Free Republic

Find below a state government request for you to provide public comments on the Obamacare "essential health benefits" requirement for individual and small group insurance policies. Note that this list of benefits (health care services), whether you agree or find them objectionable, will be imposed by the State....as allowed by the federal government.  The Feds are being gentle now, allowing "flexibility" for States to do as they wish, but that is likely temporary. Once the State has acquiesced to the presumption of federal control, expect the Feds to mandate the health care services they want included, and exclude the services they...

The Obama Administration is setting up the rules and regulations to establish a federal Health Insurance Exchange in every State. This will put all insurance and health care delivery under federal control. The Exchange could best be called a "lobster trap". Once installed, it'll be almost impossible to get out. The deadline for your comments is next Wednesday, September 28. Please take this opportunity to say NO.

The Obama Administration may soon require all citizens to have a federally-imposed national patient ID card. The deadline for your comments is Tuesday, September 6 - the day after Labor Day. This "machine-readable" patient ID card (and perhaps number) would allow implementation of the controversial national health data system -- the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) -- to which President Obama appropriated $23 billion in the "economic stimulus" bill. The NHIN is a "network of networks" made by connecting State health information exchanges with federal software. Comprehensive private medical and mental health data could be electronically linked on any and...

VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. — The White House says President Barack Obama will have no further comment on the mosque near Ground Zero in New York and the administration will not get involved in talks about relocating the controversial facility. Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton was asked about the issue Tuesday at a White House press briefing. He replied, "No, and no" to the questions of whether Obama would weigh in further, or whether the White House would have a role in discussions about moving the mosque.

Visit the links posted here & post comments. I will be saying "Find and join a local Tea Party. Commit to going once a month. Try to bring a friend. Read every week about our history and constitution."

How does this .mp3 square with the comment he just made? Dem's...ya gotta love-em.

President Barack Obama puzzled people when he said Washington "gets all wee-weed up." The White House offered a translation Friday: Folks are wetting the bed over the healthcare debate. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was asked during his daily on-camera briefing what Obama meant on Thursday when he decried the way his push for an ambitious healthcare overhaul had been played in the media. "There's something about August going into September where everybody in Washington gets all wee-weed up," Obama told an audience at the Democratic National Committee headquarters. "I don't know what it is. But that's what happens."...

NATICK, Mass. – A white police sergeant who arrested renowned black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. said Thursday he's disappointed President Barack Obama said officers acted "stupidly," despite acknowledging he didn't know all the facts. Sgt. James Crowley responded to Gates' home near Harvard University last week to investigate a report of a burglary and demanded Gates show him identification. Police say Gates at first refused and accused the officer of racism. Gates was charged with disorderly conduct. The charge was dropped Tuesday, and Gates has since demanded an apology from Crowley.

WASHINGTON, April 9 (Reuters) - [snip] Obama was asked to comment on the situation several times by reporters at a White House event on refinancing for homeowners. Obama, however, stuck closely to the script and replied that he wanted to remain focused on housing.

SPEND $500 on two magnums of Veuve Clicquot Champagne at Bagatelle on West 13th Street in the meatpacking district, and the bottles are delivered to your table with lighted sparklers stuck in their corks. Spend $2,500 on a jeroboam of Veuve Clicquot and some magnums of Dom Pérignon, and the lights dim, the D.J. cues up the theme from “Superman,” and a waiter is hoisted onto the shoulders of his fellow servers. With a tablecloth knotted around his neck as a makeshift cape and his arms outstretched, he carries one of the blazing bottles of bubbly to your table. As...

WASHINGTON – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid defended himself Wednesday over a joking comment that tourists to the Capitol sometimes smell. Turns out many people weren't amused.

Media MIA On Emanuel's Crisis CommentBy Seton Motley November 21, 2008 - 08:33 ET Remember the years of media flak President George W. Bush received for his alleged use for political gain of first the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and then the related Afghanistan and Iraq Wars? Will the press be as vociferous now? Incoming Obama Administration Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, speaking on Wednesday on and to the Wall Street Journal Digital Network, stated outright his desire to make political hay with the ongoing travails of the U.S. and global economy: "You never want a serious crisis...

Time For Public Comment On New Rules For Guns In National Parks Friday, May 02, 2008 On April 30, the U.S. Department of Interior, through the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, issued a proposed rule to amend the current strict regulations on firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges. NRA-ILA led the effort to amend the existing policy regarding the carrying and transportation of firearms on these federal lands. The public has until June 30 to comment on the proposal, and NRA-ILA strongly urges members to file comments in support. “Law-abiding citizens should not be prohibited...

I'm looking for the news item about the TV anchor who said something along the line of "if I knew of an imminent attack on US forces, I wouldn't tell them because journalists are supposed to be neutral." Might just convince a liberal with this one.

RICHMOND, Va. - The nation's first elected black governor said Saturday he is not ready to excuse comments former President Bill Clinton made about Barack Obama. In campaigning for his wife last month on the eve of the New Hampshire primary, Clinton called Obama's opposition to the Iraq war "a fairy tale." Clinton suggested Obama had toned down his early anti-war fervor during his 2004 Senate campaign. "Barack Obama is not a fairy tale. He is real," former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder told reporters at a Democratic fundraiser as the former president spent the day campaigning for Hillary Rodham...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates has long believed that removing Saddam Hussein was “the right thing to do,” a top Defense Department spokesman said yesterday. In a news briefing, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell countered media reports that suggest Gates did not agree with the president’s view that it was necessary to topple Saddam’s regime. In an interview Sept. 17 with a newspaper reporter after a speech in Williamsburg, Va., the secretary was asked: “Now, do you think in retrospect, knowing what we know about (weapons of mass destruction), it was worth doing?” Morrell said...

CONCORD, N.H. - Democratic rivals criticized Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday for her comment that a terror attack between now and the election would help the Republicans. On Thursday, the New York senator told supporters in Concord that she could defeat any Republican nominee, in part because she already knows how her opponents will go after her and because she is good at handling the unexpected. "There are circumstances beyond our control, and I think I am better able to handle things I have no control over," she said. "It's a horrible prospect to ask yourself 'What if? What if?'...

Leno hits it on the head here. Click for video

Comments sought on eastern cougar Catamount, puma, painter, panther, mountain lion are just some of the names given to a large but elusive will-o’-the-wisp cat that once haunted . . . or perhaps still haunts . . . the forests of the eastern United States and Canada. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is beginning a review of scientific and commercial information to determine the status of the endangered eastern cougar, the first review the Service has done since publishing a recovery plan in 1982. The Service placed the eastern cougar on the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife in...

To: All Santorum volunteers with loved ones in the Armed Services Show YOUR support at a press conference for our troops in light of recent derogatory comments made by Senator John Kerry. “YOU KNOW EDUCATION, IF YOU MAKE THE MOST OF IT, IF YOU STUDY HARD, YOU DO YOUR HOMEWORK, AND YOU MAKE AN EFFORT TO BE SMART, YOU CAN DO WELL. IF YOU DON’T, YOU GET STUCK IN IRAQ.” Senator Kerry is visiting Philadelphia on Wednesday evening to raise money for Bobby Casey. At that time, Senator Rick Santorum will join veterans and families in rallying in support of...

Conservative sweetheart Ann Coulter, a take-no-prisoners commentator whose latest book, “Godless: The Church of Liberalism,” takes a shot at four high-profile widows of 9/11, has the Left panting breathlessly for her head. Hillary calls her “vicious.” New York’s governor, moderate Republican George E. Pataki, skewers her as “far worse than insensitive.” (Let’s see. “Insensitive” is 10 years in the slammer. The penalty for “far worse than” has got to be indeterminate hard time at Gitmo.) Commentator Leonard Pitts Jr. reviles her as “mean, malicious, the barbed-wire front woman for a cabal of bloviators, bully boys and blowhards…” But wait. Before...

Laura Bush criticized Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday for suggesting that the Republican-controlled House is run like a plantation where dissenting voices are ignored. "It think it's ridiculous — it's a ridiculous comment," Mrs. Bush told reporters when asked about the remark during a return flight to Washington following her four-day swing through West Africa. Clinton made the comment in Harlem at an event honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. She said the GOP was running the House "like a plantation" because ideas from the minority Democrats were not respected. The White House on Tuesday called the senator's...

Blanco won't comment on Orleans rebuilding suggestions BATON ROUGE, La. Governor Kathleen Blanco declined to take sides today in the debate over a proposal that would stall or prevent some New Orleans residents from rebuilding their homes in neighorhoods heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Blanco says the place for that discussion is in New Orleans, not Baton Rouge. The planning arm of Mayor Ray Nagin's Bring New Orleans Back Commission recommended this week that no rebuilding work be done in neighborhoods hardest hit by Katrina until the areas prove they'll be viable. The idea was to ensure that enough people...

NEW YORK - The war of words over the transit strike took an ugly turn after Mayor Michael Bloomberg described union heads as "thuggish," a remark some said was racist in the context of a predominantly black union. During his first briefing on the strike Tuesday at City Hall, Bloomberg complained that union leaders had "thuggishly turned their backs on New York City and disgraced the noble concept of public service." A group of City Council members and black leaders said Wednesday that Bloomberg's comment was racist because it was directed at leaders of a union that is less than...

TEHRAN (Agencies) -- Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said here Friday that U.S. President George W. Bush's recent comments on Iran's presidential election is due to his lack of knowledge about Iran, IRNA reported. Kharrazi made the remark after casting his vote. The Iranian foreign minister’s comments followed Bush's criticism of Iran's presidential election which he said would retain power in the hands of an unelected few and are undemocratic. Kharrazi added: "While lecturing us on democracy, Bush totally ignores the presence of grass root democracy in Iran and launches a campaign against it, which is self contradictory, and needless of...

LONDON (AP) - The mayor of London refused to apologize Tuesday for comparing a Jewish journalist to a Nazi concentration guard, a comment that drew anger from Jewish groups and calls for contrition from Holocaust survivors, the government's race-relations watchdog and Prime Minister Tony Blair. Instead, Mayor Ken Livingstone lashed out at the journalist's employer, accusing it of a long history of anti-Semitism and scare-mongering about immigrants. "I have nothing to apologize for," Livingstone told reporters at a news conference. The mayor said he had not meant to offend the Jewish community when he asked Evening Standard reporter Oliver Finegold...

An Australian leftie blogger, John Quiggin, has agreed to give AU$1 per comment left on his blog (repeat/spam comments not included) up to a maximum of $1000. A lot of other people have chipped in and promised to pay per comment as well, meaning that each comment is worth about US$3.50... Now I could say "comment so that a bunch of lefties will be forced into paying a hell of a lot more than he thought he would, and we'll see who pays up," but that'd be wrong, wouldn't it? Heh. Anyway, here's the link: http://johnquiggin.com/index.php?p=2140#comments.

Here are the top nine comments made by NBC sports commentators during the Summer Olympics that they would like to take back:1. Weightlifting commentator: "This is Gregoriava from Bulgaria. I saw her snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing."2. Dressage commentator: "This is really a lovely horse and I speak from personal experience since I once mounted her mother."3. Paul Hamm, Gymnast: "I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father."4. Boxing Analyst: "Sure there have been njuries,and even some deaths in boxing, but none of them really that serious."5. Softball announcer: "If...

A train conductor and candidate for Congress who suggested to his passengers they might want to vote against Sen. John Kerry for president has been suspended without pay

After a final bruising encounter with the West, Islam's fiery spokesman Dr Mahathir bows out of public life By Kathy Marks in Sydney 21 October 2003 No one thought Mahathir Mohamad would go quietly. But few expected a row of the magnitude that saw Malaysia's Prime Minister taken aside by President George Bush yesterday and told in no uncertain terms his remarks about Jews were "wrong and divisive". The frosty encounter was at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, which opened in Bangkok yesterday, attended by 21 world leaders. The meeting should have been an occasion to honour Dr Mahathir,...

Feds Condemn Robertson for Nuke Comment Sat Oct 11,12:21 PM ET VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The U.S. State Department has condemned an on-air suggestion by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson that the agency ought to be blown up with a nuclear device. AP Photo Robertson, who heads the Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network, made the remark while interviewing author Joel Mowbray on "The 700 Club" television program last week. Mowbray wrote a book called "Dangerous Diplomacy: How the State Department Endangers America's Security." "I read your book. When you get through, you say, 'If I could just get a nuclear device...

The following was sent out earlier tonight with request for wide distribution...it seems to speak for itself. ------------------------------------------------- The bishops of the Reformed Episcopal Church recently released a statement on homosexuality in the wake of the ECUSA general convention. It was been fairly widely published both on the onternet and in local newspapers by of our parishes. It is printed below for reference. Recently the REC parishes in Houston attempted to run the ad in the upcoming saturday Religion section of Houston Chronicle( a left leaning paper which has been notoriously unsupportive of traditional anglicans for years). The cost we...

Who is to blame? Who is to blame for this war with Iraq? Everyone has their own targets for the blame, and there is a lot of blame to go around. Bush, Blair, Saddam, the list goes on, yada yada yada. Most of the blame people place has little to do with facts of the matters at hand and has more to do with racial, political and religious hatred. It is important to realize this war really has little to do with Saddam. Saddam made it very easy for the US to make him a target, but the core issue...

Commentary: A Warning to Certain US Media Presumptuous CommentatorsWe often call the act of those, who have done evil things and yet countercharge others, as playing the trick of a thief crying "Stop thief" or "making unfounded countercharges". Perhaps it is most appropriate to use these two common sayings to describe distorting comments on China by certain US media, a case in point is the article entitled "China: An Economic Power, but a Political Maze" recently published in the summer issue of the US Washington Quarterly. The first half of the article can be regarded as objective when commenting...

I can not comment.