Free Republic

The more the media covers the "fiscal cliff" fiasco, the more perspective is lost. It is really quite simple. Because the Republicans unilaterally jettisoned their trademark anti-tax stance, they will get nothing in return. The Democrats are not going to cut spending. In fact, the new tax revenues will fuel new spending, that will be leveraged into even more debt. The pre-emptive Republican capitulation decoupled the tax issue from the spending issue, precluding any "Grand Bargain'" or even token spending cuts. The Democrats trademark stance of protecting social programs like Medicare and Social Security from cuts is intact. Thus, Obama...

The Cuomo administration is preparing to shove thousands of mentally ill New Yorkers out of supervised settings — where they can be forced to take their medication — into far less restrictive, far more dangerous “community housing.” Albany, under pressure from the Obama administration, recently ordered psychiatric facilities not to place any discharged patients in adult homes, where staff can ensure they take their meds. Instead, they’ll be placed in “community housing,” without full-time supervision. This is part of the state’s plan to essentially empty adult homes into community-based “supportive” apartments, leaving up to 6,000 people — including those with...

The US Senate passed a bill last night to avoid the fiscal abyss. Actually, it just bypasses it and does nothing about putting our disastrous fiscal house in order. Here is the actual bill in all its gory details: 118551686-Mat-12564 The Senate bill raises income tax rates for those taxpayers with incomes more than $400,000 for individuals and $450,000 for couples from 35 percent to 39.6 percent. These higher income taxpayers will also pay higher rates on investment income, with rates on dividends and capital gains rising from 15 percent to 20 percent. Add the 3.8 percent Obamacare surcharge on...

The White House issued a "fact sheet" statement Tuesday declaring the fiscal cliff agreement a victory, though the House has yet to vote on the measure. "At this make or break moment for the middle class, the President achieved a bipartisan solution that keeps income taxes low for the middle class and grows the economy," the statement says. "For the first time in 20 years, Congress will have acted on a bipartisan basis to vote for significant new revenue.

The White House issued a "fact sheet" statement Tuesday declaring the fiscal cliff agreement a victory, though the House has yet to vote on the measure. "At this make or break moment for the middle class, the President achieved a bipartisan solution that keeps income taxes low for the middle class and grows the economy," the statement says. "For the first time in 20 years, Congress will have acted on a bipartisan basis to vote for significant new revenue.

Obamacare contains twenty new or higher taxes. Five of the taxes hit for the first time on January 1. In total, Americans face a net $1 trillion tax hike for the years 2013-2022, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The five major Obamacare taxes taking effect on January 1 are as follows: The Obamacare Medical Device Tax: Medical device manufacturers employ 409,000 people in 12,000 plants across the country. Obamacare imposes a new 2.3 percent excise tax on gross sales – even if the company does not earn a profit in a given year. In addition to killing small business...

...How can we be “walking” towards Socialism/Communism? This cannot happen in the United States. Our nation has fought battles to stop this from happening in the world. Many of those fights have been undercover jobs and yet, here we are today, just a step or two from becoming a huge third world Socialist/Communist nation. All one has to do is go back and look at what the Communist Party of the United States laid out at their conference back on April 2012. This conference was attended by none other than a host of those in the Democratic “Progressive” Caucus, along...

Happy New Year everyone! We’ve made it through one Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year and are on to a new one.   (snip)I turn back the hands of time and wrap up my year in review with my Best of, July-December edition(snip)July: Pay for Play In which MOTUS learns that both the Big White Calligrapher and the staff “Ethics Advisor” earn more than she does. How can that be ethical?     August: It’s Half Time in America: Are You Feeling Lucky? In which we assess Big Guy’s ability to move the ball downfield (hint: pretty good, as...

“We’re extremely disappointed. There was no need for this drama on New Year’s Ever because the House completed its work last August,” said Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) “[This] is a cynical attempt on the part of the President to ensure that he has complete Democrat control, House of Representatives and Senate, in the final term.”

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the last-minute fiscal cliff deal reached by congressional leaders and President Barack Obama cuts only $15 billion in spending while increasing tax revenues by $620 billion—a 41:1 ratio of tax increases to spending cuts. When Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush increased taxes in return for spending cuts—cuts that never ultimately came—they did so at ratios of 3:1 and 2:1. “In 1982, President Reagan was promised $3 in spending cuts for every $1 in tax hikes,” Americans for Tax Reform says of those two incidents...

Right now the political landscape is grim for Republicans–and in the short term, thanks to the so-called fiscal cliff, things may get grimmer still. But moments like these can pass, often quicker than we think. And next year may turn out to be one in which the pernicious effects of the Affordable Care Act–aka ObamaCare–really begin to kick in, from higher premiums to the loss of employer-based health insurance to the start of enrollment in insurance exchanges. It will become more and more clear to the public what a nightmarish law the Affordable Care Act actually is. “The administration is...

Douglas Graham/CQ Roll CallMcCain said he believes the president’s statement “clearly will antagonize members of the House.” With both sides on the cusp of a fiscal cliff deal, President Barack Obama vowed Monday to seek additional revenue next year alongside spending cuts. In the process, he also angered several GOP senators who said he demeaned their efforts to reach a deal.Obama said that a year-end deal to avert tax hikes for the middle class “is within sight, but it’s not done.” The emerging deal, which sources have pegged at around $600 billion in new revenue, would include permanent extensions of...

As one of the litigants in Attorney Orly Taitz's upcoming Barry Soetoro (aka BHO) eligibility case (Jan 3, 2013), I have doubts that Judge Morrison C. England, Jr can be objective about removing the Usurper-in-Chief from office. England will be incapable of being fair and honest in this "Soetoro eligibility" matter. I will admit that England was nominated by George W. Bush (on March 21, 2002) for the seat on the Federal bench but I can hardly believe that England is a stalwart GOPer. I have been unhappy with England in the past. He was the "conservative turncoat" who decided...

Fiscal cliff and medical issues aside, President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton each have something to celebrate at the end of 2012. The leaders were named ‘Most Admired Man of the Year’ and ‘Most Admired Woman of the Year,’ respectively, in a Gallup poll. Clinton, who was mentioned by 21 percent of those polled, has taken the title for 11 straight years, and 17 years total. She was followed by First Lady Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Condoleezza Rice and Sarah Palin. Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, Queen Elizabeth II and Kate Middleton also made the list.

The White House and Congress were close to reaching a deal Monday to resolve the fiscal cliff crisis that threatens the fragile US economic recovery. With only hours left until a midnight deadline for automatic tax rises and spending cuts, Barack Obama said agreement was within sight but discussions were continuing.

This gun lover carries a badge. Port Authority cop Jeffrey Haner was busted on possession of two illegal assault weapons, including the same type of Bushmaster rifle used in the Newtown massacre, authorities said. Ramsey, NJ, police said they took a total of 10 weapons from Haner after his wife asked for a temporary restraining order. The 41-year-old cop, who works at the George Washington Bridge and made $175,000 last year, also had eight legal guns, including two handguns, Ramsey police said. But Haner’s .223-caliber Bushmaster and Chinese-made Norinco rifle were fitted with accessories including flash suppressors that made them...

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans again this year name Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama as the Most Admired Woman and Most Admired Man living in any part of the world. Clinton has been the Most Admired Woman each of the last 11 years, and Obama has been the Most Admired Man five years in a row. First lady Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Condoleezza Rice are next in line behind Clinton on the Most Admired Woman list, while Nelson Mandela, Mitt Romney, Billy Graham, George W. Bush, and Pope Benedict XVI follow Obama as Most Admired Man....

President Obama is responsible for our fiscal mess. I'm not exaggerating, and I'm not saying that simply because I think that Barack Obama is a terrible president, although I do think that he's an awful president. I'm saying that because the president has had ample opportunity over the past four years to arrive at a compromise solution to our immediate fiscal problem and then to make headway toward dealing with longer-term fiscal issues, but he has failed miserably. If the president had taken some of the advice of his own National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility, we wouldn't be counting the...

Announcing Wednesday that he would send proposals on reducing gun violence in America to Congress, President Obama mentioned a number of sensible gun-control measures. But he also paid homage to the Washington conventional wisdom about the many and varied causes of this calamity — from mental health issues to school safety. His spokesman, Jay Carney, had said earlier that this is “a complex problem that will require a complex solution.” Gun control, Carney added, is far from the only answer. In fact, the problem is not complex, and the solution is blindingly obvious. People point to three sets of causes...

Minutes after President Barack Obama left a stage flanked by supporters where he implored Congressional Republicans to support a tentative deal to avoid going over the fiscal cliff, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) took to the floor of the Senate to accuse the president of “antagonizing” Republicans. He said that, based on the president’s casual press conference, he and the American people have to wonder whether Obama believes it is in his interest to go over the cliff. In his speech to his fellow colleagues in the Senate on Monday, McCain did not express any faith that Obama’s press conference had...