Free Republic

Excessive Government involvement is what's wrong with our current healthcare system. One prominent example: FDA regulation and Medicare/Medicaid policies are suppressing new drug and device options and increasing healthcare costs. The FDA's approval process for new technologies costs companies between 250 and 800 million dollars. It takes an average of 8.5 years to move through the FDA's clinical and approval phases and there is no guarantee of approval. Out of 5000 compounds discovered in the pre-clinical stage, only about 5 will make it through. The cost of approved and non-approved drugs and devices are passed on to the physician practice,...

The fundraiser set to be hosted Wednesday by elected officials and business leaders at the posh Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables sounds like countless other receptions benefiting Florida's political establishment. But the invitation topped with bold-faced names is for Marco Rubio, the upstart candidate for the U.S. Senate daring to challenge the popular Gov. Charlie Crist for the GOP nomination. Rubio has been mostly raising money over the Internet. Crist has been attending swanky events almost nightly this month. Their lopsided fundraising battle and poll ratings suggest Rubio's campaign will not end well, but the former Miami lawmaker posted a...

The ultra-conservative wing of the GOP wants to make Florida’s Republican Senate primary a test case of its power. The race pits Gov. Charlie Crist, a moderate who had the audacity to endorse President Obama’s stimulus plan, against hard-core conservative Marco Rubio, a former speaker of the state House. Crist also just signed a new state budget raising the cigarette tax and various fees by $2 billion, an act that further fueled conservative anger. Even worse, the moderate governor has drawn strong support from current Republican senators. He has been endorsed by Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate,...

This is what we need to be talking about. Conservative Values and Standing for Something instead of Standing for Everything. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rigML-twftY

This is a video from The Daly Buzz that attempts to shed light on Crist's sexual preference. What are your thoughts?

On the surface, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist appears to be the rising star in the Sunshine State. Mr. Crist won a landslide election, maintains high approval ratings and was considered as a potential vice presidential choice by Republican nominee John McCain. In addition, he was even ranked the most "fiscally conservative governor in the country" by the Cato Institute - beating out even South Carolina's budget hawk Gov. Mark Sanford. Many Florida conservatives, however, have a very different hero - Marco Rubio.

You have to see this picture. Don't have time to embed it, but click the link. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2loqh_dRGgc/Sij2FsVwsQI/AAAAAAAAAAw/Ea9jywq_dXI/s1600-h/rhinocrist.jpg

It has been over a month since Marco Rubio announced his candidacy for US Senate in Florida http://www.marcorubio.com Still nothing about him mentioned on the RPOF website, but the RHINO Crist is plastered all over the site & now McCollum is featured. When is the RPOF going to show that they are neutral? I still don't see any actions that lend validity to Jim Greer's words. Contact the RPOF and let them know how you feel about their Bias attempt to push a RHINO into the Senate Seat. 420 E. Jefferson Street PO Box 311 Tallahassee, FL 32301 Phone: 850.222.7920...

The state GOP may be officially neutral in the Republican U.S. senate primary, but as an e-mailer points out to Buzz, you would be hard-pressed to know that Charlie Crist even faces a challenger if you went to the RPOF site. It contains plenty of news about Crist's campaign and endorsements but nada that we can see about Marco Rubio. http://www.rpof.org/index.php

I think Floridians will be missing the boat if they vote for Christ. Rubio seems to have what it takes to get things done for conservatives without compromise. Watch the speech on his homepage. It pretty darn good.

FairTax News Alert An Important update for FairTaxers in Seminole County and Greater Orlando May 23, 2009 New FairTax Webinar Thursday, May 28th, at 8 PM Eastern. Following up on last month’s introduction to the FairTax, Marc Manieri’s second live Internet seminar will look at the need for stability of government revenue. Marc will contrast stability in the current income tax system with the stability of a consumption tax (i.e. the FairTax). There will be a presentation followed by Q&A. Audience participation is encouraged. To attend (from the comfort of your own home, of course) you need to register in...

FairTax News Alert An Important update for FairTaxers in Seminole County and Greater Orlando May 23, 2009 New FairTax Webinar Thursday, May 28th, at 8 PM Eastern. Following up on last month’s introduction to the FairTax, Marc Manieri’s second live Internet seminar will look at the need for stability of government revenue. Marc will contrast stability in the current income tax system with the stability of a consumption tax (i.e. the FairTax). There will be a presentation followed by Q&A. Audience participation is encouraged. To attend (from the comfort of your own home, of course) you need to register in...

I keep hearing that the Bush economic policy was to blame for the economic crisis we now face. Lord knows Bush's budgets were way out of line, even though he had 9/11, Wars, Katrina, Power Outages in NYC and the like (secondary causes of recession). The fact is that the primary culprit behind the economic crisis was the statist policies from Carter & Slick Willy that Bush inherited: 1977 CRA Community Reinvestment Act - The act provided that banks have an "affirmative obligation" to meet the credit needs of the communities in which they are chartered. 1989 Congress amended the...

Inflation: You may have heard your parents or grandparents talk about how different things were when they were your age. It only cost a nickel to see a movie. Gas was 30 cents per gallon. A brand new car might cost about $5,000. In the intervening years, prices have risen, sometimes drastically. Seeing a movie in the theater now costs about $8; gas can cost more than $2 per gallon in some places; and few new cars cost less than $15,000. That's inflation. Inflation is when a certain form of currency starts to have less value over time. It is...

President Barack Obama has repeatedly claimed that his budget would cut the deficit by half by the end of his term. But as Heritage analyst Brian Riedl has pointed out, given that Obama has already helped quadruple the deficit with his stimulus package, pledging to halve it by 2013 is hardly ambitious. The Washington Post has a great graphic which helps put President Obama’s budget deficits in context of President Bush’s.

A funny idea by Obama budget critics to repeat the Boston Tea Party has turned into a little industry. One group in the fight, the Institute for Policy Innovation, today delivered the top 10 talking points on the president's budget. Its goal is to rewrite the president's budget, something the White House today told us it wouldn't do, though President Obama remains open to considering Republican alternatives. Here's the release we just received from IPI.

(CNN) -- Right-wing extremist groups may be using the recession and the election of the nation's first African-American president to recruit members, a Department of Homeland Security report contends. Though the nine-page report said it has "no specific information that domestic right-wing terrorists are currently planning acts of violence," it said real-estate foreclosures, unemployment and tight credit "could create a fertile recruiting environment for right-wing extremists and even result in confrontations between such groups and government authorities similar to those in the past." The report, prepared in coordination with the FBI and published April 7, was distributed to federal, state...

I hate to say I told you so, but "I told you so!" Chavez is mear childs play compared to Obama. H.J.RES.5 : Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the twenty-second article of amendment, thereby removing the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President. Committees: House Judiciary Latest Major Action: 2/9/2009 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.

Name one President who's policies ignored history more than Obama's first two months?