500 property tax rebate to benefit homeowners. "As a result of our hard work to restore fiscal stability -- from spending reductions to pension...

Now that the Big Lie has been exposed for everyone to see, it’s going to take some time for it to sufficiently sink in. I imagine most low-information voters who don’t follow politics regularly -- the obvious exception being people who’ve already been negatively impacted by the Affordable Care Act -- aren’t too familiar with the president’s now-broken “if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan” pledge. That will all change soon enough. Now, of course, when Americans head to the grocery store -- or perhaps to their local pharmacy -- this cover will...

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill this afternoon that is literally named after Barack Obama's most famous presidential promise. He has threatened to veto it, natch -- even though his own bogus and legally questionable administrative "fix" purports to accomplish many of the legislation's goals. (Reminder: Neither Obama's plan, nor any of the legislative solutions, are actually viable). Dozens of frightened Democrats shook loose from Nancy Pelosi's arm-twisting and voted with a nearly unanimous GOP caucus to send the "Keep Your Plan" Act to the Senate. Your move, Harry: Thirty-nine House Democrats on Friday broke ranks to support...

If you've read this, or this, or this, or this, today's Washington Post report is hardly a shocking bulletin: Software problems with the federal online health insurance marketplace, especially in handling high volumes, are proving so stubborn that the system is unlikely to work fully by the end of the month as the White House has promised, according to an official with knowledge of the project. The insurance exchange is balking when more than 20,000 to 30,000 people attempt to use it at the same time — about half its intended capacity, said the official, who spoke on the condition...

You don't say. Another Obamacare distortion goes boom. No, not the "you can keep your doctor" charade; the repeated-ad-nauseam "it'll be like Travelocity" one. The Associated Press reports: You may have heard that shopping for health insurance under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul will be like using Travelocity or Amazon. But many people will end up with something more mundane than online shopping, like a call to the help desk. Struggling with a deadline crunch, some states are delaying online tools that could make it easier for consumers to find the right plan when the markets go live on...

A Chronology of Border Patrol and DHS Positions on Border Security Metrics In a March 26 breakfast meeting with Washington reporters, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Congress should not include border security metrics as a prerequisite or "trigger" in immigration reform legislation to grant legal status to about 11 million people living in the country illegally. "Relying on one thing as a so-called trigger is not the way to go", Napolitano said. "There needs to be certainty in the bill so that people know when they can legalize and then when a pathway to citizenship … would open up."...

Late last week, Obamacare regulators added more than 800 pages to an ever-growing document that will govern your healthcare. The bureaucrats' work product now prints out to 20,000 pages -- nearly eight times the length of the infamous original bill: That tower is already taller than Kobe Bryant (see update), and much of the law hasn't even gone into effect yet. According to the Government Accountability Office, Obamacare is projected to add $6.2 trillion to the nation's long-term deficits, despite presidential assurances that it wouldn't add a "single dime" to our red ink:

Now the other shoes begin to drop. Voters knew in November that many of the promises Obama made in 2008 had been broken. The economy had not revived as he had promised it would ("or we'll be talking about a one-term proposition"). He has not "changed the tone in Washington" -- except for the worse. He didn't prevent lobbyists from holding positions in his administration. He didn't cut the deficit in half; he increased it radically. But voters apparently decided that the president deserved credit for good intentions. How long will that indulgence last? The next four years, whatever else...