Free Republic

If not the religious institutions….or the women….who pays for the contraceptive services? The Obama administration claims it pays for itself, pointing to this new report: http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2012/contraceptives/ib.shtml “While the costs of contraceptives for individual women can be substantial and can influence choice of contraceptive methods, available data indicate that providing contraceptive coverage as part of a health insurance benefit does not add to the cost of providing insurance coverage. Evidence from well-documented prior expansions of contraceptive coverage indicates that the cost to issuers ... is zero.” We shall see what the insurance companies say…

Becoming the most hypocritical politician in America is not an easy goal to achieve, but New York’s Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat, is up to the task. Earlier this year, the Obama administration began rewarding its union friends and others with an escape from the clutches of Obamacare. Now one of the most outspoken Obamacare supporters - the man who actually said, “I wrote the bill … the bill and I are one” wants his own “get out of jail free” card from this abominable law. Moments of unmistakable clarity may not always find their way to the president’s teleprompter,...

"The Obama administration’s waivers to temporarily exempt certain companies, unions, and charities from rules established by the new health care law are a “perfect example of special interests” having influence in the administration and will be looked into by Congress, Sen. Charles Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee told CNSNews.com. "'You’re going to find out that by the president doing that with the secretary of HHS, he violated one of his main principles when he ran for office--and that was that special interests were not going to have an in in his administration,' said Grassley. 'And this...

A news story that doesn't receive the coverage it deserves is the so-called ObamaCare waivers that will be handed out to "friends" of the President and supporters of his health care power-grab, according to a public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption. President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law does not specify which companies or labor unions should receive waivers for its requirements and under what circumstances. Critics of how Heath and Human Services Department has chosen to handle these waiver requests highlight the haphazard nature of the approval process and the fact that companies able to secure these coveted Obamacare exemptions...

Applications for waivers from annual limit requirements are reviewed on a case by case basis by Department officials who look at a series of factors including whether or not a premium increase is large or if a significant number of enrollees would lose access to their current plan because the coverage would not be offered in the absence of a waiver

In the name of job creation and clean energy, the Obama administration has doled out billions of dollars in stimulus money to some of the nation’s biggest polluters and granted them sweeping exemptions from the most basic form of environmental oversight, a Center for Public Integrity investigation has found. Related Stories: ■NEPA Exemptions: The Dirty Dozen List ■Wisconsin Firm Receives Energy Grant Despite Chronic Pollution Problems The administration has awarded more than 179,000 “categorical exclusions” to stimulus projects funded by federal agencies, freeing those projects from review under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. Coal-burning utilities like Westar Energy...

Two companies based in the Twin Cities are among the more than 100 health-plan sponsors that have received waivers so far from certain requirements of the federal health care overhaul that Congress passed earlier this year. The restaurant division of Minnetonka-based Carlson and Regis Corp., the Edina-based operator of hair salons around the country, were granted the waivers last month. The federal legislation phases out the use of annual dollar limits on the amount of health plan coverage for essential benefits. But the government says the changes could be exceedingly expensive for a group of health plans that provide coverage...

Thirty companies and organizations get waivers from the new health care overhaul because otherwise they'd have to raise rates or drop coverage. The president said neither would happen. Hey, where's our waiver? asks Investor's Business Daily (IBD). After telling federal regulators that it would be "economically prohibitive" for its insurance carrier to continue to cover its 30,000 hourly workers unless it received a waiver for its mini-med plans, McDonald's now has waivers for 115,000 workers, not just 30,000. Jack in the Box also has a waiver, as do 28 other companies and organizations. The largest waiver, for 351,000 people, is...

The United Federation of Teachers -- one of President Obama's key political backers -- is the biggest beneficiary of a White House sweetheart deal that will exempt certain outfits from complying with new health-care rules, officials revealed yesterday. The quietly approved federal waivers for 30 companies, health insurers, unions and other groups across the country means the UFT doesn't have to gradually phase out caps on annual health coverage like everyone else. The UFT was concerned that could have been a major financial hit on the union. The one-year waiver, approved last month by the Department of Health and Human...

USA Today is reporting that nearly a million workers won't get a consumer protection in the U.S. health reform law meant to cap insurance costs because the government exempted their employers. Thirty companies and organizations, including McDonald's and Jack in the Box won't be required to raise the minimum annual benefit included in low-cost health plans, which are often used to cover part-time or low-wage employees. The Department of Health and Human Services, which provided a list of exemptions, said it granted waivers in late September so workers with such plans wouldn't lose coverage from employers who might choose instead...

I guess when President Obama uttered the promise "If you like your coverage you can keep it" he was speaking to the ruling elite. It must have been so since the adoring sycophants on the Hill were not exempted from this bill but their bosses were. How about that change guys? The following Fox News story outlines the controversy brewing in Washington:

WASHINGTON -- It turns out that President Obama and the congressional staffers who actually sat down and wrote the health-care bill might not have to contend with the complicated new health "exchanges" the new law is creating. "It's pretty unbelievable that the president and his closest advisers remain untouched by the reforms they pushed for the rest of the country," fumed Sen. Charles Grassley (R- Iowa). When health care was moving through the Senate, Grassley tried, unsuccessfully, to include an amendment to force all political appointees from the president on down to get their health care through the same exchanges...

Good old Joe Biden, introducing Barack Obama at the health-care bill-signing lollapalooza in Washington yesterday, leaned over and whispered into the presidential ear (and a nearby open mike): "This is a big f---ing deal." Sure was -- though not personally to Veep Potty-Mouth, nor to the president. They're exempt, you see. Really. No worrying for them about the personal consequences of ObamaCare's overbearing regulation, worrisome coverage uncertainties and financial confusions. Same for members of the presidential Cabinet -- and all of their staff members. They and their families are exempt from the calamitous health-care "reform" plan they've hung on the...

When you get your census form in a couple of weeks just fill out the number of people in your household. Also, go into your employer tommorrow and ask for a W-2 Blue Card and change your Federal exemptions to 20 with no other withholding. Increase your state to the maximum allowed as well unless you have no state income tax. They don't want to do what we ask, it's time to send a message.

One thing we get with our mother's milk today is revulsion for what civil-rights lawyers call "invidious" discrimination. For the civil-rights lawyers who attained their status through the invidious discrimination known as affirmative action, the parenthesized word means "likely to create ill will" or "offensively or unfairly discriminating." Now, the problem with judging invidiousness is that it requires you know what fairness is. For instance, it certainly creates ill will when Americans are rejected simply because they're too white or too male, but the government doesn't trouble much about that. We also have an unfair progressive income tax that evokes...

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon hasn't made the case for exemptions from three environmental laws or provided examples of how military operations have been impeded by them, a congressional report said Friday. The Government Accountability Office report came after the Navy lost in court over training exercises it was conducting under an exemption to the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Environmentalists contended that the Navy's use of sonar could harm whales off the Southern California coast, and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled March 2 that the Navy had to limit the sonar use. In a written response included in...

Frederick County Commissioner John L. Thompson Jr. believes artists should not get more tax breaks than other property owners. He hopes to repeal a property tax credit for renovations on buildings used for arts and entertainment. The credit was introduced in 2004 and the county has no record of anyone applying for or receiving it, Frederick County Treasurer Lori Decker said. Thompson, the sole commissioner to vote against the credit in 2004, said he is bringing it up again because he hopes the commissioners elected last year will be open to reconsidering it. "Artists and entertainers, they should pay money...

A bill that places a two-year moratorium on private toll road agreements in Texas was signed by Gov. Rick Perry on Monday. The bill, Senate Bill 792, was pushed by opponents of the Trans Texas Corridor, which is a proposed set of privately-funded toll roads throughout Texas. The final version of the bill represents a compromise between opponents of the TTC and Perry, its main backer. Specifically, the bill prevents the Texas Department of Transportation from entering what are called comprehensive development agreements, or CDAs, which are contracts for private companies to build and profit from toll roads in Texas....

Hank Gilbert was not impressed with the 80th meeting of the Texas Legislature. Gilbert, a former candidate for agriculture commissioner and Democratic anti-toll road lobbyist, offered his opinions and reported on his efforts, specifically on bills concerning the toll roads, at the Texas Democratic Women of Gregg County's monthly meeting Thursday. "The 80th session probably had some high points," he said of the Democrats' progress. "But I didn't see them; except the raising of the minimum wage to $7.25, which won't go into effect for another two years." Gilbert spoke in detail about Texas House Bill 1892, a piece of...

Now that legislators have gone home and trumpeted how they passed a bill to freeze private financing of toll roads, the governor's office has some bubble-busting news. There isn't much of a moratorium in Senate Bill 792. "Of any kind, that we can tell," said Robert Black, spokesman for Gov. Rick Perry. "Unless there was something screwy that happened." Actually, there were plenty of screwy machinations in the Legislature as lawmakers hammered out bills to rein in tolling powers of the Texas Department of Transportation. Slapping a two-year moratorium on privatization contracts started out simple. But skittish lawmakers carved out...

The future of an interstate planned to run through Victoria appears murkier than ever. Harris County, a key point along the proposed Interstate 69 route, pulled out of the I-69 Alliance in mid-May. In an article in the May 15 Houston Chronicle, Bill Murphy and Rad Sallee wrote that Harris County pulled out of the I-69 Alliance after county commissioners decided too much was spent annually in membership costs. The county hopes that a bill in legislation right now is passed, because it would give them access to build a toll road as part of the Trans-Texas Corridor parallel to...

AUSTIN – Lawmakers broke camp Monday, taking it on faith that Gov. Rick Perry won't slam the brakes on a compromise toll road bill. Monday's session finale came and went without Mr. Perry signing the bill, which imposes a partial two-year freeze on private toll road deals. Lawmakers did not try to override his veto on their initial bill to overhaul the state's toll policies. Many involved in the contentious toll road debate were expecting Mr. Perry to approve the bill by now because his office was closely involved in hammering out the compromise. Perry spokeswoman Krista Moody said the...

Those persuasion skills were key to Ms. Kolkhorst marshaling support for a partial two-year moratorium on private toll roads. The bill could get lawmakers' final blessing today. The Brenham Republican has emerged as a central figure in the Legislature's efforts to slow down the privatization of Texas roads. She has persuaded nearly all of her 149 House colleagues to back the moratorium, which excludes most North Texas toll projects. Ms. Kolkhorst, 42, has parlayed a blend of persistence, fearlessness, smarts and country charm into a more visible role in Austin. In addition to leading the toll road freeze, she has...

House, Senate passage seem likely The careening vehicle that has been this legislative session's toll road overhaul appeared to pull into the garage about 4:35 p.m. Thursday. At that moment, Republican state Sen. Robert Nichols of Jacksonville, after spending several moments huddling on the floor with Sen. Tommy Williams, sponsor of Senate Bill 792, affixed his signature to a compromise version of the bill, and the two shook hands. "We've got a deal now," Williams, R-The Woodlands, said about an hour later. "This is really going to move transportation issues forward, particularly in large metropolitan areas." The deal was among...

AUSTIN -- Key negotiators were still working Wednesday night to hammer out a compromise version of a toll-road moratorium bill that Gov. Rick Perry won't veto. Earlier Wednesday, Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas, said a compromise between the House and Senate versions of a transportation bill had been negotiated, but key House members quickly insisted that a deal had not been reached. The compromise version would require both chambers' approval. Perry vetoed a toll-road moratorium bill last week, citing concerns that it would cost the state federal funding of transportation projects. Different versions of a second moratorium passed both chambers last...

Paul Burka’s blog has a nice update on the legislative efforts to de-rail Gov. Perry’s Trans Texas Corridor project. It hasn’t been stopped yet (reference to bills are bills to halt the TTC): So here’s where we are. HB 1892, the original bill, has been vetoed. SB 792, Carona’s bill, is in conference committee. The governor’s office, through former senator Ken Armbrister, is trying to round up enough votes in the Senate (11) to block an override of the veto. If he is successful, then the governor holds all the cards. He can veto 792 as well, with the calendar...

More projects exempted from private toll road moratorium in unanimous Senate vote. The Texas Senate, after hours of closed-door negotiations stamped out hot spots of dissent, unanimously passed revamped toll road legislation Monday that would supplant a bill languishing on Gov. Rick Perry's desk. Perry, who has made it clear he would veto the first bill, House Bill 1892, immediately signaled that he would allow Senate Bill 792 to become law if the House passes it in its current form. Lawmakers involved in the negotiations say they hope to get SB 792 to Perry late this week in time to...

Toll road compromise reached By Ben Wear | Monday, May 14, 2007, 08:10 AM Lawmakers, representatives from the Texas Department of Transportation and others have reached agreement on major toll road legislation that will be laid out this morning in a meeting of the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee. But there could be a backlash. Many legislators had said this session that what they didn’t want was to be presented with a large “agreed-upon” transportation bill late in the session with little or no time to absorb it. That’s exactly what they’re getting, however. The bill, in this instance,...

AUSTIN — The House gave final approval Wednesday to placing a two-year moratorium on private toll road contracts, sending the bill to Gov. Rick Perry and setting up a showdown over the future of the state's transportation policy. Perry had urged the Legislature to reject the freeze but has stopped short of promising a veto. The House approved the measure 139-1, showing it has broad enough support that lawmakers could vote to override the governor if he tries to kill it. The Senate approved the bill 27-4 last week. The Legislature can override a veto with a two-thirds vote of...

AUSTIN — The Texas Senate on Thursday approved a bill placing a two-year moratorium on private toll road contracts and creating a panel to review the terms of those agreements. Gov. Rick Perry had urged the Legislature not to act on the bill. He said the state's current transportation system, which involves public-private partnerships to build toll roads, needs to continue if Texas is to keep attracting big companies and jobs. Critics of Perry's proposed Trans-Texas Corridor and the state's contract with Spanish-American consortium Cintra-Zachry have made some lawmakers nervous about the project. Sen. Robert Nichols supported the corridor as...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2007 – The Minnesota governor announced a new program this week to exempt troops and retirees who call the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” home from paying state income tax on military pay and pensions and provide other new benefits. Gov. Tim Pawlenty unveiled the $74.8 million Military and Veterans Support Package Jan. 8. The package includes two dozen initiatives to assist servicemembers, their families and veterans. It will be included in the governor’s new budget proposal, to be submitted to the state legislature later this month. “The brave men and women in the military raise their...

Although I am interested in exemptions made for people of all faiths, I am particularly interested in exemptions that have been made for non-Christians.

Senators weigh whether locally approved breaks should survive statewide tax By Jason Embry AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Thursday, May 5, 2005 Property tax exemptions that senior citizens and other residents receive in many school districts could be wiped away under the Senate's tax proposals, leaving many Texans with far smaller tax breaks than advertised. Seniors in Austin and residents of the Lago Vista and Lake Travis school districts -- as well as Dallas and Houston -- currently receive those exemptions. They come on top of standard statewide exemptions that remove a portion of a home's appraised value from the tax rolls. The...

The Senate Strangles Itself New York Times, July 13, 1996 Sarah Binder, Fellow, Governmental Studies Trent Lott, the new majority leader of the Senate, exploded in frustration on the floor this week, complaining that the Democrats were exploiting the rules to block Senate action. That they certainly were, and so were Republicans—holding up bills on everything from nuclear waste to domestic violence. But what did he expect? To be sure, most Senate leaders endure years, not weeks, of obstructionism before resorting to castigating their colleagues. But Mr. Lott is hardly the first Senate leader to find his party snarled endlessly...

The state plans to dump its longtime auto-emissions contractor and turn over testing to a network of 300 garages across the state - a transition that will bring a halt to all testing for at least six months, starting July 1. Department of Motor Vehicles officials announced Thursday that they would begin negotiating a five-year contract with Agbar Technologies Inc. of Chicago, which would coordinate a decentralized system of testing at local service stations and dealerships. The move would end the state's rocky relationship with Connecticut-based Envirotest Systems Corp., which has handled emissions testing since the program began 18 years...