Free Republic

"..........Tanner’s report, “SNAP Failure: The Food Stamp Program Needs Reform,” finds that in 2000 the cost of the food stamp program was just $17 billion. It has risen in cost to $78 billion today. Spending on advertising and outreach for food stamps by federal and state governments has also increased, now amounting to $41.3 million a year. States like Florida have hired “food stamp recruiters,” who have a quota of signing up 150 new recipients each month. Rhode Island hosts “SNAP-themed bingo games,” and the USDA tells its field offices to throw parties to get more people on their rolls......"

A Chinese ratings agency downgraded its US sovereign credit rating Thursday despite Washington's resolution of the debt ceiling deadlock, warning that fundamentals for a potential default remained "unchanged". Dagong lowered its ratings for US local and foreign currency credit from A to A-, maintaining a negative outlook, the agency said in a statement.

video satire (3:19)

I wasn’t aware that Maverick, whose pronouncements now carry roughly the same weight with tea partiers as Obama’s, is in a position to be guaranteeing anything about how House Republicans might behave. In fact, here’s what one GOP congressman said last night after the final conference huddle: As Republican lawmakers left the closed meeting Wednesday, some were already thinking of the next fight.“I’ll vote against it,” said Representative John C. Fleming, Republican of Louisiana, referring to the Senate plan. “But that will get us into Round 2. See, we’re going to start this all over again.” If by “guarantee” McCain...

The professoriate, as seen through the eyes of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), thinks that Obamacare is wildly popular despite GOP efforts to make it unpopular. “Likewise, it seems not to have been enough that the Far Right extremists in the House have voted forty-one times to repeal the ACA [Affordable Care Act),” Martin Kich writes on the Academe blog maintained by the AAUP. “In addition, they have publicly campaigned to convince GOP-dominated states to decline to establish insurance exchanges and to convince young Americans to refuse to sign up for the insurance coverage newly available through such...

That rumor has been flying around, in part due to the natural opacity of last-minute deals struck at the eleventh hour of a “crisis.”  The legislative branch controls the debt ceiling, but Democrats have occasionally proposed to either eliminate it altogether or allow the executive to set it — at least when a Democrat is President.  So what exactly did the Reid-McConnell bill do to the debt ceiling?  Politico has the source of some confusion on this at the bottom of their story: The legislation also includes a McConnell-written proposal that would allow Congress to disapprove of the debt-ceiling increase....

Despite presiding over a chamber that nearly drove the country to a debt default, John A. Boehner still has the enduring support of a group that would’ve been most harmed by that event: the business community. Rather than revisit their strategy of supporting Republicans after this week’s near-disaster, influential organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are standing behind Boehner. More importantly, Boehner’s friends in the business community are getting ready to take sides in a few Republican primary races against tea party candidates in Michigan, Idaho and Alabama who could cause the House speaker more trouble.

There are literally no comparisons to current rates. That is, [the Department of Health and Human Services] has chosen to dodge the question of whose rates are going up, and how much. Instead they try to distract with a comparison to a hypothetical number that has nothing to do with the actual experience of real people. —Douglas Holtz-Eakin President, American Action Forum[1] Enrollment in Obamacare’s health insurance exchanges has proven to be a somewhat difficult process amidst technical glitches and delays. Aside from the issues associated with actually purchasing health care, once an individual gets a quote for health insurance...

After winning near unconditional surrender from congressional Republicans on Obamacare, more borrowing and the reopening the government, President Barack Obama is feeling emboldened enough to push for immigration reform and other key agenda items that have been dormant for much of his second term. Acknowledging the public disapproval of Washington, he said people must stop listening to “the lobbyists, the bloggers and the talking heads” on the radio...................."

Governor Rick Perry was once alleged to have stated that Texas could secede in the future. But he now states he opposes succession: http://www.usatoday.com/story/onpolitics/2012/11/13/rick-perry-texas-secession-petition/1702359/ If the different states were to become different nations, the federal government would cease to exist. That means that the federal debt would be reduced to Zero. But the price that Americans would pay, would be the loss of super power status. Would Americans be better off or worse off, if the states were to become different countries?

Even though Republicans hold a majority in the House, Speaker John Boehner failed to muster enough votes for two proposals he floated. Is that a sign of ineptitude, weakness, or that the House was hijacked by no-compromise Tea-partiers in a complete fool's mission? Regardless, Senate Leaders Reached Agreement on budget deal to end the shutdown. "This is a time for reconciliation," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of the agreement he had forged with the GOP leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. One prominent tea party lawmaker, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, said he would oppose the plan, but not...

The bipartisan deal to reopen the government and temporarily lift the debt ceiling includes one small Obamacare element—a provision that says people’s incomes must be verified before they can get Obamacare subsidies to help pay their insurance premiums. But this was not a concession to Republicans, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday. “It’s, you know, it is, frankly, a bit of a fig leaf, which we were happy to give, but that was not a negotiation. That was not what Ted Cruz and the others started to demand that we give them.” …

As part of the deal to end the government shutdown and extend the debt limit, the House and Senate have agreed to begin long-stalled budget negotiations. The conferees planned to meet Thursday morning for breakfast—to “break the ice,” the Associated Press reported. Once the actual talks get underway, President Obama will insist that tax hikes be part of the solution. “The president has insisted that in the budget negotiations that he’s been calling for all year, everything has to be on the table. And that will be his position going forward,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Wednesday....

If there was a special award for chutzpah, the easy winner would be the bureaucrats at the International Monetary Fund. These pampered bureaucrats get lavishly compensated and don’t have to pay tax on their bloated salaries. The gold-plated fringe benefits include “your spouse/partner may join you on official travel at Fund expense.” You would think this would make them a bit sensitive to the notion that it’s hugely hypocritical of them to propose big tax hikes when they have a special exemption. But they have no shame. The international bureaucracy is making a renewed push for higher taxes all over...

The French National Assembly’s finance committee has green-lighted an amendment to the country’s draft 2014 budget law, significantly increasing the amount of aid funds that can be generated from the upcoming financial transactions tax (FTT), EurActiv.fr reports. An unexpected proposal for taxing financial transactions—amendment 23—was adopted on Tuesday (15 October) by the French Parliament’s finance committee during its examination of the country’s draft budget law for next year. … But the proposal is viewed less positively by the French Finance Ministry, which wants to protect the interests of French banks. Financial market operators, such as NYSE Euronext and Paris Europlace,...

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped from a six-month high last week, but remained elevated as California continued to deal with a backlog related to computer problems. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 358,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected first-time applications to fall to 335,000 last week. A Labor Department analyst said claims in California, which has experienced technical problems during a conversion to a new computer system, remained at similar levels as in the prior week. There had not been a...

A Chinese ratings agency downgraded its US sovereign credit rating Thursday despite Washington's resolution of the debt ceiling deadlock, warning that fundamentals for a potential default remained "unchanged". Dagong lowered its ratings for US local and foreign currency credit from A to A-, maintaining a negative outlook, the agency said in a statement. The announcement came after the US Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed a bill that extends the nation's borrowing authority and ends a two-week government shutdown. "The fundamental situation that the debt growth rate significantly outpaces that of fiscal income and gross domestic product remains unchanged,"...

Stock index futures suggest that the Dow Jones and S&P 500 may open lower this morning, as investors shrug off a temporary deal to reopen the US government and lift the debt ceiling. European markets were unimpressed by the news from Washington, and edged lower through the morning. US federal agencies will reopen today, but it may be a few days before the backlog of economic reports which were delayed by the government shutdown become available. Today's key report, the weekly jobless claims report, is due at 8.30am and is expected to show 335,000 new unemployment claims last week, down...

If Rufus McDonald were white, you'd already know his name, and he'd be on the path to pushing George Zimmerman aside as the most hated man in America. But because he is black, you probably have never heard of him, unless you live in Chicago. You see, Mr. McDonald was cleaning out an attic and discovered some papers. As Kim Janssen of the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday: Hidden in a dusty trunk in an abandoned and looted Englewood home, the papers of Harvard's first black graduate, Richard T. Greener, had long been thought lost to history. (snip) Several museums and...

The 2,300 page healthcare law that took several days from writing to passage, and five years from passage to rollout will apparently take 50 years just to sign everyone up. According to Forbes only about 5,000 people have signed up using the federal exchange. They say that another 25,000 have signed up using the state exchanges through Friday. That’s 2,727 every day. At that rate, it will take 18,335 days to sign up all 50 million Americans “without insurance.” That means that it would take 50 years just to sign up everyone who isn’t covered now.* Who needs a...

... Obama will deliver a statement on Thursday at 10:35 a.m. about the need for Democrats and Republicans to work together on fiscal issues following the 11th hour deal in Congress that ended a 16-day government shutdown and averted a debt default. "I'll have more to say about this tomorrow...

Pennington County has opened two large disposal pits for western South Dakota ranchers with cattle killed in an early October blizzard. Up to 4 feet of snow fell in the Black Hills area during the storm, killing tens of thousands of cattle. Alexa White with the Pennington County Emergency Operations Center says 139 animals were picked up from county rights of way and dumped in the pits over the weekend. She says the 20-feet-deep pits have plenty of room for ranchers' cattle. State officials say at least 10,000 to 20,000 head of livestock died, but the number will likely rise...

Much cynicism has been expressed over the past month about the effort, led by Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, to fight Obamacare. It was about money or defeating Republicans or something other than what it was about — undermining Obamacare with a united front. It was always about undermining Obamacare, despite the claims of others. But, those of us who were in this fight against Obamacare, have been quite open that we knew there were side benefits. This fight would expose conservative activists to the frauds they have funded. Men like Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy, and...

The White House set low expectations for the Affordable Care Act's October 1 debut, so anything remotely competent should have seemed like a success. But three weeks on, the catastrophe that is Healthcare.gov and the 36 insurance exchanges run by the federal government is an insult to the "glitches" President Obama said were inevitable. This isn't some coding error, or even the Health and Human Service Department's usual incompetence. The failures that have all but disabled ObamaCare are the result of deliberate political choices, which HHS and the White House are compounding with secrecy and stonewalling. *** The health industry...

Capitol Hill talk regarding the Senate deal apparently includes a provision that would take away the Congress’ power to increase the debt ceiling. According to Politico, it looks like the buzz appears to be true.: The plan includes a proposal offered by McConnell in the 2011 debt ceiling crisis that allows Congress to disapprove of the debt ceiling increase, which means lawmakers will formally vote on whether to reject a debt ceiling increase until Feb. 7. Obama can veto that legislation if it passes. If Congress fails as expected to gather a two-thirds majority to override the veto, the debt...

Lowcountry residents shopping for a new health insurance plan with coverage starting Jan. 1 may be forced to choose between their preferred insurance company and their preferred doctor or hospital. That’s because individual plans purchased through the new federal health insurance marketplace, and even some plans bought outside the marketplace, will have fewer in-network providers than many patients are accustomed to. “Who you can go to will change dramatically, and a lot of people don’t realize that,” said Colin Smoak, a Charleston benefits consultant. “A lot of people have developed relationships with physicians or a hospital and may have to...

Moscow (CNN) -- Edward Snowden's father expressed satisfaction Wednesday with the way his son, the former National Security Agency contractor, has been treated since being granted asylum in August. Lon Snowden spoke to reporters at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport as he prepared to return to the United States after a six-day visit, his first reunion with his son since April. "I felt that this is the best place for him, this is the place where he doesn't have to worry about people rushing across the border to render him," Lon Snowden said. "It's not going to happen here." It may...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet Pope Francis and US Secretary of State John Kerry in Italy next week. Netanyahu will meet Francis in the Vatican Wednesday, ahead of the pontiff’s expected visit to Israel next year. In Rome, the prime minister will meet with Kerry to discuss the current nuclear negotiations between six world powers on Iran, and the peace process with the Palestinians, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. The first round of renewed nuclear negotiations between the so-called P5+1 powers and the Islamic Republic concluded Wednesday with cautious optimism from both sides....

October is the pink month for the NFL. Players, coaches, cheerleaders and even stadiums are adorned with the color to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The league also sells pink merchandise (hats, jerseys, etc.) and donates a portion of the proceeds to the American Cancer Society. How much of the proceeds? Well, not a whole lot. ESPN’s Darren Rovell is reporting (via Business Insider) that the league takes a “25 percent royalty from the wholesale price (1/2 retail), donates 90 percent of royalty to American Cancer Society.”

Certain prisoners to get health coverage under ObamaCare Prisons could relocate medical costs to the federal government LOS ANGELES — Soon certain prisoners who need medical treatment could get it through Obamacare. Watch the video (go to link) for more information.

The US Senate has passed a bill to reopen the government and raise the federal debt limit, with hours to spare before the nation risks default. The Democratic-controlled Senate's bipartisan compromise won swift approval by 81 votes to 18. It will now be sent to the House of Representatives, whose Republican leadership has begrudgingly said it will support the measure. It comes hours before the deadline to raise the $16.7tn (£10.5tn) limit. President Barack Obama is set to speak shortly at the White House. The deal would extend the federal borrowing limit until 7 February and fund the government to...

Buried inside the new stopgap spending bill are several pork project goodies, including nearly quadrupling the maximum price of a dam project on the Ohio River that is turning into a boondoggle — up to nearly $3 billion. The bill also includes $174,000 of taxpayer money being sent to the widow of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg. The death gratuity, which has been paid to widows of other lawmakers in the past, raised hackles since Mr. Lautenberg was a multimillionaire, while the government is $16.7 trillion in debt. But lawmakers did nix one provision that was in an early draft...

CGI Federal is the Canadian IT contractor responsible for creating most of the ObamaCare website. Tuesday, after describing the site as a "complete train wreck," the Washington Post took an in-depth look at the company -- its origins, track record, and how it landed the ObamaCare contract. It is all worth a read, but one staffer told the Post that the working environment at CGI is so awful today that "People are getting sick, fainting in conference calls." The healthcare.gov debacle has taken its toll on the working environment at CGI Federal's 10-story complex in Fairfax, Va., according to a...

First lady Michelle Obama is poised for a second appearance on “The Biggest Loser,”NBC’s reality show to help contestants lose weight. Her reason for doing the show? To promote her campaign for the need to drink more water, The Hill reported.

In a bizarre and unexpected move, Chase is notifying customers that after November 17th the bank will ban all international wire transfers and place limits on the amount of transfer activity that can occur within a billing cycle. Chase claims this new policy is coming in to play to minimize risks. The letter being sent to customers says the following. Dear Business Customer, Starting November 17, 2013: - You will no longer be able to send international wire transfers. You will still be able to send domestic wires and receive both domestic and international wires. We’ll cancel any international wire...

Breitbart News has obtained a legislative summary of the provisions in the Senate deal to reopen government and extend the debt ceiling. Breitbart News has also obtained a copy of the legislative text. Currently, Senate staff are able to review the summary and legislative text in the Senate cloakroom, but aren't allowed to retain a copy or make it public. In the interest of transparency, we have included the document below. [8 page document] As expected, the deal provides full back-pay for furloughed federal workers who haven't been at work for two weeks. It also provides back-pay, though, for state...

Eventually this shutdown crisis will end. And eventually the two parties will make another stab at a deal on taxes, investments and entitlements. But there’s one outcome from such negotiations that I can absolutely guarantee: Seniors, Wall Street and unions will all have their say and their interests protected. So the most likely result will be more tinkering around the edges, as our politicians run for the hills the minute someone accuses them of “fixing the deficit on the backs of the elderly” or creating “death panels” to sensibly allocate end-of-life health care. Could this time be different? Short of...

How Much have Global Problems Cost the World? A Scorecard from 1900 to 2050 was editted by Bjørn Lomborg with many contributors They use an unbiased or at least a consistent methodology to assess the impact of global problems from 1900 to today and project forward to 2050. There are often blanket claims that the world is facing more problems than ever but there is a lack of empirical data to show where things have deteriorated or in fact improved. In this book, some of the world's leading economists discuss ten problems that have blighted human development, ranging from malnutrition,...

EU environment ministers on Monday (14 October) caved in to German pressure and agreed to reopen a deal that had been reached in June on a cap for CO2 emissions for new cars. The deal would have limited all new cars’ carbon emissions to 95 grams per kilometer from 2020 on. But Germany, home of big carmakers Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen, argued that the cap is not “flexible” enough and could endanger its industry and jobs. …

As the Affordable Care Act goes into effect, Andy Pudzer, CEO of conjoined fast-food chains Carl's Jr and Hardee's, went on Fox News to tell Megyn Kelly that President Obama is flat-out "wrong" in thinking that health-care reform has no widespread effect on the job market, claiming that employers, himself included, are overwhelmingly choosing to hire part-time employees to avoid paying for benefits. It's baffling that companies continue to admit their preference for hiring more part-time employees, rather than paying for health care for those working 40 hours a week. Here, Pudzer helpfully spells out his house rules. He tells...

The nannycrats in Brussels and the IMF keep pressuring Spain to hike the VAT and Spain does every time. The results are easily predictable. Via translate from El Econimista, please consider VAT Rise is "Catastrophic" Anged, the "Association of Large Distribution Companies" suffered a 7.2% drop in sales through August, the biggest drop in sales since the crisis began. Anged companies include El Corte Ingles, Carrefour, Auchan, Tesco, Ikea, Media Markt, Leroy Merlin and Toys R'Us. Employer, Alfonso Merry del Val, said the increase in VAT has been "catastrophic". Data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) show that sales in...

I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Bill Clinton. In part, that’s because economic freedom increased and the burden of government spending was reduced during his time in office. Partisans can argue whether Clinton actually deserves the credit for these good results, but I’m just happy we got better policy. Heck, Clinton was a lot more akin to Reagan that Obama, as this Michael Ramirez cartoon suggests. Moreover, Clinton also has been the source of some very good political humor, some of which you can enjoy here, here, here, here, and here. Most recently, he even made...

(HOUSTON) -- Sen. Ted Cruz’ hometown newspaper, the Houston Chronicle, wishes it could take back its endorsement. The Chronicle’s editorial board, which endorsed Cruz, R-Texas, in his 2012 race, now says it misses his predecessor, former Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. “When we endorsed Ted Cruz in last November’s general election, we did so with many reservations and at least one specific recommendation -- that he follow Hutchison’s example in his conduct as a senator,” the Chronicle said. “Obviously, he has not done so." “Cruz has been part of the problem in specific situations where Hutchison would have been part...

Fifty-nine percent of front-line fast-food workers in Texas rely on public assistance programs such as food stamps and Medicaid to support their families, according to a report released on Tuesday. Nationally, more than half – 52 percent – of the families of front-line fast-food workers use at least one public assistance program, compared with a quarter of the total workforce, according to the report. The research was sponsored by the University of California, Berkeley, Center for Labor Research and Education and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of Urban & Regional Planning.

Apparently the qualifications for becoming an MSNBC anchor consist primarily of being able to ask Republicans the intellectual equivalent of “when did you stop beating your wife?” Which explains how Thomas Roberts got the gig. While interviewing Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) Roberts posed the following question: MSNBC Anchor To GOP Congresswomen: Do You Hate Obamacare More Than You Love Your Country? Understandably Blackburn seemed at an initial loss with her answer to the audacious and ideological insult, which Roberts had so cleverly disguised as an inappropriate question. Then again, he does work for MSNBC. He may seriously believe that...

Every time I post that the IRS is clearly forbidden from punishing you for not paying the fine/tax, I get the same fictional responses. Maybe their goal is to make it sound so scary so that Obamacare gets magically repealed(poof) , but given that wont happen anytime soon this misinformation can have the unintended consequence of fooling/scaring people into complying and helping make Obamacare work. I found the section in the bill text and will posted it below as a vanity for future reference skip tp SPECIAL RULES. CHAPTER 48—MAINTENANCE OF MINIMUM ESSENTIAL COVERAGE ‘Sec. 5000A. Requirement to maintain minimum...

MADISON – After more than an hour of political ping pong Tuesday, with the taxpayer playing the familiar role of ball, most Senate Democrats agreed with Republicans that a $100 million property tax cut was too good a deal to pass up. Or, perhaps, political suicide to turn it down. Last week, Democrats gave Gov. Scott Walker and legislative Republicans an earful after Walker called a special session to pass a $100 million property tax cut last week. Mike Tate, chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, called the tax cut a “gimmick.” Sen. President Mike Ellis, R-Neenah, excoriated senate...

With the federal government on the brink of a default, a House Republican effort to end the shutdown and extend the Treasury’s borrowing authority collapsed Tuesday night as a major credit agency warned that the United States was on the verge of a costly ratings downgrade.

WASHINGTON — With economic disaster looming at the stroke of midnight Thursday morning, America was left standing on the precipice after House Republicans suddenly abandoned a vote that would have averted default.

Psst. Anic-Pay! Bloomberg‘s Megan McArdle (who has been on an incredible roll lately**) takes issue with the idea that the Obama administration needn’t panic about Obamacare, as long as it can get its glitch-plagued health care exchanges up and running by the end of the year. Wrong, she suggests. It’s time to panic. Now. Why? Because the exchanges are the way to sign up young, healthy people and prevent the fabled “death spiral,” in which only older, sicker people sign up for insurance, causing rates to rise and healthier people to drop out, causing rates to rise even more, etc....