Free Republic

At their contentious debate Wednesday night, Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Socialist candidate Cynthia Nixon disagreed on just about everything, including law and order in their State of New York. Nixon said if she’s elected governor, she would prioritize “things that really make a difference in people’s lives” over law and order. The debate moderator noted that Cuomo has been criticized for deploying New York State Troopers from upstate to patrol New York City bridges and streets. “Would you continue putting troopers on the streets of New York City?” the moderator asked Nixon. “Look, we are at a moment where...

The chairman of the Democratic National Party, Tom Perez, on Tuesday said socialist political candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are the "future" of the party. Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described "democratic socialist" who defeated a top House Democrat in a recent primary election, symbolizes where the party is headed. The Obama-era Cabinet official said Ocasio-Cortez and Ben Jealous, a socialist running for governor in Maryland, are examples of "spectacular" candidates the party believes represents its future.

Democrat Ben Jealous will pitch his plan for a state-based universal health care program next Wednesday during a Baltimore rally with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has pushed a similar “Medicare for all” plan in Congress. Jealous, the former head of the NAACP who is running for governor, has promised a Maryland plan that would provide health insurance to every state resident. His campaign did not provide details Monday on how the plan would work or how to pay for it. The Jealous campaign said the plan for universal health care will build on Maryland’s all-payer system, which sets universal...

Weeks after Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 19, which waives fees for first-time freshmen at California community colleges, officials in the Los Rios Community College District are wondering where the money will come from to pay for the tuition breaks. AB 19 would expand upon the current fee waiver for low-income students, recently renamed the California Promise Grant. The new grant would waive the first year of fees for all first-time, full-time students attending a California community college, regardless of need. Los Rios supported the bill, but spokesman Gabe Ross recently expressed concern that money could wind up being diverted...

On a recent September evening, 76 comrades of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America joined together to discuss society’s travails, like the disproportionate harm natural disasters cause poor communities, public-education funding shortages, and access to health care. One answer prevailed throughout the evening as the cause for these problems: capitalism. And, if you ask DSA members, all of these problems have one solution: a new American form of socialism. “I joined because capitalism has basically ruined my life since I was born,” says DSA member and Shadyside resident Marlene Noble, who was born in Haiti, but moved...

While organizing my basement a few weeks ago, I discovered an incredible trove of Sore Loserman bumper stickers, almost 200 of them, which are not doing any good at all in my basement. They are very much like the white version at the link. So starting now, for every $30 contributed to Free Republic, the contributor will qualify to have their very own piece of history mailed directly to their domicile. All you have to do is freepmail me your address and the link to where you brag about your new acquisition and associated contribution in the fundraiser thread. So...

The fact that it’s being proposed by Republicans doesn’t make it any more economically palatable. Madness is rare in individuals — but in groups, parties, nations, and ages it is the rule — Friedrich Nietzsche ‘Cap and trade was just one way of skinning the cat; it was not the only way,” Barack Obama declared after Democrats’ disastrous losses in the 2010 midterm elections. That shellacking finally killed off the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill. From it was born the EPA’s Clean Power Plan and the Obama administration’s war on coal, in turn a contributory factor to Donald Trump’s election and Republicans’...

San Diego Unified will kick off its Summer Fun Café lunch program with a barbecue for parents, guardians and children to eat for free at Skyline Hills Community Park on Wednesday. The barbecue is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will include a community resource fair, activities for children, live music, free health screenings, a performance by the Fern Street Circus, fresh fruits and vegetables for families to take home, as well as prize drawings for children, according to a statement from SD Unified. The Summer Fun Café is an annual summer meal program partnered by the City...

Residents at three public housing areas now have a mini-fleet of free Zipcars to make their way around Sacramento.

Residents at three public housing areas now have a mini-fleet of free Zipcars to make their way around Sacramento. On Friday, Sacramento launched a pilot program that put eight shared electric Kia Souls at public housing sites. Up to 300 residents can apply for on-demand access to the vehicles, with no charge for maintenance, insurance or juicing up the battery. Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article148948619.html#storylink=cpy

Last year, two national insurance companies dropped out of the marketplace in Alabama, leaving just one option for individuals who purchase insurance through the federal exchange set up under Obamacare. Lack of competition in areas with just one or two insurance providers has been linked to higher premiums in a recent study by the Urban Institute. Median benchmark monthly premiums in areas with just one insurance company averaged $451, compared to $270 for areas with six companies or more. Rural areas and Southern states tend to have less competition, according to the study. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama is...

There isn’t one. With the American Health Care Act dominating the week’s news, one conversation has been unavoidable: Someone — someone who pays attention to public policy — will suggest that we pursue policy x, y, or z, and someone else — someone who pays a little less careful attention, who probably watches a lot of cable-television entertainment masquerading as news — responds: “The first thing we have to do is acknowledge that health care is a human right!” What follows is a moment during which the second speaker visibly luxuriates in his display of empathy and virtue, which is,...

A proposal considered by California lawmakers would substantially remake the health care system of the nation’s most populous state by eliminating insurance companies and guaranteeing coverage for everyone. The idea known as single-payer health care has long been popular on the left and is getting a new look in California as President Donald Trump struggles to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s health care law. The proposal, promoted by the state’s powerful nursing union and two Democratic senators, is a longshot. But supporters hope the time is right to persuade lawmakers in California, where Democrats like to push the...

Thousands of students marched in Chilean cities on Tuesday to demand improvements to the nation's higher education system, as lawmakers prepared to debate planned reforms. Student protesters argue that attempts by center-left President Michelle Bachelet to improve quality and access to higher education have been insufficient. Reforms by her government to date do not provide enough Chileans with free university education, they say. They also complain that the government did not seek their advice when drafting legislation. "I don't know if the government is playing stupid. You can't legislate without listening to the social movements," Daniel Andrade, head of the...

For some descendants of persons held in U.S. chattel bondage, no monetary sum can compensate for the enslavement of their ancestors. However, for those looking for a number, there are various ways to calculate the value of involuntary servitude. Here’s one of them. Calculating Reparations: $1.5 Million for Each Slave Descendant in the U.S. by Denis Rancourt This article previously appeared on Mr. Rancourt’s web site, Activist Teacher. “This calculation includes only the money due to ancestors and their descendants, in terms of the stolen actual labor counted in person-hours.” It is not difficult to calculate a MINIMUM amount of...

Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is drafting a health care plan for California that he plans to unveil as a core component of his gubernatorial run, based in part on the universal health care program he signed into law when he was mayor of San Francisco. Newsom, seen as a strong contender in the increasingly crowded field of candidates vying to succeed Gov. Jerry Brown in 2018, is staking out an ambitious plan to rein in rising health care costs, expand universal access to people across the state regardless of income or immigration status and preserve coverage for the estimated...

Seizing on growing concerns over college affordability, California lawmakers are poised to propose what would be the most generous college aid plan in the nation, covering not just tuition but also living expenses that have led to spiraling student debt. “Lower-income students … are able to many times, through our great programs in California, get help to pay for tuition. But they’re still graduating with a tremendous amount of debt,” said Assemblyman Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento), who is spearheading the plan. “The cost of living, the books, the transportation — that’s [what] we really need to tackle.” Under the new plan,...

As California lawmakers return to Sacramento on Wednesday, liberal dreams of expanding safety-net benefits and providing health coverage to immigrants are giving way to a new vision revolving around a feverish push to protect gains racked up in the past. After years of pushing forward a progressive agenda, legislative Democrats will be pushing back against conservative policies from President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican Congress. Instead of expanding Medi-Cal health coverage to adult immigrants who can’t prove they’re legally in the country, Democrats are now concentrating on how to retain health coverage for those who already have it. And anti-poverty...

Venezuela price regulators on Friday seized almost 4 million toys from warehouses around greater Caracas and said they’d distribute them to low income children ahead of the Christmas holiday. With the nation's currency hyperinflating faster than a CNN Russian hacking story, this confiscation of 'unfairly-priced' toys is likely the only way to keep the Grinch from the door of this socialist nirvana.

(CNN)Some women are on the hunt for reversible birth control that could last through a Donald Trump presidency. Tweets and Facebook posts about getting intrauterine devices, or IUDs, swept social media Wednesday as women warned each other that their access to birth control might dwindle once the President-elect takes office next year.~SNIP~Throughout his campaign, Trump has promised to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, which mandates that insurers in the health insurance marketplace provide coverage for all FDA-approved birth control methods, including IUDs, with no copayment or coinsurance when provided in-network.