Free Republic

Health Reform: As major businesses lay out the impact of ObamaCare in dollars and jobs, two things are clear: the costs will be enormous, and the president's vow to focus on "jobs, jobs, jobs" can no longer be believed. Early returns on ObamaCare are coming in, and they belie proponents' claims of job creation and cost reduction. The costs will increase. They are merely being shifted to the states and to America's businesses, large and small. AT&T, the country's largest telephone company, announced Friday it will take a $1 billion first-quarter charge related to the new health care law. The...

Repeal: Some say trying to repeal ObamaCare is a futile dream once people get used to its benefits, such as covering kids with pre-existing conditions. Once before, government was slapped down. It can be done. Entitlements can be addictive, and it's certainly the purpose of this administration to make as many Americans as possible as dependent on government as possible. That's partly why a health care bill put student loans under the Department of Education. The government needed the revenues, but it also needed the power over yet another class of citizens. Unlike Medicare and Social Security, this nationalization of...

Health Care Reform: The Senate parliamentarian dims GOP hopes on a reconciliation bill that contains even more onerous taxes and even a financial incentive to lay people off. No wonder Speaker Pelosi is laughing. We'll acknowledge that the signing of ObamaCare into law is a historic event, but we think the Weather Channel broadcasting the signing ceremony was a bit much. On the other hand, stormy political weather and more dark clouds lay ahead. The cries of "repeal" and "remember in November" are rising, and state attorneys general are taking the feds to court over the unconstitutional mandates and usurpation...

The Vote: Conned by the promise of an ephemeral executive order, the last holdouts cave and ObamaCare advances. It doesn't add a single doctor or hospital room, but needs 17,000 new IRS agents to enforce it. Congressman Bart Stupak, D-Mich., spent months spelling out in minute detail how the Senate version of the health care overhaul permitted federal funding of abortion through its failure to expressly prohibit it. In the end, he cashed in his principles for an unenforceable executive order that is trumped by the Senate bill he voted to pass. An executive order is not the law of...

Michigan Rep. Bart Stupak's (D) distinction as the man who secured passage of health care reform for Democrats could make him a national target of Republican and conservative interests. He now has a Republican challenger, who in about 24 hours since Stupak cut a deal with the White House -- giving Democrats the necessary number of votes -- has gotten a lot more well known. Dan Benishek, a surgeon who announced his candidacy one week ago, went from about 3,500 Facebook friends Sunday afternoon to 14,500 by mid-Monday. Benishek has also received mentions from a few well-known conservative bloggers, including...

States' Rights: Idaho requires its attorney general to sue the feds if ObamaCare passes while Virginia, the cradle of liberty, heads the line of states in front of the federal courtroom. Somewhere Patrick Henry is smiling. As the second coming of King George III seeks to impose the leftist mandate of national health insurance on the unwilling American people, the states are once again in revolt. This time they're unwilling to be the colonies of an imperial federal government determined to spend and tax us into bankruptcy while treating the Constitution as if it were bird cage liner. Is this...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 22, 2010CONTACT: Levi Russell at (509) 979-6615 or Levi@FrontLineStrat.com  25,000+ BACK PUSH TO "REPEAL THE HEALTH CARE BILL" HOURS AFTER VOTE!Just hours after the House vote in favor of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid government-run healthcare plan, opponents of the measure have rallied on line to fight for the bill's repeal.A petition drive launched by the Tea Party Express has received more than 25,000 signatures during the past 12 hours.  And the rate of new signatures to the petition is exploding. The petition can be viewed here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/repealhealthcarebill/The petition signature count can be viewed - be sure to...