Free Republic

Though belated, the recent ordinance empowering the Reserve Bank of India to ensure recoveries from wilful defaulters is a step in the right direction. However, a lack of legal authority was never a barrier in the government’s ongoing war against corruption, black money and bad debts. Be that as it may, it is imperative for the government to demonstrate tangible results that would carry conviction with the masses. If only it were to examine the anatomy and modus operandi of national highway projects, it would discover a large-scale plunder of public money waiting to be booked. The usual contractor-engineer-politician troika...

The Obama administration’s much-touted enrollment figure of 7.3 million includes nearly a half-million people who have only purchased dental plans, the House Oversight Committee has found. Without the 400,000 people enrolled in dental-only plans, the total enrollment for ObamaCare drops to 6.97 million, according an investigation by the committee, which was first reported by Bloomberg News. “Instead of offering the public an accurate accounting, the administration engaged in an effort to obscure and downplay the number of dropouts,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the committee, wrote in a statement to Bloomberg. Enrollment figures have strayed from the initial 8...

Hospitals across the nation are being swept up in the biggest wave of mergers since the 1990s, a development that is creating giant hospital systems that could one day dominate American health care and drive up costs. The consolidations are being driven by a confluence of powerful forces, not least of which is President Obama’s signature health care law, the Affordable Care Act. That law, many experts say, is transforming the economics of health care and pushing a growing number of hospitals into the arms of suitors. The changes are unfolding with remarkable speed. Two big for-profit hospital chains, Community...

ATLANTA - Nothing says trustworthy like a Boy Scout. So when the FBI began investigating reports the Greater Alabama Boy Scout Council was lying about how many members it had, eyebrows went up. Allegations of membership padding by paid Scout executives have also been made in five other states. One employee, who didn't want to be identified, says in some Scout councils it's almost a joke. "I remembered hearing the registrar and some of the professional staff joking about who's got a gold fish, who's got a cat or a dog," she says. "[In other words,] who's got a name...