Free Republic

Several former workers at a Hostess Brands plant in Rocky Mount said Friday they were relieved after the company filed for bankruptcy, seeking to close its operations. The closings will mean the loss of about 18,500 jobs overall. “They’ve been holding this over our head for a long time and now it’s here,” said Lamont Phillips, an oven operator and the president of the local union. “They had to do it. “I don’t have to deal with that anymore. The things that they were trying to do to us, it wasn’t fair. “They always hold that over our heads, that...

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Employees at Los Angeles International Airport were considering plans on Friday to walk off the job ahead on what is traditionally the busiest traveling day of the year. A coalition of Southland labor and community leaders are calling for the protest of alleged violations by LAX contractor Aviation Safeguards (AVSG) after breaking their contract with the airport earlier this year. Andrew Gross-Gaitan, the director of the Southern California Airports Division of SEIU, told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO that AVSG over 400 LAX workers without affordable family health care when it failed to comply with the city’s Living...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - A group of Wal-Mart workers are planning to stage a walkout next week on Black Friday, arguably the biggest holiday shopping day for the world's largest retail store. The walkout builds on an October strike that started at a Wal-Mart in Los Angeles and spread to stores in 12 other cities. More than 100 workers joined in the October actions. One of the workers who plans to join next week's walkout is William Fletcher, who works at a Wal-Mart in Duarte, Calif.

[Wednes]day, the President held his first press conference since being elected to a second term. President Obama was given the opportunity to come clean on the size of the tax hike he wants on small business employers when MSNBC White House Correspondent Chuck Todd asked him: “Are you -- is there no deal at the end of the year if tax rates for the top 2 percent aren't the Clinton tax rates, period, no if, ands or buts? Any room in negotiating on that specific aspect of the fiscal cliff?” The President has repeatedly argued that he wants “to go...

Poll to Freep

Very good news on the Obamacare front as three more states seem likely to refuse to open a state-run "health insurance exchange," thus leaving it to the feds to operate the "exchange" in their state --Ohio, Indiana and probably Wisconsin.  They join Texas, Florida, Alaska, and probably Michigan, and among the big states, only Pennsylvania and New Jersey have yet to decide, and hopefully they will study the issue and follow the lead of these governors, as should Arizona's Jan Brewer, who is being urged by big insurance forces in her state to take the poison.  It looks like the...

CHICAGO - Americans interested in getting the national debt crisis under control likely will have to endure cuts to popular programs like defense, Social Security - and the nationalized health insurance program known as Obamacare. Speaking in stark terms and folksy language, the duo laid out the dire reality of the situation to 4,000 investors at the Charles Schwab Impact conference Thursday. "Who the hell is kidding who on what this is going to cost?" Simpson, the former Wyoming senator, said of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka "Obamacare." "We haven't found any constituency yet who wants to...

With the election over and even Republican House Speaker John Boehner declaring "Obamacare is the law of the land," Democratic state legislators are pressing Republican Gov. Tom Corbett to move ahead with implementing key parts of the national health care overhaul. In the last two days, Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, and Rep. Tony DeLuca, D-Penn Hills, have sent letters urging Mr. Corbett to work toward establishing a health insurance exchange and approving expansion of Pennsylvania's Medicaid program.

Share with ten like-minded people: Papa Johns has been targeted by the left for a boycott, for simply articulating that ObamaCare would hurt profits and force cutbacks in employee hours. Stand up to this nonsensical and illogical action and support Papa Johns this Friday! The CEO of Papa John's, John H. Schnatter, has said that he will have to cut employee hours because of Obamacare. Schattner has received intense media scrutiny in addition to being demonized as an evil rich guy by the Left. Obamacare is a fiscal nightmare and because of it, many small businesses aren't hiring now. Some...

Exactly two years ago this week, the Obama administration announced it had issued more than 100 waivers en masse to a select group of companies, unions and other health insurance providers seeking relief from the onerous federal health care law. The Obamacare waiver winner's club now totals 2,000. Where are they now? Answer: In the same miserable boat as every other unlucky business struggling with the crushing costs and burdens of the mandate. Among the first and most prominent recipients of the Obamacare waivers for favors were large restaurant chains that provide low-wage, seasonal and part-time workers with low-cost health...

Community College of Allegheny County will trim hours for about 400 of its part-time workers to avoid having to provide them with health insurance coverage, the school's president, Alex Johnson, said Thursday. Mr. Johnson told members of Allegheny County Council that complying with the requirements of the federal Affordable Care Act, informally known as Obamacare, would have cost CCAC $6 million annually for part-timers who have been working at least 30 hours per week. Affected employees include both adjunct faculty and maintenance workers. CCAC has an annual operating budget of about $110 million and is facing reductions in county support...

Eating Papa John’s has gone political. More than 17,000 Facebook users plan to eat at the pizza chain on Friday to support the company’s founder and CEO, John Schnatter, who has said President Barack Obama’s health care reform law will cause prices to jump by 11 to 14 cents per pizza, and has said employee hours may be scaled back.

The good news for Democrats is that Obamacare will now be implemented. But the bad news for Democrats is also that Obamacare will now be implemented. President Obama's re-election ensures that his signature health care law will not be repealed before its major provisions go into effect. But that also means, to borrow a phrase from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Americans will begin to find out what's in the law. Starting Jan. 1, several key provisions of the health care law will kick in. Americans will only be allowed to contribute $2,500 to flexible spending accounts, which allow participants...

Just telling it like it is — I like his style. Per Politico: John Metz, a restaurant franchisor who operates 48 locations of Hurricane Grill & Wings, several dozen Denny’s locations and a few Dairy Queens, told The Huffington Post Thursday that he’d join the growing list of restaurateurs piling purported Obamacare costs onto their customers and staff. In his case, though, he’s going to label it so all of his customers know about it. “If I leave the prices the same, but say on the menu that there is a 5 percent surcharge for Obamacare, customers have two choices....

Three years ago, Dr. Keith Smith, co-founder and managing partner of the Surgery Center of Oklahoma, took an initiative that would only be considered radical in the health care industry: He posted online a list of prices for 112 common surgical procedures. The 51-year-old Smith, a self-described libertarian, and his business partner, Dr. Steve Lantier, founded the Surgery Center 15 years ago, after they became disillusioned with the way patients were treated at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City, where the two men worked as anesthesiologists. In 1997, Smith and Lantier bought the shell of a former surgical center with...

Good news! I just heard on Newstalk 1130 AM in Milwaukee that Scott Walker would announce on Friday that WI would not implement the state exchange. I also heard that a group of GOP governors would do likewise and make a group announcement tomorrow!

LINCOLN, Neb. — Gov. Dave Heineman announced on Thursday that he has submitted Nebraska's choice to participate in the federal health insurance exchange. Heineman said implementing a federal health care law is the most efficient and cost-effective for Nebraskans. State officials said in a release that the cost of a state exchange to Nebraska taxpayers is $470 million more than a federal exchange. All citizens will still have the option to purchase insurance policies through an exchange regardless of the state's decision, officials said. Heineman said while there were diverse and emotional opinions on this issue, his decision is based...

As policymakers in Arizona decide whether or not to establish health insurance exchange, they should keep several key points in mind. The exchange will be Arizona-funded, not Arizona-run. The federal government will be in complete control of the exchange—from who can participate to what plans they can offer and prices they can charge. The federal legislation clearly states, “An Exchange may not establish rules that conflict with or prevent the application of regulations promulgated by the Secretary [of Health and Human Services].” The only part Arizona will play is picking up the tab. While we don’t know exactly how much...

Hidden tax resulting from Obamacare. Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) pre-tax deduction is now limited to $2,500. That's not $2,500 per person, that is the total allowed pre-tax deduction. This is effectively a tax on the $2,500 that is no longer allowed for a working person with a stay-at-home spouse. Last year's limit was $5,000. However, if both people are working, then each can elect the $2,500 deduction from their checks.

Conventional wisdom: If you want less of something, put a tax on it. Obamanomics wisdom: Put a tax on... medical devices?! I.e., add another barrier to the industry whose slightest innovations can directly result in streamlined costs, improved efficiency, better health-care options, and saved lives? What the what?Embedded within the shadowy depths of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (sometimes, I like to use its official name just to re-appreciate the irony of "patient protection" and "affordable") is a 2.3 percent excise tax on the sale of taxable medical devices by the manufacturer/importer --- and it's no small thing....