Free Republic

During a discussion on CNN this morning of the health care mandate, radio host Michael Smerconish said, “The way in which you can afford to pay for people with pre-existing conditions is if you get a guy who’s a stud like Chris Cuomo who works out and is healthy, and get him into the pool.” From far rejecting Smerconish’s embarrassing bit of ingratiation, Cuomo engaged in some dabbing that would make Cam Newton proud. See the screencap. View the video here.

The wheels began to come off Obamacare in 2011 when the administration announced that the "CLASS Act," a provision to provide long-term disability care, was, in the words of Kathleen Sebelius, "totally unsustainable," and would be discontinued. What was the problem? The White House website had boasted: "No taxpayer funds will be used to pay benefits under this provision ... Safeguards will be put in place to ensure its premiums are enough to cover its costs." "Safeguards." Sounds quaint now, doesn't it? A bit like "If you like your plan ... " So why did the Department of Health and...

(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops filed comments with the Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday stating that the regulation that HHS issued under Obamacare that requires most health-care plans in the United States to cover sterilizations, contraceptives and abortion-inducing drugs continues to be an “unjust and unlawful mandate” despite "accommodations" the administration proposed last month. The bishops reiterated their position that "the mandate should rescinded." "In short," said the bishops' comments, "the Administration continues to propose: (a) un unjust and unlawful mandate; (b) no exemption or 'accommodation' at all for most stakeholders in the health...

Now that Obama has been re-elected and Democrats still control the Senate, Republicans no longer have the chance to repeal Obamacare. But all is not lost. There's still an opportunity for America to stop this disaster by choking the life out of the federal monstrosity. Obama's signature legislative achievement is likely headed back to the Supreme Court. Just last week, the high court ordered a lower federal court to take up a lawsuit by the patriots at Liberty University, who claim Congress violated the college's religious freedoms by forcing it to provide federally mandated insurance and requiring payment for abortion-related...

The US Supreme Court this month hears arguments on the constitutional challenges to the ObamaCare law — with the top challenge centering on the mandate that every American buy health insurance. Increasingly, and not just for constitutional reasons, that mandate looks to be the law’s downfall. Princeton University’s Paul Starr, whose advice helped shape ObamaCare, recently admitted that the mandate was a big mistake. “Democrats managed to get themselves the worst possible result: a law that enflames the opposition on the basis of overreaching federal power but may not work in practice because there is no real power behind it,”...

I have not been able to find the entire On The Record Bondi interview, either in video OR professional transcript, so I transcribed it myself. Hopefully the full segment video, with transcript, will become available, so any mistakes I may have made can be corrected. Below is the transcription of Greta's Pam Bondi interview, transcribed directly from the TV segment [the later rebroadcast]. (Note: In the rebroadcast, there was a second or two in which there was a loss of audio and a black screen; I have noted it in the transcript]Greta's 1-27-2012 interview On The Record with Pam Bondi...

If you are handicapping whether the Supreme Court is going to find the nation's health-care law constitutional, you have a few options. You can go old school, citing the great arc of decisions that began in 1819 in which the court has built upon one precedent after another to say the Constitution gives Congress great powers to conduct the nation's business. You can go modern era to cite the instances in the last two decades where the court put on the brakes. It said the Commerce Clause did not give federal lawmakers the power to regulate whatever they wanted. Or...

Fellow Americans, On Tuesday, March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law a healthcare bill of historic proportions. That bill includes an individual mandate on Americans that declares that they must buy health insurance or face penalties. This overreaches the authority of Congress under the Commerce Clause and is therefore unconstitutional. Buying health insurance can be said to be an act in commerce. However, if someone doesn’t buy insurance, they are by definition not engaging in commerce. This legislation greatly oversteps the Commerce Clause. Please join in Virginia’s fight to overturn the individual mandate on health insurance. I ask that...

I know it was on here recently, but I cannot remember the title to search for it--where in the bill does it say that we can be imprisoned for not purchasing health insurance? A link to the original post would work just fine, also. Thanks!

When justices ruled to strike down laws limiting corporate political spending, they signaled a tough road ahead for Democrats' regulatory measures. Reporting from Washington - Five years ago, when John G. Roberts Jr. became the Supreme Court's chief justice, he described the job as though he would be a minor functionary, more like an umpire behind the plate than the star of the game. He also said he favored minimal and narrow decisions, rather than broad but divisive rulings that would abruptly change the law. But in recent weeks, Roberts has shown that when he has the support of moderate...