Free Republic

With the Supreme Court’s decision to review the constitutionality of Obamacare’s individual mandate, that feature of Obamacare has been getting a lot of attention. The individual mandate is the requirement that essentially every American buy government-approved health insurance under penalty of law. The Obama administration claims that because Congress is empowered to regulate interstate commerce, it is also empowered to compel interstate (or, more often, intrastate) commerce — which is a rather novel interpretation of the Constitution. Moreover, the news from the Court comes hot on the heels of the passage of an anti-individual-mandate measure in Ohio. The measure was...

That's why businesses are buying more equipment and not hiring more people. On June 10, Catherine Rampell at the New York Times presented what she thought was a seemingly inexplicable and troubling conundrum, which this column will clear up. Spending on equipment and software has risen 25.6 percent in the last seven quarters, while companies’ aggregate spending on employees has risen only 2.2 percent. Somehow, capital spending is growing faster and labor spending is growing more slowly than has been the case in almost every previous recovery on record. A few days later, in an interview with President Barack Obama...

Should Republicans abandon Paul Ryan's plan for Medicare? Yes No

DALLAS, Tex. – Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told a massive crowd of pro-life advocates at a Dallas fundraiser that the new-health care law passed by Congress in March would lead to an unprecedented expansion of abortion. "The biggest advance of the abortion industry in America has been the passage of ObamaCare," Mrs. Palin said at Dallas’s Majestic Theatre to a crowd of 800 people. "It is even worse than what we had thought. The ramifications of this legislation are horrendous." Mrs. Palin was speaking at a fundraising event for Heroic Media, an organization that is seeking to bring down...

A conservative activist and former presidential candidate says Tuesday night's election results have put a "restraining order" on President Barack Obama's radical agenda. Gary Bauer, chairman of American Values, thinks the landscape in Washington will be quite different in January, now that Republicans have control of the House of Representatives. But though the GOP narrowed the gap in the Senate, it fell short of its needed ten seats to get the majority. Meanwhile, the party scored big in gubernatorial races across the country. "The bottom line is this whole evening [Tuesday] has been a restraining order against President Obama. The...

What is your view on the constitutionality of the mandate that those without health insurance must buy it or face a penalty? The mandate is constitutional The mandate is unconstitutional Unsure

President Barack Obama talks up his just-signed health care law at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Thursday, March 25, 2010. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) Iowa City, Iowa (AP) - President Barack Obama dared Republicans to try to repeal his new health care law, telling them Thursday to "Go for it" and see how well they do with voters in November. "Be my guest," Obama said in the first of many planned appearances to sell the revamp before fall congressional elections. "If they want to have that fight, we can have it. Because I don't believe the American people are...

US President Barack Obama signs the health insurance reform bill in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Obama Tuesday signed into law his historic health care reform, enacting the most sweeping social legislation in decades which will ensure coverage for almost all Americans.

The House of Representatives approved a sweeping healthcare overhaul to create the biggest health policy changes in four decades, handing President Barack Obama a landmark victory. Do you agree with the House of Representatives' vote to pass the healthcare reforms bill? and 3 more related ones.

Often the politicians who talk about health care the most believe in the Hippocratic Oath the least. Barack Obama falls into this category. He promises that his health care plan will protect the weak and vulnerable. This would be a little bit more credible if his policies weren't already killing and exploiting them. He considers aborting unborn children "health care," has authorized the use of tax dollars for the exploitation of embryos in lab experiments, and his Department of Health and Human Services is now pushing the grotesque practice of harvesting organs from urgent-care patients in emergency rooms. According to...

According to the Washington Post, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi now plans to use the "deem and pass" strategy to push through the Senate's healthcare reform bill. The strategy would ask for a House vote on a number of reconciliation fixes to the bill. A passing vote on the reconciliation package--which has been more popular among House members than the bill itself--would then "deem" the Senate bill passed, even without a direct vote on the actual legislation. Critics like Thomas Jefferson Street blogger Peter Roff question the legitimacy of the process. Bloleague Robert Schlesinger thinks it's just silly. Pelosi,...

Snowe's vote isn't all that popular in Maine, assuming these are all Maine votes.

Please FReepo this local poll. Do You Support the "Public Option" a Government-Run Health Insurance Plan? http://www.wjfw.com

This June I had a bad cataract removed from my left eye and replaced with one of the new accommodating lenses. The vision with the new lens has been excellent. My eye surgeon is a great young guy with star wars type of equipment to ensure that the correct lens replaces the old cataract. 10 days later I suffered a torn mensicus in my left knee. It felt like someone stuck a red hot ice pick in my knee with a hook on the end and pulled on it 24/7. More on this later. I had my second cataract removed...