Free Republic

Tennessee was home to a failed attempt at universal single payer care, and has lessons to teach a President who has promised that in pursuing his goal of universal health care, he will learn from the policy failures of the past. In 1994 Tennessee implemented managed care in its Medicaid program, creating a system known as TennCare. The objective was to use the anticipated savings from Medicaid to fund and expand coverage for children and the uninsured. The result was a program that nearly bankrupted the state, reduced the quality of care, and collapsed under its own weight.

Here is video from Larry King Live last night where James Carville and Liz Cheney debating about Gov. Sarah Palin's resignation, President Obama's drive to bring Government Health Care to America, and the scandal over Gov. Mark Sanford's affair with a woman from Argentina. Carville was his usual nasty self, and Cheney was well-spoken and did a good job holding her own. On Sarah Palin, Cheney pointed out that feminists and liberal hate Sarah Palin because she balances home and professional life, and is staunchly pro-life. . . . . (Watch Video)

There are folks out there (like Examiner.com's George Copeland) suggesting that Sarah Palin may have resigned from office to set up a run for the presidency in 2012, not as a Republican, but as an independent candidate. While I tend to doubt that that will be her approach, the party mandarins have every reason to worry about what she might do to them. After all, the last time Sarah Palin resigned from a position, it was the beginning of an all-out assault on the Alaska GOP, which had betrayed the party's core principles with its corruption and cronyism. Following her...

POLL: Are Palin ethics investigations a waste of money or necessary for keeping politicians in check?

What? You don't like Mitt Romney? Why not? He brought the finest health care in the world to the citizens of Mass and it's free! Abortion? I think he's against it today. Back when he was running for governor he had to be for it, Ted Kennedy and other liberals forced him to be that way. Just look at his hair dammit and then tell me, if you still can, that you wouldn't vote for him. If you still wouldn't vote for him you must be one of them there haters and bigots and with Powell on the ticket that'd...

Update, 10:15 p.m.: Randy Evans, the attorney who helped Palin set up the Alaska Trust Fund, released a statement moments ago dismissing the allegation that there was any impropriety in its founding as "absolutely untrue". Added Evans: "It was specifically patterned after well recognized trusts of prior Presidential candidates as well as high profile public servants. As with other public servants, there is no impropriety in the creation or operation of such a trust and any suggestion to the contrary is candidly absurd." Evans, a partner in the firm of McKenna, Long & Aldridge, is a well known Republican attorney,...

"I find the notion that I have taken any action pertaining to the legal defense trust fund misguided and factually in error. I am informed that this fund was created by experienced attorneys in DC and was modeled after other similar funds established for senators and others. The fund itself was not created by me nor is it controlled by me. Neither I nor my lawyer has received a penny from this fund, and I am informed the Trustee was withholding any action or payment pending final resolution with the Personnel Board. This is the hallmark of legal compliance and...

Glenn Beck took aim yesterday at the Massachusetts universal healthcare system, which liberals and many Democrats have touted for years as a model for the purported glories of socialized medicine. (Snip) Beck noted that Massachusetts is now spending 42% more ($595 million) on health insurance than it did in 2006, and asked rhetorically how the state will pay for an estimated $1.3 billion in healthcare this year?

A preliminary report raises the possibility that Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, who has been dogged by ethics complaints, many of them dismissed as frivolous, may not be allowed to pay her legal bills with money from her legal defense fund. Ms. Palin has amassed legal bills of more than $500,000 and has said that those debts are part of the reason she is resigning her office. She steps down on Sunday, a year and a half before the end of her term. The preliminary report, written by Thomas M. Daniel, an investigator for the state personnel board, came in...

Associated Press writer Rachel D'Oro, who has a history of writing negative pieces on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, is out with another of her trademark smear jobs. The article is going out from the AP to thousands of news outlets around the world. Let's take a look: The report obtained by The Associated Press says Palin is securing unwarranted benefits and receiving improper gifts through the Alaska Fund Trust, set up by supporters. How did AP obtain the report? The copy of the report linked to (PDF) by the Anchorage Daily News has this warning stamped on it in big,...

Romney on Obama's Push For Health Reform: Slow Down Katie Connolly In the last two weeks, political commentators have expressed doubts over President Obama's time frame for healthcare reform. Meanwhile, even some Democrat lawmakers appear to be getting cold feet. In response, Obama is relentlessly pitching his plan. He has spoken about healthcare on eight out of the last nine days, and he's scheduled to hold a town hall meeting on the topic this Thursday. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is one of the few politicians in the country with first hand experience of steering major health care reform through...

Is it me or is Romney turning into Mclame?..... In the last two weeks, political commentators have expressed doubts over President Obama's time frame for healthcare reform. Meanwhile, even some Democrat lawmakers appear to be getting cold feet. In response, Obama is relentlessly pitching his plan. He has spoken about healthcare on eight out of the last nine days, and he's scheduled to hold a town hall meeting on the topic this Thursday. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is one of the few politicians in the country with first hand experience of steering major health care reform through the legislative...

Rachel D'Oro of the Associated Press has a story on Kim Chatman's ethics complaint about the Alaska Fund Trust with a big, splashy headline: "Palin implicated in ethics probe." The practical effect of the ruling on Palin will be more financial than anything else. The report recommends that Palin refuse to accept payment from the defense fund, and that the complaint be resolved without a formal hearing before the Alaska Personnel Board. However, it seems that the report "obtained" by the AP is not the final one from the Personnel Board's investigator. The governor just tweeted: Re inaccurate story floating...

Outgoing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may have violated state ethics laws by letting supporters set up a legal defense fund to help her battle ethics complaints, a preliminary report on the issue has found. Sarah Palin's attorney says the report is not final, and he is preparing more information for the investigator. An investigator hired by the state personnel board recommended Palin -- who gives up her office on Sunday -- refuse money from the defense fund and ask the state to pay legal fees for ethics complaints that have been dismissed. Palin attorney Thomas Van Flein said the report...

Governor Palin has seen a huge increase in the amount of people following her on Twitter since she announced her resignation in early July. She currently stands at nearly 106,000 followers, but I believe that we can push her to at least 110,000. So, tell all your friends to start following Governor Palin on twitter!

<p>Investigator: Palin May Have Violated Ethics Laws An independent investigator has found evidence that Gov. Sarah Palin may have violated ethics laws by accepting private donations to pay her legal debts.</p> <p>"All options are open in terms of legal remedies. It is a clear violation of Alaska law that Mr. Daniel explicitly reviewed with Ms. Chatman prior to her illegal actions. We will be contacting the appropriate authorities for review and action."</p>

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An independent investigator has found evidence that Gov. Sarah Palin may have violated ethics laws by trading on her position in seeking money for legal fees, in the latest legal distraction for the former vice presidential candidate as she prepares to leave office this week. The report obtained by The Associated Press says Palin is securing unwarranted benefits and receiving improper gifts through the Alaska Fund Trust, set up by supporters.

For folks increasingly leery of President Obama’s plan to radically overhaul America’s health-care system, or 17 percent of the nation’s economy, all this could hardly have come at a better time — that is, fiscal troubles aplenty within Repubican Mitt Romney’s brainchild, Massachusetts’ “grand experiment” in “universal” health care. Initiated on Mr. Romney’s gubernatorial watch in 2006, this “experiment” has fallen on hard times, and predictably so. Even though the Bay State commenced its program with a far smaller percentage of uninsured residents than exists nationwide, “RomneyCare” is threatening to bankrupt the state. Budgeted for Fiscal Year 2010 at $880...

Oh, Myth Romney, how do I loathe you! Let me count the ways. (in no particular order) 10. TAXES: As the Governor of Massachusetts, you raised "fees" (taxes) by nearly $730 million. In fact, at a 2008 presidential debate, you said that it's appropriate for governments to charge fees and provide services. And, in 2007, at a campaign event in Iowa, you called flat taxes "unfair." (OnTheIssues.org/NewsMax) 9. HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA: In 1994, you favored allowing unabashed homosexuals to openly serve in the U.S. armed forces. You also favored allowing homosexuals to participate in the Boy Scouts, and you were endorsed...

Earlier tonight, Governor Palin tweeted the following: Rep.Lynn's good HB3 Visa/Drivers Lic law:"If u dont have legal right to walk down AKn street, why should u have right to drive same street?" Governor Palin is apparently quoting State Representative Bob Lynn's newsletter, which is only available in hardcopy, not online. (We're trying to get hold of a copy now.) ...

***  Republican Leadership Survey There has been much talk lately about what direction the Republican Party should take.  Who should lead it?  What issues should it focus on?In recent weeks, some highly placed Republicans (such as members of John McCain's presidential campaign leadership) have claimed that the party has lost touch and can't claim a majority again in its present condition because it's "too conservative" on some issues, such as gay marriage and illegal immigration. They seem to be interested in everyone but the people who actually comprise our party.  Those that support the candidates, give the money and do the...

For the second month in a row we found Sarah Palin as the most popular of the leading 2012 GOP hopefuls among moderate Republicans. 64% have a positive opinion of her compared to 57% for Newt Gingrich, 53% for Mike Huckabee, and 45% for Mitt Romney. Those numbers are pretty low across the board though. By comparison, 82% of moderate Democrats approve of Barack Obama's job performance. There aren't that many moderate Republicans left- just 27% of the party's voters and about 10% of the overall electorate- but there's no doubt their votes are going to be needed to have...

Once again, an ethics complaint has been filed and publicly released in violation of state law. This is the sixth complaint filed by Ms. McLeod. In addition, she has filed a lawsuit against the Governor's office and multiple public records act requests. All of her prior complaints that have been ruled on have been dismissed. The Ethics Act serves important state interests in ensuring ethical state government and was intended to prevent the various forms of corrupt misconduct that had plagued the Legislature in prior years and which resulted in the prosecution of legislators and others. It is unfortunate that...

Sarah Palin added to Alaska's celebration of the Fourth with what is surely a political bombshell. It was either a clever stunt or it was an error of the first magnitude, depending on the talking head to whom one is listening. My first reaction was, "Good for you, girl." I've been rooting for Sarah since she first ran in the governor's primary. She's certainly no orator in the Chruchillian stratosphere, but she always made plain good sense and did what she promised -- a refreshing combination in politics. But for some months I have increasingly felt personal and human anguish...

Anchorage NBC affiliate KTUU is trying to get one last ratings boost out of Governor Palin, running a "retrospective" series this week. The first entry was yesterday...of course it consists of pretty much nothing but criticism, but there are some interesting tidbits in there about the NBC policy toward Palin: "She knew when she came back that she came back to a different environment," Stapleton said. "I think it was -- and I hate to say it -- but I think the Thanksgiving pictures coming out of Channel 2 with a turkey getting slaughtered over her shoulder was her first...

The idea of fantasy sports captures my imagination. Play the coach: build your team, manage your players, track their progress, and lay down the challenge to your friends and coworkers to do better. Were there a “fantasy politics” for politicos like me, I’d join. However, since such a thing does not exist, permit me to share with you my fantasy politics for team Palin

At this time the two leading contenders for the Republican nomination in 2012 are Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin. Both possess virtues head and shoulders above all other Republican candidates, and both can easily restore the respectability of the Republican Party. So why not run both on the same ticket?

Think about it – if she were half the joke of a candidate that both Democrats and liberal establishment Republicans apocalyptically claim she'd be, both should eagerly welcome Palin running against President Obama in 2012. Democrats would theoretically have an easy win given a weak challenger and the fact that first-term incumbents generally win re-election barring a disaster. Vichy Republican bigwigs wouldn't have to sacrifice a preferred liberal candidate – such as Mitt Romney – against an unbeatable incumbent, and could save their Just-Like-the-Democrat-Only-A-Tiny-Bit-Less guy for 2016. With the loss, both would be rid of her once and for all.

To all you democrats and republican elitists who come Facebook to troll, say nasty things about Gov Palin 2 words for you, six days. To all you people who threw everything including the kitchen sink at her, trying desperatly to politically destroy her, six days.

Gov. Sarah Palin has signed a joint resolution declaring Alaska's sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution – and now 36 other states have introduced similar resolutions as part of a growing resistance to the federal government

<p>You all know that the country is going through a war against the socialized medicine that Obama is trying to rush through.</p> <p>And what I want to know is, where is Sarah in all this?</p> <p>This is the greatest fight for freedom in history, and she should be out in front.</p>

Republican Governor Sarah Palin may be packing this week to leave the Alaska governor's mansion, but she isn't going to exit public life. Neither are her policies disappearing, any more than is the large constituency she appeals to with its jingoism, Cold War symbolism, proclivity toward economic protectionism and lack of sophistication about business, banking or regulatory reform. Palin is the Michael Jackson of politics, and my prediction is that she is likely to end up in the media on her way to another bid for the White House. Her next gig should be as a Fox Network anchor with...

The day Sarah Palin announced her resignation as Alaska governor, I wrote a post speculating on whether there was anyone who could stop her from getting the Republican nomination. (Answer: Huckabee). I was surprised to see that most of the subsequent commentary was not on whether she was a lock for the nomination or merely the frontrunner but rather whether her political career was destroyed or merely grievously wounded. Why am I so much more bullish on Palin than most pundits? The sources of her appeal remain undiminished. Her popularity never came from her track record as governor, so failure...

Almost no one in politics or the media will admit it in public, but the GOP lost the Presidency in 2008 by alienating the moral conservative base that the elites loathe. Many stayed home or voted third party, rejecting a nominee who was in fundamental aspects a liberal Democrat. That is why Barry Sotero — a radical socialist with Islamic roots posing as a Christian, groomed for years by Marxist revolutionaries, who hides essential documents of his birth, education and career, who campaigned with illegal funding from overseas interests, who as far as 300 million Americans can honestly tell, was...

Return to the Article July 20, 2009 NY Times reaches a new low Jack Kemp Back at the time of the William Kennedy Smith rape trial in Florida, in the 1990s, the NY Times had published the name of the alleged rape victim after the local New York WNBC television station aired it. Later, at the trial, the then-head of the National Enquirer was entering the court building when journalists asked him if he would be also publishing the name of the alleged rape victim. In answering in the negative, an incredible role reversal occurred. The National Enquirer publisher lifted...

Susan Davis reports on the White House. During a closed door White House meeting today, Mormon Church leaders presented President Barack Obama with his family�s genealogical records, a traditional gift that was also presented to former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Obama met with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Thomas Monson, and LDS Apostle Dallin Oaks, who chairs the church�s genealogical arm. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid�the highest ranking Mormon in Congress�was also at the meeting. “I enjoyed my meeting with President Monson and Elder Oaks. I’m grateful for the genealogical records that they...

Establishment GOPers and Democrats in Washington seem intent on laughing off Sarah Palin as some sort of temporary blip on the radar screen of American politics, but the nation (you know — REAL Americans) seem to think otherwise. Despite the fact that the snooty elite media look down their noses at this woman whose success came by her own hand — rather than by having the right parents or bloodline or marrying into the right clan or playing a few decades of Chicago-style insider politics — Sarah Palin seems to be surviving quite well with the American people, even though...

President Barack Obama dove into the political street-fight threatening his signature issue Monday — taking aim at a first-term Republican senator in hopes of rallying Democrats increasingly nervous about Obama-style reform. The White House opened an aggressive three-week push for health care legislation before the August recess with Obama attacking Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) for saying health care might be Obama’s “Waterloo.” Obama’s press secretary and national party chairman picked up on the line of attack as well. Republicans responded in kind Monday — with Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele describing Obama’s health care plan as a “multitrillion-dollar experiment”...

Here is a video report from ABC and Jake Tapper which says President Obama is losing ground on both the economy and health care. The report shows a new Washington Post/ABC News poll that has Obama's approval dropping dramatically on his handling of the economy, the deficit, and health care. Jake Tapper reports that is why Obama will talk health care all five days this week, including a prime time Press Conference on Wednesday night, and a visit to the Cleveland Clinic on Thursday. Tapper also reports that Obama is counting on an essay by ailing Sen. Ted Kennedy to...

It’s been reported in the news, that the last committee needed to pass the health care bill before it can go to the floor for a vote is the Energy and Commerce committee. It only takes 7 Democrats to kill the health care bill in committee. The other day, Mike Ross claimed to have ten votes. GOP voters must support the Democrats that are standing up to the pressure tactics of Pelosi and Obama. We need to call the more conservative members on this committee and give them moral support and pledge to help them financially in their re-election if...

NBC's Chuck Todd on Obama's struggle to get health care reform passed: "I sometimes think we are getting played here a little bit, we've created this drama that he's struggling to get this done. There is no doubt this is a tough road ahead for members of Congress and they are struggling and they don't want to vote for this thing and they are nervous about it and they don't know what it's going to look like a year from now."

The Grassroots Rally Team of Ohio Northeast Ohio FIRE Team Northeast Ohio Alliance of Conservative Organizations Greetings, Group leaders please feel free to forward this important broadcast on to your entire distribution. Our apologies if you have already received this important information. We have confirmed that President Obama will be conducting a "Town Hall" meeting on "Healthcare Reform" at Shaker Heights High School, 15911 Aldersyde Dr. in Cleveland on Thursday, July 23 at 2 PM. The doors open at 12:15. While demonstrations have not traditionally been a thing conservatives do, this event provides a significant opportunity to voice our concerns...

It's no wonder the White House is delaying release of the latest dismal budget figures. It's not just that they are grossly more dismal than the projections. It's that they will undercut already-waning public support for Obama's socialized medicine scheme. The White House was supposed to release the budget numbers this month but has delayed their release until mid-August, which even has The Associated Press raising questions about its motives. But you don't have to be in journalism to realize that Obama is playing hide the ball with the facts in his desperate rush to ramrod this disaster through Congress...

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that the ADN is always so quick to post the pdf files of the ethics complaints, but is slow as molasses to post the Personnel Board review of these complaints when they're dismissed? The ADN also posts the governor's "string of tweets" on the latest complaint:

The Dow has been tanking again, and new figures show the U.S. economy shedding jobs at an accelerating rate. One might criticize the U.S. government for the first trillion or two of “stimulus” spending, by observing that it hasn’t worked. But that would be too easy. Yes, it was crazy, in the middle of a crisis created by debt, to see how far they could run up debt. It was crazy to shore up nearly worthless assets, in the face of irresistible market forces. At a time when the entire investment system desperately needs to be de-leveraged, it was crazy...

FACT: STATE-RUN HEALTHCARE WILL CREATE A BUREAUCRATIC NIGHTMARE At least 31 new federal programs, agencies, commissions, and mandates will be in between patients and Â… their doctor... FACT: 8.2 MILLION ARE UNINSURED (NOT 46 MILLION) â—� The 46 million includes illegal immigrants, people who temporarily do not have insurance (they might be between jobs), or simply DO NOT WANT coverage. â—� 14 million of the uninsured were eligible (but chose not) to enroll in government-sponsored health programs like Medicaid and SCHIP.... FACT: HORRORS OF GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTHCARE (VIDEOS & DATA: CUBA, CANADA, UK) FACT: OBAMACARE WILL DESTROY COMPETITION â—� Video: ObamaCare...

Q. Support for the president's expensive plan to extend coverage to millions of Americans while curbing Medicare and Medicaid spending has slipped in recent nationwide polls. Where do you stand? Do you support the health care overhaul? * Yes. The plan will save lives and money in the long-term. * Somewhat. It's not perfect but it's something. * No. It will burden us with debt and won't fix anything. * Not sure/No opinion.

Democrats and President Obama have denied that the creation of a new government-run health care plan would be a Trojan Horse for single-payer health care, but a new report by the Lewin Group (comissioned by the Heritage Foundation) finds that the House Democrats' health care bill would shift more 83.4 million Americans from private health care coverage to the government plan. To put that in perspective, that would mean that nearly half (48.4 percent) would lose their private health coverage. In all, the government plan would have 103.4 million members once implemented, according to the Lewin analysis. President Obama has...

It is surprising that the national debate on Obamacre has thus far excluded any real examination of the state wide healthcare program signed into law in 2006 by Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts. But maybe the fact that Romneycare, a system closely resembling Obama’s policies, is failing on several levels serves as a reason that Democrats want to pretend that system doesn’t exist when debating their own programs. The Wall Street Journal had a July 11 editorial that looked a little closer at Romneycare and found the whole thing wanting, suggesting that Obamacare might be “dead on arrival” if Romneycare...

No matter how angry the media’s biased coverage of last year’s presidential election made you, expect to get even angrier after watching the new film from radio talk show host John Ziegler. “Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected and Palin Got Targeted,” now available on DVD, assembles virtually every unfair and imbalanced news report from the last year and weaves them together into one jaw-dropping narrative. The lies. The spin. The cover ups. Media outlets working in veritable lockstep to ensure the election of Sen. Barack Obama. If mainstream reporters had an ounce of shame they’d watch “Media Malpractice” and...