Free Republic

From the Twitchy staff:

Some low-wage employers are moving toward hiring part-time workers instead of full-time ones to mitigate the health-care overhaul's requirement that large companies provide health insurance for full-time workers or pay a fee.Several restaurants, hotels and retailers have started or are preparing to limit schedules of hourly workers to below 30 hours a week. That is the threshold at which large employers in 2014 would have to offer workers a minimum level of insurance or pay a penalty starting at $2,000 for each worker. Pillar Hotels & Resorts this summer began to focus more on hiring part-time workers among its 5,500...

There’s one path “forward” for Republicans if they’re serious about reclaiming power in the future- do not capitulate to the failed ideas and destructive economic policies that President Barack Obama will assuredly quadruple down on in the wake of his re-election. It’s one thing to win an election by misleading and bribing the masses, but let me be clear, as Obama would say- in no way, shape or form did the president win a national debate on the merits of his policies- and his policies, when they are fully implemented will undoubtedly cost us jobs, raise our taxes and further...

President Obama called on Congress on Friday to reduce the deficit in “a balanced and responsible way” in his first public remarks since winning reelection. The president said Congress should extend the current tax rates for 98 percent of Americans, but raise taxes on households with annual income of more than $250,000. Obama did not talk about higher tax rates in his speech, but said he would not accept a deal that cut spending and entitlements but did not ask wealthier households to pay more taxes. “If we’re serious about reducing the deficit, we have to combine spending cuts with...

(CNSNews.com) -- Although the Republican-dominant House of Representatives controls the federal purse strings, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said that Tuesday’s election victory by President Barack Obama changed how he will approach the GOP goal of repealing the health reform law, saying that the president’s reelection made it “the law of the land.” “Well, I think the election changes that. It’s pretty clear that the president was re-elected. Obamacare is the law of the land,” Boehner told ABC News’ Diane Sawyer in an interview Thursday when asked if the House GOP would still make repeal its mission. However, Boehner also...

A day after Barack Obama earned a second term in the White House, Papa John's founder and CEO John Schnatter said the president's signature health-care reform law would increase his business costs and possibly result in employees' hours being cut. Schnatter, a part-time Naples resident, made the comments Wednesday night inside a small auditorium at Edison State College's Collier County campus. In August, he made national headlines after telling shareholders the Affordable Care Act — commonly known as Obamacare — would result in a 10- to 14-cent increase for customers buying a pizza. "I got in a bunch of trouble...

Do you believe that some of the election victories were won legally or by way of fraud? What are the reasons for your opinion?

Unconfirmed reports indicate Ohio officials are considering implementation of an ObamaCare health insurance “exchange.” That would be very interesting if true, because operating an ObamaCare exchange would violate the state’s constitution. Section 21 of the Ohio Constitution provides: No federal, state, or local law or rule shall compel, directly or indirectly, any person, employer, or health care provider to participate in a health care system… “Compel” includes the levying of penalties or fines.

Hurricane Sandy destroyed much of the North East power infrastructure. Customers wonder "Why weren't the utilities ready". Angry customers want all infrastructure underground. Governors want answers. Why are the utilities so bad? And how does this relate to the affordable care act?

Freedom Works has put together a list of companies that will be laying off employees as a result of President Barack Obama's health care law: Welch Allyn Welch Allyn, a company that manufactures medical diagnostic equipment in central New York, announced in September that they would be laying off 275 employees, or roughly 10% of their workforce over the next three years. One of the major reasons discussed for the layoffs was a proactive response to the Medical Device Tax mandated by the new healthcare law. Dana Holding Corp. As recently as a week ago, a global auto parts manufacturing...

Freedom Works has put together a list of companies that will be laying of employees as a result of President Barack Obama's health care law: Welch Allyn Welch Allyn, a company that manufactures medical diagnostic equipment in central New York, announced in September that they would be laying off 275 employees, or roughly 10% of their workforce over the next three years. One of the major reasons discussed for the layoffs was a proactive response to the Medical Device Tax mandated by the new healthcare law. Dana Holding Corp. As recently as a week ago, a global auto parts manufacturing...

In the future, when I receive requests in the mail from organizations who want a donation, I will return the following note to them in their OWN postage paid envelope: Sir: The US government has hired people to take my money from me FOR you. As a result, it is impossible for me to continue contributions to charities of MY choice. If you need assistance, I suggest you contact the people the government has hired on your behalf. Thank you.

The excise tax on medical devices, a controversial part of President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, is now evolving from a medical reform issue to a tax reform issue. In a press conference in Boston last month, AdvaMed CEO Stephen J. Ubl said the group will seek to dramatically change the tax as part of the tax reform negotiations taking place to avert the "fiscal cliff" scheduled to occur when the Budget Control Act of 2011 goes into effect. Even if the tax cannot be totally undone, it's hoped within the industry that some of its most onerous provisions could...

President Obama has won reelection, and his administration has asked state officials to decide by Friday, November 16, whether their state will create one of Obamacare’s health-insurance “exchanges.” States also have to decide whether to implement the law’s massive expansion of Medicaid. The correct answer to both questions remains a resounding no. State-created exchanges mean higher taxes, fewer jobs, and less protection of religious freedom. States are better off defaulting to a federal exchange. The Medicaid expansion is likewise too costly and risky a proposition. Republican Governors Association chairman Bob McDonnell (R.,Va.) agrees, and has announced that Virginia will implement...

House Speaker John Boehner wouldn't go so far as to say that he and his Republican colleagues won't waste time trying to overturn President Obama's healthcare law, but the Representative did tell ABC News' Diane Sawyer that the signature legislation is "the law of the land." "It's pretty clear that the president was reelected, Obamacare is the law of the land," he said, before adding, "I think there are parts of the healthcare law that are gonna be very difficult to implement. And very expensive." Asked, "You won't be spending the time next year trying to repeal Obamacare?" Boehner responded,...

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback says he won’t support Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger’s grant application to create a state-federal partnership health insurance exchange. The exchange is an online marketplace where individuals can by health insurance policies. A partnership is one of three choices for states under the federal health reform law. States could also choose to establish their own exchanges or let the federal government do it for them.

Post-election snark from comedian Jon Lovitz? Unlike the Nobel Prize, President Obama did earn that. The disgruntled Dem and frequent Obama critic isn’t looking “Forward!” to dangerously long waits for medical care. And like many Americans, Lovitz is concerned about the devastating impact of Obamacare on business owners and their employees.

As ABC News reports, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has confirmed that the House GOP will no longer attempt to repeal Obamacare. When asked about the future of the health care reform law, Boehner said “the election changes that” and “Obamacare is the law of the land.”

Romney Adviser: It Was the Messaging By Robert Costa | November 7, 2012 Boston — A Romney adviser partly blames last night’s defeat on a weak message. “Turnout was the big problem, since we didn’t get all of McCain’s voters to the polls, but we really should have been talking more about Benghazi and Obamacare,” an adviser says, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “Those are major issues and Romney rarely mentioned them in the final days.” The adviser expects Stuart Stevens, Romney’s chief strategist, to bear the brunt of the blame, but not all of it. “There is a...

Those who are “whooping it up” over Barack Obama and his Party’s victory won’t care about this list of taxes and other plagues that will be forced on us by Obamacare come next January. Some are blissfully ignorant of what is coming; others have always been content to be surfs and still others know all this and don’t give a damn – they like hanging out and drinking beer in the park. Nevertheless, those who voted for Barack Obama still work and have a real life have big surprises coming their way. The most serious plague of re-electing Barack Obama...

no link- i dont want to be accused of pimping my stuffJust raised my prices on my local business product - cited Obamacare, taxes and regulations

It is time to renew benefits for 2013 at my place of employment - a fortune 100 company. I've been waiting for the election to be over to see which way the winds of misfortune blow before deciding to continue with my current health care plan or just let the government take care of me. Now that it looks like Obamacare will be the tax law of the land, can anyone tell me what penalty will be imposed and who would collect it if I opt out of my company's health insurance? Are others thinking of doing this? I know...

Here's an email I sent to my kids in school who love you know who... Well the elections are over and the winner is Obama. He's popular, he's cool, he's black (as long as being 50% white, 45.35% arabic, and 4.65% African is "black"), and you like his social issues maybe (another topic for another time), but if you really care about YOUR future as much as I do about you... just for a moment.. read on: Obama won, but Obama might be the only winner yesterday... Instead of winning, You and I will get to experience continued rising energy...

One layer of uncertainty was removed for small-business owners Tuesday, when President Obama was reelected to a second term. While issues like the fiscal cliff and potential new regulations are still unresolved, the small-business community now knows the Affordable Care Act will stand, and tax increases for those making above $250,000 annually are likely. Upon hearing the election results, Craig Dunaway called a meeting of his 75 franchisees to assure them as best he could about what their future holds. Cincinnati, Ohio-based Dunaway is the president of Penn Station East Coast Subs and the owner of 14 Penn Station restaurants....

By Mr. Curmudgeon:Along a ridge at a cemetery, a stone wall marks the farthest advance of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Pickett's Charge at the battle of Gettysburg marked what historians call the high watermark of the Confederacy, the crowded moment when the war to preserve America's constitutional system would prevail or die. Lincoln's Army of the Potomac held the stone wall and stopped Lee's attempt to preserve the South's slaveocracy.Tuesday night, America's political right and the Republican Party hit a stone wall and, like Lee's army, they will never recover. In spite of extraordinary get-out-the-vote efforts by...

   This summer the Supreme Court ruled that the Obama Administration’s health care mandates to be constitutional as a tax. Today, the people of the state of Alabama told the Supreme Court to shove it!    In a Majority vote of 56%-44% (with 46% reported), the People of Alabama passed Amendment 6, which reads:    An amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, to prohibit any person, employer, or health care provider from being compelled to participate in any health care system.    In the weeks leading up to the vote, there were overwhelming attempts by the media and...

With the Presidential election one week away, it’s worth reviewing how Obamacare will impact the residents of key swing states. In Ohio, as elsewhere, Obamacare will drive up the cost of private health coverage, especially for those who buy insurance on their own. A non-partisan study found that, by 2017, individual premiums in Ohio will increase by as much as 85 percent. In addition, Obamacare will deeply cut Medicare Advantage for more than 700,000 Ohio seniors enrolled in the program. And more than 30 percent of Ohio physicians say that they will place new or additional limits on accepting Medicare...

Tuesday's decision is about many things, but none may be more important than stopping ObamaCare from wrecking the greatest health care system in the world. Despite repeated promises that the more we knew about ObamaCare, the more we'd like it, the law has never been less popular. Just 38% now approve of it, down from 46% when it passed in March 2010, according to the latest Kaiser Family Foundation survey. But unless voters defeat Obama on Tuesday, they'll never get rid of his disastrous "reform."

Suppose Romney wins, Obamacare is repealed...What will they arrange in the meantime? Is it possible for health insurance to be similar in dynamics to auto insurance? Multiple companies compete across state lines to win my business with the lowest possible premiums with a plethora of program choices? It's what I want. I want choices and power to choose. Can they possibly inject competition into the health insurance industry?

If you are looking for a full-time job, prepare to be disappointed if President Obama wins re-election Tuesday. Since Obama was sworn into office in 2009, the number of Americans with full-time jobs has actually fallen by 370,000. The number of Americans with part-time jobs, by contrast, is up 1.5 million. Jobs are being created in the Obama economy, but they're not the type of jobs Americans can live on. And Obama's policies are clearly contributing to the shift. Last month, we noted that Darden Restaurants, the parent company of popular chains like Olive Garden and Red Lobster, stopped replacing...

Among the objections to ObamaCare, one that has not gotten as much attention as it should is the president's power to waive the law for any company, union or other enterprise he chooses. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution provides for "equal protection of the laws" for all Americans. To have a law that can cost an organization millions of dollars a year either apply or not apply, depending on the whim or political interest of the President of the United States, is to make a mockery of the rule of law. How secure is any freedom when there is...

I’ve generally stayed quiet during this election season, but as the election draws near and I’m seeing posts saying that voting for Romney is a step backwards for the country…I am going to speak why I’m not supporting reelecting Obama—probably different than what you’re hearing. I honestly fear for the future of my job if he is reelected. His moves against the Catholic Church with the contraception mandate frustrate me—for my Church, as well as for me personally. You may or may not know that I have not prescribed or referred for contraception, abortion or sterilization for 16 years. That...

Barack Obama's promise to cure the ills of our health care system was obviously an important factor in his 2008 victory over John McCain as well as that year's Democrat gains in the House and Senate. Most of the electorate favored some legislation that would slow rising medical costs and increase access to care. However, when Obamacare finally slogged out of the congressional slough, it was greeted with consternation and outrage. Instead of the reform they were promised, the voters got a grotesque government behemoth reeking of corruption. They were not amused. They appeared en masse at town hall meetings...

The Obama campaign on Saturday quietly released a web video featuring President Obama talking about his faith. The video includes various faith leaders describing how there is moral, even Biblical, backing for his policies on issues ranging from higher taxes for top earners to health care to the auto bailout. The video opens with the president at the National Prayer Breakfast where he says, “In my moments of prayer, I’m reminded that faith and values play an enormous role in motivating us to solve some of our most urgent problems.” Woven throughout the video are statements by persons of faith...

This last Sunday before Election Day finds Catholics across the nation, and beyond, uniting in both prayer and advocacy to protect freedom of religion as provided in the Constitution. Interestingly, the emphasis on Catholic values and teachings, as a result of the recent defense of freedom of religion, may also end up strengthening religious faith among Catholics in general. Since the announcement of what is now familiarly termed, “the HHS mandate,” Catholics and Christians of other denominations have denounced the ObamaCare provision that demands that most employers, including those associated with churches, grant free contraception, sterilization procedures, and abortion-inducing drugs...

ObamaCare mandate big on state ballots that also include gay marriage, marijuanaPublished October 29, 2012 FoxNews.com Four states are continuing to fight against ObamaCare by including a ballot measure on Election Day that asks residents whether they want to block the mandate requiring Americans to have insurance under the new federal health-care law. Alabama, Florida, Montana and Wyoming will join 16 other states that have already passed laws or made changes to their constitutions to say they will not enforce the so-call “individual mandate” in the law. Missouri residents -- who in 2010 became the first to reject the mandate...

Conflict-of-interest concerns raised as Obama races to implement health reformBy Alexander Bolton - 11/03/12 11:42 AM ET The Obama administration is relying heavily on outside contractors to implement a core component of healthcare reform as it races to set up a federal health insurance marketplace before 2014. The fast-approaching deadline gives the administration little time to scrutinize private-sector partners for conflicts of interest. The purchase of one of these contractors, Quality Software Services, Inc. (QSSI), by UnitedHealth Group, a major healthcare conglomerate, has sparked concerns about a potentially uneven playing field. QSSI, a Maryland-based contractor, in January won a large...

Full List of Obamacare Tax Hikes: Listed by Size of Tax Hike Complied by Americans for Tax ReformWASHINGTON, DC -- Obamacare contains 20 new or higher taxes on American families and small businesses. Arranged by their respective sizes according to CBO scores, below is the total list of all $500 billion-plus in tax hikes (over the next ten years) in Obamacare, their effective dates, and where to find them in the bill.$123 Billion: Surtax on Investment Income (Takes effect Jan. 2013): A new, 3.8 percent surtax on investment income earned in households making at least $250,000 ($200,000 single). This would result in...

Okay, let's see if we got this straight ... Now that the Supreme Court has upheld most of Obamacare we're going to be "gifted" with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don't, which purportedly covers 10 to 30 million more people without adding a single new doctor (even causing established doctors to quit), but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents to make sure you have enough health insurance (and fine you and audit you if you don't), more than 180 new government agencies including 33 new government committees to make decisions for us...

1. Two-thirds of American employees’ wages will decrease as employers deal with increasing costs. 2. Loss of existing insurance coverage. 3. Premiums in the individual market are set to skyrocket. 4. Full-time workers turned part-time to avoid the employer mandate. 5. The heavy burden of 18 taxes and penalties.

Scott Atlas, Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution and author of In Excellent Health, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the U.S. health care system. Atlas argues that the U.S. health care system is top-notch relative to other countries and that data that show otherwise rely on including factors unrelated to health care or on spurious definitions. For example, life expectancy in the United States is unexceptional. When you take out suicides and fatal car accidents, factors that Atlas argues are unrelated to the health care system, the United States has the longest life expectancy in the world....

Yesterday, the attorney general of Oklahoma amended that state’s ObamaCare lawsuit. The amended complaint asks a federal court to clarify the Supreme Court’s ruling in NFIB v. Sebelius, but it also challenges an IRS rule that imposes ObamaCare’s employer mandate where the statute does not authorize it: on employers in the 30 to 40 states that decline to implement a health insurance “exchange.”

Death panels on the march!  The Telegraph is reporting that UK hospitals are paid to put patients on the Liverpool Death Care Pathway. (The Pathway is supposed to sedate patients whose pain cannot otherwise be controlled. But serious charges have been made that it is actually sometimes used when not needed medically, in other words, as backdoor euthanasia, including of the non terminally ill.) From the story: Almost two thirds of NHS trusts using the Liverpool Care Pathway have received payouts totalling millions of pounds for hitting targets related to its use, research for The Daily Telegraph shows. The majority of NHS hospitals in...

The ObamaCare regulation that will require employers to provide insurance coverage with access to a wide variety of contraception has prompted numerous lawsuits across the country challenging that mandate, and opponents are scoring key victories. The latest legal showdown came Thursday in a federal courtroom in Oklahoma, where the owners of the Hobby Lobby arts and crafts store tried to convince a federal judge to issue an injunction against the mandate, arguing that it would violate the owners' religious beliefs by requiring them to provide access to "abortion-causing drugs and devices." Though it could take days, even weeks, for Judge...

As he begins his commentary in the New York Times, a former Obama administration official offers a breathtaking suggestion for American health care. “We need death panels.” Having arrested his readers’ attention, Steven Rattner explains. “Well, not death panels, exactly, but unless we start allocating health care resources more prudently — rationing, by its proper name — the exploding cost of Medicare will swamp the federal budget.” Rattner, a former Treasury Department counselor who helped design the $82 billion bailout of General Motors and Chrysler, has extensive experience on Wall Street and in journalism — but none in medical practice...

A Catholic-owned family business in Michigan does not have to comply with the provision of the new U.S. healthcare law that requires private employers to provide employees with health insurance that covers birth control, a federal judge in Detroit has ruled. U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland, in a ruling late Wednesday, temporarily blocked the government from forcing the owner of Weingartz Supply Company, which sells outdoor power equipment, to include contraception in its health coverage of employees. The ruling only affects the company's Catholic proprietor, Daniel Weingartz, and the approximately 170 people who work for him. But it opens the...

Now Or Never Political Action Committee will spend $800,000 on television ads for Republican Todd Akin, who is campaigning against incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, The Hill reports. The group’s ad asks voters who “don’t agree with everything he says” to back Akin anyway, and it focuses on winning Senate control and defeating McCaskill. “In the Senate, Akin will vote for Romney’s policies to get Americans working again,” according to the ad. “Claire McCaskill would fight Romney every step of the way. To avoid Washington gridlock and get this country back to work, our best choice is Todd Akin.”

The Justice Department said it does not object to a new round of legal arguments over President Obama's healthcare law. In a brief filed with the Supreme Court late Wednesday, the Justice Department said the court should clear the way for a possible new hearing in the lawsuit filed by Liberty University. Although the Supreme Court has already ruled that the healthcare law's individual mandate is constitutional, Liberty has asked for a new hearing because it challenged the mandate on different grounds. A lower court declined to rule in Liberty's suit because it said the challenge was barred by the...

Here's why the IRS will require Americans to disclose their personal health ID information starting in 2014 When Obamacare’s individual mandate takes effect in 2014, all Americans who file income tax returns must complete an additional IRS tax form. The new form will require disclosure of a taxpayer’s personal identifying health information in order to determine compliance with the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate. As confirmed by IRS testimony to the tax-writing House Committee on Ways and Means, “taxpayers will file their tax returns reporting their health insurance coverage, and/or making a payment”. So why will the Obama IRS require...

The majority of hospitals in England are being given financial rewards for placing terminally-ill patients on a controversial “pathway” to death, it can be disclosed. Almost two thirds of NHS trusts using the Liverpool Care Pathway have received payouts totalling millions of pounds for hitting targets related to its use, research for The Daily Telegraph shows. The figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal the full scale of financial inducements for the first time. They suggest that about 85 per cent of trusts have now adopted the regime, which can involve the removal of hydration and nutrition from...