Free Republic

End the 17th Amendment, and take away power from Washington DC The new class of United States Senators like John McCain, the ones taking on the Swamp in the Republican Party, want to put an end to the Third House, the special interests, the K and J Street lobbies which put their individual, perverse interests at the direct expense of the American citizenry. As a reminder, here is the text of the 17th Amendment:

With less than a month to go before AlabamaÂ’s special election to fill the Senate seat left vacant by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Republican candidate Roy Moore refuses to quit the race amid fallout over credible allegations of sexual assault dating from the 1970s, including that he initiated a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was 32.Some polls still show Moore leading his Democratic opponent Doug Jones, while a poll conducted by the National Republican Senate Committee earlier this week shows Moore trailing Jones by 12 points.Senate Republicans are calling on Moore to withdraw from the race, saying...

Facing a campaign to repeal the state’s new gas tax increase, Sacramento-area politicians and transportation officials gathered under a freeway underpass Monday to tout projects that are expected to be funded by the hike. Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, county Supervisor Phil Serna and others spoke in praise of Senate Bill 1, which has continued to generate opposition from Republicans after the Democratic-controlled Legislature approved the measure in the spring. Caltrans officials Monday outlined more than $1 billion in projects that will be “accelerated” in the region as part of the $52 billion statewide anticipated from higher gas taxes and vehicle...

The IRS says it will not accept electronic tax returns that do not disclose whether the filer had health insurance coverage during the year. It also says it will suspend paper returns that do not have the disclosure. The IRS' move, which will bolster compliance with Affordable Care Act rules, comes as the Trump administration takes other steps to undercut the law. The IRS is warning tax professionals that it will block or suspend processing of 2017 income tax returns that do not comply with Obamacare rules requiring filers to disclose their health insurance status. The new move to tighten...

From The Hill.com Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said Tuesday that he and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) have reached a bipartisan deal that would extend payments to insurers under ObamaCare that President Trump said he was ending last week. The deal would extend the payments to insurers for two years and give states more flexibility to change ObamaCare rules. The negotiations had been aimed at stabilizing insurance markets. .........When Republicans in the Senate made a last-ditch effort to repeal ObamaCare in September, the Alexander-Murray talks were cut off, with some GOP senators saying their bipartisan efforts would go nowhere in the...

A California judge said Friday he'll write the official ballot description for an initiative that would repeal a recent gas tax increase after he ruled that the title and summary written by Democratic Attorney General Xavier Becerra was misleading. Sacramento County Judge Timothy Frawley said Becerra's description would confuse voters because it focuses on the loss of transportation funding rather than the repeal of taxes. He sided with Republican Assemblyman Travis Allen of Huntington Beach, a candidate for governor, who is promoting the gas tax repeal initiative and filed a lawsuit challenging Becerra's ballot title and summary.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt told coal miners in Kentucky on Monday that he will move to repeal a rule limiting greenhouse-gas emissions from existing power plants, assuring them, “The war against coal is over.” Speaking at an event in Hazard, Ky., with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Pruitt said his agency will publish the new proposed rule Tuesday. “Tomorrow, in Washington, D.C., I’ll be a signing a proposed rule to withdraw the so-called Clean Power Plan of the past administration, and thus begin the effort to withdraw that rule,” Pruitt said.

The Trump administration this week is expected to formally repeal the Clean Power Plan, taking direct aim at former President Barack Obama’s climate change legacy and delivering a major win for the coal industry. A draft proposal of the Environmental Protection Agency’s looming decision, leaked late last week and posted online, says the plan — which would have limited carbon emissions from power plants and, in the process, drastically reduced the amount of coal-generated electricity in the U.S. — goes beyond the bounds of federal law and unnecessarily hikes energy prices for consumers. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, as Oklahoma’s attorney...

Two U.S. senators from both parties are close to finalizing a bipartisan deal to shore up the health insurance exchanges created under Obamacare, the chamber’s top Democrat said on Thursday. The move, which Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said was “on the verge” of completion, would stabilize the market for individuals who buy their own insurance plans on the federal or state-based exchanges.

PUTTING IT IN PERSPECTIVE   While far from a sure thing, the plan isn't as visceral as cutting Medicaid, and could be an easier lift for the GOP than health care. Trump is reaching out to Democrats, and may find some takers, though they generally panned the plan as a gift to the wealthy. WASHINGTON—Reeling from three failed attempts to “repeal and replace” Obamacare, Republicans are looking to score a political win before the year’s end with an issue they hope will be more unifying for the party: tax reform. President Trump hit the road in Indiana Wednesday to promote...

Facing assured defeat, Republican leaders decided Tuesday not to even hold a vote on the GOP's latest attempt to repeal the Obama health care law, surrendering on their last-gasp effort to deliver on the party's banner campaign promise

Dear President Trump, Once again it is apparent that the establishment elites have no intention to pass any part of your agenda. Why should they wish to? They are living quite well in DC on their lobbyist moola and government perks. It is time sir you use your bully pulpit to call them out but not in a way that is insulting, rather, in a way that simply exposes them. I propose that you in the most vigorous way possible challenge, no demand, that Mr. McConnell bring a bill to the floor of the Senate and have it voted on,...

Rick Perlstein said it best, “I believe politics is a team sport. That, for awful and unfortunate reasons beyond any of our control, the American system only allows, effectively, for two teams.”Is politics a team sport? The question resurfaced recently when Senator Rand Paul referred to the Graham-Cassidy Health Care Plan as — “Amnesty for Obamacare.” Rand Paul Gives Graham/Cassidy a New Name: 'Amnesty for ObamaCare' - Big League Politics https://t.co/0RN6K9g6TG — Rand Paul (@DrRandPaul) September 19, 2017 When I saw this, I immediately fired off a tweet to Senator Paul stating, “Not again! It's a team sport. Time is...

President Donald Trump said Wednesday the Republicans' last-resort "Obamacare" repeal effort remains two or three votes short, forecasting days of furious lobbying ahead with a crucial deadline looming next week. The legislation by Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina would repeal major pillars of former President Barack Obama's health law, replacing them with block grants to states to design their own health care programs. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is trying to round up 50 votes to pass the legislation before Sept. 30, when special rules preventing a Democratic filibuster will expire. [Snip] Democrats made their...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) stunned his colleagues in the Senate when he torpedoed the Republican health-care bill with a tie-breaking no vote in July. With the GOP prepared to send its latest iteration of the health-care bill to the floor sometime next week, McCain is now poised to potentially make or break the legislation yet again.

President Donald Trump would sign the Graham-Cassidy bill if the legislation to repeal Obamacare makes it to his desk, an administration official told CNN Tuesday, as the White House launched a full-court press on Capitol Hill. The White House has been working with Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana for weeks on the new effort. A second source added that Trump himself had quietly encouraged the two senators to take another shot at health care. Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials are on Capitol Hill Tuesday to lobby Republican senators on the...

ABC’s self-described “eating pizza” expert, Jimmy Kimmel was at it again on Tuesday, admittedly politicizing his son’s medical condition to push for socialized medicine. This time he was targeting Republican Senator Bill Cassidy and Senate Republicans with disgusting charges of aiming to do cruel things with the lives and health care of Americans. In all, Kimmel’s description painted the GOP as villains in a straight-to-DVD Hollywood flop. “And this new bill actually does pass the Jimmy Kimmel Test, but a different Jimmy Kimmel Test,” he declared, noting that Cassidy wanted his bill to live up to Kimmel’s situation. “This one,...

Senate Republicans pushing to replace Obamacare with state block grants are making real noise before their window to act closes, insisting they are just one or two votes shy and that President Trump can nudge their last-gasp bill to victory. “We are thinking that we can get this done by Sept. 30,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican who co-wrote the bill with Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said Friday. Republican leadership seemed to greet the bill with a shrug when it was introduced last week, yet Mr. Cassidy said the idea “took off” during a Thursday luncheon that...

President Donald Trump on Wednesday applauded Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy’s (R-LA) new legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare through block grants. President Trump released a statement on Wednesday cheering the Graham and Cassidy bill to replace Obamacare. Graham and Cassidy, along with Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Dean Heller (R-NV), and former Sen. Rick Santorum, unveiled their legislation on Wednesday – otherwise known as Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson (GCHJ). The legislation would repeal Obamacare’s individual and employer mandate, Obamacare’s medical device tax, and deliver health care dollars to the states so that they can design a health care system that...

The Affordable Care Act exchange is collapsing in Virginia, with the last potential insurer pulling out of western Virginia and leaving about 70,000 people without the ability to purchase health insurance for 2018. “Any individual, regardless of income, who purchased an individual policy — on the exchange or non-exchange — won’t be able to buy a policy next year,” Carilion Clinic Chief Financial Officer Don Halliwill said Tuesday. “When people think of the exchange, they think of poor people. That’s not accurate. It’s all income levels.” About 40,000 of the people affected live within Carilion’s service area. Should nothing change...