Free Republic

Okay, maybe our government is dysfunctional. But obviously it wouldn’t be stupid enough to pass a massive, new law that it didn’t have the money to put into place. Nah, that would be nuts. But that is essentially what happened with ObamaCare, if the woman charged with implementing it is to be believed. Here is an account that appeared on a Kaiser Permanente site of what this official said on Capitol Hill: [Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius] today was very candid. She said that she knew and others knew – even when the health law was...

WASHINGTON — Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, disclosed on Tuesday that she had made telephone calls to three companies regulated by her department and urged them to help a nonprofit group promote President Obama’s health care law. She identified the companies as Johnson & Johnson, the drug maker; Ascension Health, a large Roman Catholic health care system; and Kaiser Permanente, the health insurance plan. At a Congressional hearing, Ms. Sebelius said she had not explicitly asked the companies for money, but urged them to support the work of the nonprofit group, Enroll America. The group, led...

Just as the Obama administration continues to reel from three major scandals, Republicans are zeroing in on yet one more — this one involving Obamacare as it nears implementation. GOP legislators are targeting Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the solicitations she made to some of the nation’s top insurance companies and other groups for donations to Enroll America, the nonprofit group charged with selling Obamacare to the public. “Our guys on the Hill think this is the fourth scandal,” Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak told Reuters this week. “It fits into that narrative Republicans are building not only about incompetence...

House Republicans who are critical of the federal health care law have written to more than a dozen companies, including top insurers Aetna and BlueCross BlueShield, to ask if President Obama’s top health official tried to solicit funds from them to support the overhaul. The Committee on Energy and Commerce is looking into reports that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called members of the health care industry to suggest they donate to Enroll America, a nonprofit that is promoting the Affordable Care Act. Chairman Fred Upton, Michigan Republican, signed onto a request from House and Senate leaders that...

You know, a White House that just got exposed for spying on journalists probably should be doing some bridge-rebuilding, especially for an administration who needs a friendly media as much as this one does. What’s the worst possible way to get back in the media’s good graces? Accusing them of being conspiracy nuts for asking about Kathleen Sebelius’ fundraising for ObamaCare, starting with CBS’ Major Garrett, who just got done fronting the Benghazi e-mail defense demolished by Glenn Kessler today. Thanks bunches, Major: (VIDEO-AT-LINK) Struggling with a reporter about which Republican concerns are and are not legitimate, White House spokesman...

Obama takes Cabinet secretaries out to play golf Associated Press – 30 mins ago WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has taken two Cabinet secretaries out for a round of golf — in the rain. The White House said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (seh-BEEL'-yuhs) and outgoing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood joined the president Saturday at Andrews Air Force Base. LaHood is running the Transportation Department until the Senate confirms Obama's choice of Charlotte, N.C., Mayor Anthony Foxx as successor. Reporters saw Sebelius climb into the president's SUV before the motorcade left the White House. She's overseeing the...

Did the HHS secretary illegally encourage donations from health-industry firms? By Katrina Trinko Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius is under fire from congressional Republicans after reports last week that she called health-industry officials and insinuated they should donate to efforts promoting Obamacare.

LA: There is a law against what they’re doing and the GAO has also said an agency may not augment appropriations from outside sources. This isn’t a complicated thing. If the administration asks for $5 and Congress appropriates $4, that’s what they get. If the government creates a subterfuge by going outside the government, to raise money through a private entity, that’s a violation of the law. LA: If you read the report of the Iran-Contra select committee, it said that the executive cannot make an end run around Congress by raising money privately and spending it. That seems to...

On top of everything else, the House Energy and Commerce Committee announced on Monday that it will probe Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' efforts to shake insurance companies down for cash, to help "educate" the public about the ObamaCare disaster it hates. That would be the same ObamaCare that will employ the corrupt Internal Revenue Service as enforcers. What else does anyone need to know about it?

House Republicans are starting a probe into Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius soliciting donations from companies her agency might regulate, to help sign up uninsured Americans for ObamaCare. Sebelius in recent weeks has asked various charitable foundations, businesses executives, churches and doctors to donate money to nonprofit organizations, such as Enroll America, that are helping to implement President Obama's health care overhaul. The agency said Friday there is a special section within the Public Health Services Act that allows the secretary to solicit financial support for nonprofit organizations conducting public health work