Free Republic

ROME — Pope Francis said Thursday migrants should be valued for their dreams and talents rather than treated as a “problem to me managed.” “I find it greatly disheartening to see that migration is still shrouded in a dark cloud of mistrust, rather than being seen as a source of empowerment,” the pontiff declared in his yearly address to members of the diplomatic corps. “People on the move are seen simply as a problem to be managed,” he lamented, urging that they not be “treated like objects to be moved about.” Migrants “have dignity and resources that they can offer...

More than one-out-of-four Americans (27%) think the government should manage the U.S. economy, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Nearly as many (24%) say it's better for the government to stay out of economic decisions altogether. A plurality (43%) of Adults, however, think the appropriate role for the government is to provide programs like unemployment insurance to help people through difficult times. But while Congress wrangles over whether to continue funding unemployment benefits for up to 99 weeks, many Americans express concern that providing benefits for that long a period may do more harm than good. Most...

'Activist wanted limits on advertising after Hillarycare defeat' ( and other things ) better go read this one

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Changing the bureaucracy of California's troubled youth and adult prison system would again make the state a national leader in imprisoning criminals and then rehabilitating them, representatives of the Schwarzenegger administration said Thursday. The corrections plan is the leading edge of Schwarzenegger's larger proposal to reorganize state government. Lawmakers, union leaders and inmate advocates said the proposal merely shuffles organizational chart boxes, and particularly objected to more closely affiliating the California Youth Authority with the adult Corrections Department. But the plan won general praise from members of the watchdog Little Hoover Commission. The prison plan and a...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - State auditors issued a stinging report Thursday on Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's use of federal election funds, charging his office with "poor management" of millions of dollars and "poor oversight" of staff and consultants that may force the state to reimburse the federal government. Auditors said Shelley's office avoided competitive bids for services, paid consultants for work that had little to do with the funds' mission and failed to fulfill much of its responsibility to modernize voting systems. The audit represented the first results of investigations into Shelley's conduct in an office he's occupied since Jan....

The Hawaii Medical Association, which represents 1,600 physicians, filed a lawsuit today against the Hawaii Medical Services Association alleging it engages in unlawful business practices. A class action lawsuit also was filed on behalf of HMA members. The lawsuits allege that HMSA, the state's largest health insurer, has breached its physician contracts and deliberately underpays physicians' claims. HMSA Senior Vice President Cliff Cisco said this morning he hasn't seen the lawsuits and couldn't comment on them, but the complaints appear similar to those raised by some physicians in the past. HMSA "is paying claims appropriately and providing cost-effective quality health...