Free Republic

Americans spend more on healthcare than any other people in the world, yet U.S. life expectancy lags behind that in many a rich country. This discrepancy between expenditure and outcome, leftists at home and abroad argue, could be addressed by moving toward a single payer system, which would "save money, cover everyone and help us live longer." The U.S. healthcare system needs to be reformed, but is even more government intervention in our healthcare the answer? Let us first look at the data. In 2014, Americans spent $9,400 per person in 2011 dollars adjusted for purchasing power. That's the most...

On Friday afternoon, at an exclusive Republican donor retreat here hosted by Mitt Romney, frustration boiled over. During an off-the-record question-and-answer session with House Speaker Paul Ryan, Meg Whitman, the billionaire Hewlett Packard chief executive officer, confronted the speaker over his endorsement of Trump. Whitman, a major GOP giver who ran for California governor in 2010, compared Trump to historical demagogues like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini and wanted to know how the speaker could get behind him. At another discussion session during the day, which featured top Romney alumni Stuart Stevens and Matt Rhoades, Ana Navarro, a Republican contributor...

A lot of people are asking for this list so I am going to publish it courtesy of CNS News. Please be advised that I am also putting up some links to what I feel is a better list. It has the same names but if you really want to get to the bottom of the story you will find patterns that were obviously politically based. For instance, we have all likely heard about the money for the dam in Kentucky but what did Nebraska get out of this? Nebraska has 2 senators and 3 representatives who are ALL...

Last week, Republicans in the House of Representatives, under great pressure from their constituents, came together and passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the federal government, but which disallowed any funding for ObamaCare. This afternoon, Republicans the U.S. Senate betrayed their House colleagues and their constituents by voting to send the CR back the House with funding for ObamaCare. The critical vote today was a procedural vote - on cloture - to end debate and proceed to votes on amendments and passage of the bill. Ending debate requires 60 votes, meaning that the 46 Republicans in the Senate have...

WASHINGTON — Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker called out fellow Republicans Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Mike Lee of Utah Thursday, accusing them of delaying a vote on the bill to fund the government and prevent a government shutdown to suit their own desires for publicity. Cruz, earlier this week, held the floor for over 21 hours, speaking in defense of defunding Obamacare with that government funding bill. He asked other Republican senators to join him in voting against moving forward on a bill passed by the House, which would fund the government while defunding Obamacare

Today, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) explained that Senate Republicans have the votes to prevent Sen. Harry Reid from reinstating funding for Obamacare in the House continuing resolution if they will stay unified. Republicans only need 41 votes to block Reid from using procedural tricks to put Obamacare funding back in the bill. “House Republicans showed tremendous courage and unity in voting to fund government, avoid a shut down, and protect the American people from the harmful effects of Obamacare,” said Sen. Lee. “Senate Republicans have the ability to show that same courage by staying unified and together opposing cloture on...

Against all logic, some prominent conservatives continue to promote the absurd proposition that right-wing candidates who fail to win over GOP voters in Republican primaries would magically succeed on November ballots. This assumption enables them to retain a naive faith in the claim that "true conservatives" who can't mobilize their own base to win nominations will somehow triumph in general elections by drawing support from moderates and liberals. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has most recently voiced this idea. "You know, if you look at the last 40 years, a consistent pattern emerges," Mr. Cruz observed in a July interview with...

Tampa, Fla. – Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus today announced the first list of headliners addressing the Republican National Convention August 27-30. Additional convention speakers, including the keynote, will be announced in the coming days and weeks. The speakers are: South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, the first female governor of South Carolina and the youngest sitting governor in the United States; Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, the 44th governor of Arkansas and 2008 presidential candidate is a NY Times best-selling author, radio and television show host; Ohio Governor John Kasich, former House Budget Committee chairman; New Mexico Governor Susana...

The House is getting ready to vote today on repealing Obamacare. See House debate on health care repeal: Boss Hogg or Groundhog Day ``That's why we've voted over 30 times to repeal it, defund it, replace it. And we are resolved to have this law go away and we're gonna do everything we can to stop it," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters Tuesday.`` I am absolutely astonished that the House leadership would take up a bill to repeal Obamacare, knowing it will go nowhere in the Senate, while it has yet to exercise its authority to call upon...

South Carolina Republican and conservative firebrand Sen. Jim DeMint introduced legislation to repeal Obamacare on Wednesday, the first official step in bringing the House-passed repeal bill fight into the staid upper chamber. But a slew of mostly moderate senators declined to support DeMint’s legislation, raising questions on the unity of the Republican caucus. Backing him are 34 Republicans including Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, and Republican Whip Sen. John Kyl of Arizona. Conspicuously absent from the list of cosponsors are Republican Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Scott Brown of Massachusetts, Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Susan Collins of Maine,...

A vote to repeal ObamaCare is likely to take place in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday. Therefore, it’s critically important that we keep the momentum going. Why is it so important to keep the momentum going in support of repeal? Simply put, we must not give proponents of Barack Obama's government-run health care scheme – which once fully implemented, will add $1 trillion to $2 trillion to the national debt, lead to health care rationing for seniors, hit everyday Americans with hundreds of millions of dollars in new taxes and limit your health care choices – ANY SLACK....

GOP fears backlash over health care stance April 1, 2010 WASHINGTON — Top Republicans are starting to worry about their health care rallying cry “Repeal the bill.’’ It just might singe GOP candidates in November’s elections, they fear, if voters begin to see benefits from the new law. Democrats, hoping the GOP is indeed positioning itself too far to the right for the elections, are taking note of every Republican who pledges to fight for repeal. Such a pledge might work well in conservative-dominated Republican primaries, they say, but it could backfire in the fall if more moderate voters turn...