Free Republic

As Gov. Gavin Newsom enters the second half of his final term, healthcare stands out as his most ambitious but glaringly incomplete initiative for California residents.The issue will probably define his national profile for better or worse, and the incoming Trump administration brings a new wrinkle.SACRAMENTO — Nearly six years after he took office vowing to be California’s “healthcare governor,” Democrat Gavin Newsom has steered tens of billions in public funding to safety net services for the state’s neediest residents while engineering rules to make healthcare more accessible and affordable for all Californians. More than a million California residents living...

It’s Simba (from the 2019 Lion King remake)! Disney ============================================================== In 1994, Disney released an animated movie with the makings of a Shakespearean drama. It was a movie about succession, monarchies, sex, death, and nihilism — all wrapped around the story of large felines, warthogs, meerkats, and the “Circle of Life.” Called The Lion King, it became one of Disney’s most beloved animated features of all time. Now, 25 years later, Disney has remade the classic with its sights set on the coup of a century: an attempt to remake the movie and cash in on that nostalgia. While...

(Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md, center, speaks about the recent Metro subway fire earlier this month, as Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., left, Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md. center right, and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C. wait to speak.) Sen. Barbara Mikulski, the longest serving woman in the history of Congress, is announcing her retirement, Democratic officials say. The 78-year-old Maryland Democrat, now in her fifth term, is set to make a statement at a news conference in Fells Point in Baltimore later Monday. Her retirement could set off a race among potential candidates to succeed her, including Rep. Chris Van Hollen and...

WASHINGTON - President Bush , trying to salvage an immigration overhaul legislation, endorsed a plan Thursday that would lock in money for border security as way to win over conservative lawmakers and a skeptical public. Bush got behind a propos, , ) of South Carolina, have proposed such an amendment. The provision would immediately divert $4.4 billion toward border security, with that amount to be paid back once new fees are in place. The point would be to ensure that border security would not be subject to the whims of the yearly budget negotiations. With many questions unanswered, it was...