Free Republic

This week, our award is going to the city leadership of the nation’s capital, for continuing to lobby for a coronavirus bailout package that would exceed $3 billion, while spending more than $1 billion annually on some of the most exorbitant government salaries in the nation. Like most other American cities, the District is required to balance its budget annually. This year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, city officials are claiming a $1.5 billion budget deficit and asking Congress for $3.15 billion over two years to alleviate the city’s financials woes. The mayor of the capital, for instance, is paid...

The U.S. Forest Service is finalizing plans to fine photographers who shoot on federal wild lands without a permit. Under the measure, still photography and commercial filming in Congress-designated wilderness areas would require a permit, and shoots would also have to be approved and meet certain criteria like not advertising any product or service and being educational. Permits would cost up to $1,500, even if someone was taking photos or video with their phone, and fines for shooting without a permit could be as high as $1,000, according to the Oregonian. A spokesman for the Forest Service did not immediately...

Maine Now Has Biggest Medicaid Population in Nation By IPR Nov 9, 2005, 20:42 PORTLAND -- The Maine Heritage Policy Center today cited updated 2004 data from the Kaiser Family Foundation that shows Maine now has the largest Medicaid program in the country, covering 21 percent of all non-elderly individuals, those under 65 years old, within the state. Almost all Mainers over 65 have Medicare coverage. "Maine once again is an example for the nation of an unsustainable level of Medicaid spending," said Tarren Bragdon, director of health reform initiatives for The Maine Heritage Policy Center. "Maine is number one...