Free Republic

It’s been fifteen years since Republicans rode the “HillaryCare” debacle to majority status in Congress. For all its rightful criticism of a big government solution to the dysfunctional health care market, the party has subsequently failed to achieve anything resembling the consumer-driven revolution that has been its rallying cry. Meanwhile, the number of Americans without health care coverage had risen to 45.7 million as of the latest Census Bureau survey in 2007. If, as estimated by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a 1% increase in unemployment can be expected to result in 1.1 million additional uninsured, that figure could soon be...

Lovely: "He is the light and he is the way. We are all brothers and sisters in this movement. Listen to him and his spoken word. Get over the fact that we won and you lost. We are the people we have been waiting for. The thought of him gives me the goosebumps!!!"

GOP governors turn down $66M in aid for jobless. MONTGOMERY - Despite Alabama's rising jobless rate, Gov. Bob Riley on Monday rejected $66 million in the federal economic stimulus funds earmarked to help states fund unemployment benefits. Riley made the announcement after returning from a National Governors Association meeting in Washington, where he and other governors met with President Barack Obama Sunday night. An influential legislator accused Riley of playing politics, along with other Republican governors in the South. But Riley said the stimulus law requires states to change their laws to expand jobless benefits to those who don't normally...

Make that a dozen. Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, said late last week he is giving back his legislative pay raise.That means 12 of Wisconsin's 132 lawmakers are now returning their 5.3 percent raise in the face of a record $5.9 billion state budget deficit. Davis originally told the State Journal he was going to take his pay raise and donate it to charity. Davis said feedback from constituents and a proposed 0 percent pay increase for state employees in the next two-year state budget persuaded him to return his raise to state coffers instead. "Given the conditions of the state...

Jindal Turns Down Stimulus Money for Unemployment, Dems Unable to Process Concept, Have Begun to Hallucinate, Hear Voices Posted by Anthony Sacramone on February 21, 2009 get_money The comic actor Marty Feldman is quoted as saying “Money can’t buy poverty.” He never met Congress. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal realized that if you take the fed money now, you will be stuck paying for it later. That’s the part the champions of the stimulus bill keep remembering to forget. “The federal money in this bill will run out in less than three years for this benefit and our businesses would then...

Let me first say that I am no judge of poetry. I have little knowledge of the stuff and have even less interest in it. So, for all I knew the poem that Elizabeth Alexander read during Obama's inaugural was a great one. It seemed a bit pedestrian to me, but, like I said, what do I know? As the days rolled onward after the inaugural ended more and more people in the know about poetry came out to say that Alexander's poem was a bad one. Well, apparently the poem buying public agrees with those in the know because...

Jindal rejects La.'s stimulus share Stephen Dinan February 21, 2009. Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, a Republican, became the first governor Friday to refuse officially a part of his state's share of the $787 billion stimulus bill, while President Obama warned the nation´s mayors to spend stimulus money wisely. While some governors were subtly backing off previous statements that they wouldn't take their share of the windfall, Mr. Jindal issued a statement saying Louisiana would not participate in a program aimed at expanding state unemployment insurance coverage.

Three Republican governors voiced concerns this week over acceptance of a dizzying conglomeration of bailout funding to their states from President Obama’s so-called stimulus bill, which includes a massive array of deadlines, mandates and consequences. Govs. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Rick Perry of Texas and Mark Sanford of South Carolina have all made it clear that they strongly disagree with the Obama plan to saddle taxpayers with an additional $1.2 trillion of federal loan debt and spending that has very little to do with stimulating the economy. Staffers for all three governors confirmed to HUMAN EVENTS yesterday that their experts...

WASHINGTON — Few supporters are answering President Barack Obama's call for nationwide house-party gatherings this weekend to build grass-roots support for his economic stimulus plan. A McClatchy survey of sign-up rosters for a score of cities across the country revealed only 34 committed attendees in Tacoma, Wash., as of midafternoon Friday; in Fort Worth, Texas, only 54, and in Sacramento, Calif., just 78. "Before the election, we would have had 500 to 800," said Kim Mack, 46, a Sacramento city-facility manager who's hosted house parties for political figures and causes since the mid-'90s. Even in Washington, policy-wonk capital of the...

House Republicans have proposed an alternative that leaders say would create 6.2 million jobs for only $478 billion. "What Member can't go back his or her District and explain: Rather than voting for a bloated bill, ... I voted for an alternative that would create twice the jobs at half the cost, and faster?" a House Republican leadership aide said. "That's why we didn't lose a single Republican and picked up 11 Democrats." Pushing back against the unanimous House Republican vote against President Obama’s stimulus plan, the White House plans to release state-by-state job figures “so we can put a...

Pushing back against the unanimous House Republican vote against President Obama’s stimulus plan, the White House plans to release state-by-state job figures “so we can put a number on what folks voted for an against,” an administration aide said. “It’s clear the Republicans who voted against the stimulus represent constituents who will be stunned to learn their member of Congress voted against [saving or] creating 4 million jobs,” the aide said. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the lawmakers will have to answer to their constituents. “I do believe that there will be people in districts all over the...

House Republicans have proposed an alternative that leaders say would create 6.2 million jobs for only $478 billion. "What Member can't go back his or her District and explain: Rather than voting for a bloated bill, ... I voted for an alternative that would create twice the jobs at half the cost, and faster?" a House Republican leadership aide said. "That's why we didn't lose a single Republican and picked up 11 Democrats." Pushing back against the unanimous House Republican vote against President Obama’s stimulus plan, the White House plans to release state-by-state job figures “so we can put a...

And so the Obama era begins. I, for one, am looking forward to blaming Obama for everything that goes wrong. The current economic debacle in the United States is just one example. Obama happened to pick a man for his chief of staff who was sitting on the board of either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac back in the days when these organizations were pretty much ordered by a congress under Jimmy Carter to make mortgages available to every man, woman, child and family dog in this country. Oh, for sure, the Democrats are still trying to blame Bush for...

CHICAGO — A day after Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois appointed Roland W. Burris to fill President-elect Barack Obama’s former Senate seat, new details emerged about how the governor worked behind closed doors to make the appointment, and the United States attorney prosecuting Mr. Blagojevich on corruption charges sought a 90-day extension to bring an indictment against him. At a Tuesday news conference here, Mr. Blagojevich breezily introduced Mr. Burris, a former Illinois attorney general, as the “next United States senator from Illinois.” But United States Representative Danny Davis, who like Mr. Burris is a longtime fixture of the...

Washington is short on cash these days and will borrow every dime of the $150 billion to $300 billion for the "stimulus" bill now being worked on. Federal appetites may know no bounds. But the federal government's ability to borrow is not limitless. Already, our nation's unfunded liabilities total $52 trillion -- about $450,000 per household. There's something very strange about issuing debt to solve a problem caused by too much debt.

Chicago businesswoman Penny Pritzker, national campaign finance chairwoman for the Obama campaign, has taken herself out of the running to be secretary of Commerce because of vetting issues, a Democratic official said.

Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, said today he’s staying in Congress despite speculation he was being considered for Veteran Affairs secretary. The Waco Democrat said Sunday he told President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team that he’ll continue representing his Texas district where voters this month re-elected him to a 10th term. Edwards, who is chairman of the House Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Committee, said he believed he could be more effective in Congress than the Cabinet. Edwards defeated Republican Rob Curnock to win a 10th term on Nov. 4. He was also reported to be on Obama’s short list of...

President-elect Barack Obama's transition team is flirting with creating a White House "Climate Czar," but climate change crusader Al Gore says he doesn't want the job. The Obama team declined to comment on such a post, even as environmentalists and power industry executives say it's being widely discussed inside the transition offices as a way to spur a clean energy industry, which Mr. Obama has promised will ween the U.S. from foreign oil and create millions of "green jobs." Obama transition chief John Podesta promoted a similar idea earlier in his role as president of the Center for American Progress,...

Google Inc. chief executive officer Eric Schmidt won’t take a technology post in President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet, according to news reports. Reuters reported that Schmidt declined such a post. Obama said during his campaign for the presidency that he would create a cabinet post similar to a chief technology officer to advise on tech issues. Schmidt, a strong supporter of Obama, was seen by some watchers as likely to be tapped for that post. Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) is based in Mountain View, Calif. Last week, Obama picked Julius Genachowski, who has links to Ask.com parent IAC/InterActiveCorp and to New Resource...

Obama Holiday Rallies Turned Away by Topeka McDonald's @ 3:12 pm by Chris Good After Internet news circles buzzed Monday about an activist's plans for a national holiday in honor of President-elect Barack Obama, the Kansas McDonald's slated to host the holiday-promoting rallies has said "no." Activist Sonny Scroggins, leader of a group called Bias Busters of Kansas, had planned to hold rallies at a downtown Topeka McDonald's every Tuesday to plan a push for an Obama holiday. A Topeka Capital-Journal story about Scroggins' plans caught some national attention Monday after being featured prominently on the Drudge Report. The McDonald's...