Free Republic

Tanning salons brace for the hit ObamaCare is about to put on their bottom lines. The thirty million Americans who visit indoor tanning facilities each year are about to get an unwelcome lesson in ObamaCare every time they walk through the front door of the tanning salon. That lesson comes in the form of a president and a Congress with a target on the tanners’ wallets: starting today — July 1 — the ObamaCare tax on “indoor tanning services” takes effect — a 10 percent federal excise tax on the retail price of a tan. The tax is just one...

Sources tell NBC News that the president has decided to replace him WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has decided to relieve Gen. Stanley McChrystal of his command over all U.S. military forces in Afghanistan, sources tell NBC News. Obama is scheduled to make an official 1:30 p.m. EDT announcement about the general.

President Obama will make a statement to the pool after meeting with his cabinet at 4 p.m., the White House announced.

Although President Obama and many Democrats promised during the health care reform debate that “if you like your health plan, you can keep it,” the health insurance plans that are now offered by small businesses probably will not survive the transition to a regulated marketplace. The Obama administration acknowledged this on Monday, when it proposed regulations for determining what insurance plans can remain exempt from market reforms. And while participants in those plans will probably be grateful for it, business owners may be less sanguine about the outcome. Because so many people were evidently reluctant to trade the comfort of...

The health-care overhaul that President Barack Obama signed into law will mean big changes for many small businesses. Through a combination of penalties, tax credits and purchasing pools, lawmakers aim to boost insurance coverage for U.S. workers. How this legislation will affect businesses depends in large part on their size. Beginning in 2014, organizations with more than 50 employees that don't offer affordable coverage will pay a penalty starting at $750 a year per full-time worker under the bill approved by the Senate and House of Representatives. A proposal approved separately by the House, which still requires Senate approval, would...

BALTIMORE (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Friday proposed $33 billion in tax credits to coax small businesses into hiring workers as he underscored his commitment to pushing job creation to the top of his agenda. With public frustration over double-digit unemployment eroding his popularity, Obama has begun rolling out initiatives aimed at backing up his jobs pledge made in his economy-focused State of the Union Address earlier this week. The latest proposal calls for a $5,000 tax credit for every net new worker hired in 2010. The amount would be capped at $500,000 per firm to make sure that...

LONDON — Canadian doctors have been advised not to use a batch of 170,000 swine flu vaccines after six reports of serious allergic reactions among recipients, but there are no similar reports from other countries, pharmaceuticals company GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Tuesday. Authorities routinely monitor vaccines for any signals of problems, such as the allergic reactions that do occur, rarely, every year. Company spokeswoman Gwenan White said that GlaxoSmithKline advised medical staff in Canada ast week to refrain from using one batch of the vaccine while they look into reports that that it might have caused more allergic reactions than normal....

Transcript of remarks made by Leo Carrington (who doesn’t exist) to a mandatory meeting of all employees of Carrington Automotive Enterprises, Inc. (which doesn’t exist either) on August 17th, 2009 at the Royal Payne Hotel (a purely imaginary place) in Norfolk, Virginia (which does, in fact, exist). The Employee Meeting: I would like to start by thanking you for attending this meeting, though it's not like you had much of a choice. After all, attendance was mandatory. I'm also glad many of you accepted my invitation to your family members to be here as well. I have a few remarks...

I was curious about the process of creating a small business, and I was wondering if anyone could provide any info that I might find useful? First up, are there any books which're useful for anyone interested in starting a small business? Any titles which provide a lot of help? Second, where can one find possible sources of funding for a small business? Bank loan, of course, but anywhere else, in addition to fronting whatever you can? Last but not least, anyone here create and operate their own small business? What sort of things did you plan for ahead of...

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama on Friday sought to reach out to white, working class voters in this center of Appalachian Ohio with his populist promises to rescue the economy, boost small business, and provide help with college tuition and health care — even as he accused his opponents of sowing division instead of tackling the economic crisis. Now a University of Illinois professor, Mr. Ayers has served on two community boards in Chicago with Mr. Obama and hosted a meeting in his home for Mr. Obama early in his Chicago political career. "I know my opponent is worried...

...Small-dollar donations to Obama have surged this year, and those donors became crucial in the spring as the battle to secure the Democratic nomination intensified. ...Employees of investment bank Goldman Sachs, for example, have contributed more than $570,000 to his campaign. Another problem with asserting that small donors are an antidote to undue influence by wealthy contributors is that even small donors are almost certainly much richer than the average American. ..the Campaign Finance Institute found that more than half of donors earned between $75,000 and $250,000 a year. The median U.S. income that year was $46,000. ...big-ticket fundraising among...

Barack Obama 'belittles' small town America By Tim Shipman in Washington Last Updated: 12:52am BST 13/04/2008 Barack Obama's presidential campaign has been knocked off balance after the Democratic White House frontrunner was caught on tape apparently belittling the fears of small town Americans who have lost their jobs. Senator Barack Obama speaks at a town hall meeting at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana The senator from Illinois was forced into a frantic damage limitation exercise after a recording emerged in which he appeared to dismiss impoverished blue collar workers as bitter individuals who have turned to God, guns and...

Have you ever wanted to rule your very own country? A micronation is an area of land claimed by one or more persons to be independent from any major recognized nation in the world. Some of these have incredible histories of war, triumph and independence and still survive today, while others have long since been abandoned, annexed or destroyed. Sealand was established in the 1960s an Englishman and his family took possession of an abandoned anti-aircraft platform off the coast of Britain and declared it to be the Principality of Sealand. In the1970s a coup attempt was made and...

Former Smithsonian secretary Lawrence M. Small took nearly 10 weeks of vacation a year during seven years running the vast museum complex and was absent from his job 550 workdays while earning $5.7 million on outside work, according to an independent commission report to be released today. The Smithsonian's second-ranking official, Sheila P. Burke, was absent from her job as deputy secretary for 400 days while earning $10 million over six years on non-museum work.....

In a desperate attempt to make Rudy Giuliani out to be the hero of Tuesday night’s debate, Fox News is continuing to attack Texas Congressman Ron Paul for something he did not say. In the latest installment of this campaign, John Gibson of Fox News says that Paul “suggested that the U.S. actually had a hand in the [9/11] terrorist attacks.” No, what he said was that U.S. foreign policy was a reason why Osama bin Laden attacked America. This is a fact. Gibson’s comment shows how Fox News has been eager to slant the news in favor of Giuliani,...

SANTA ANA SCHOOLS deserve a public spanking if, as alleged, they created phantom classes to pull the wool over state officials' eyes. The idea was to make it look as though there were no more than 20 students per teacher in the primary grades so the schools could receive the full $16 million they were entitled to from the state for reducing class size. As lowdown as such a trick would be, it sheds light on one of the more rigid and expensive regulations governing public education in California. The decade-old class-size reduction program was a poorly planned experiment that...

Monday, March 26, 2007; 1:02 PM Lawrence M. Small, the banker who took over the Smithsonian Institution seven years ago, was replaced Monday, according to congressional sources. Roger Sant, head of the Smithsonian's executive committee, was expected to make an announcement this afternoon. Small's management of the Smithsonian has been sharply criticized by members of Congress, and his compensation and spending practices have been subjected to scrutiny by the Smithsonian's inspector general. Last week, two separate committees were appointed to look into management operations at the museum complex, which includes 18 museums and research facilities as well as the National...

As the Republican and Democratic parties dive into the electoral process with their eyes closed and minds firmly set on neutral, should true believers in a limited government, from any political party, care one way or another about the result? Does it matter whether Hillary Clinton or Rudy Giuliani gets to call the White House “home” in 2009? Does it make any difference? For our government, not especially.

Small Houston oil company at the center of global dramaERHC's story becomes oddly intertwined with FBI bribery probe By DAVID IVANOVICH Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau Sept. 18, 2006, 1:28PM WASHINGTON - Initially, theirs was a tale to rival that of any legendary Texas wildcatter. A little-known Houston oil company lands a potential blockbuster deal in the crude-rich waters off West Africa and appears poised for a big payoff. Negotiating the rocky shoals of West African politics and threats of arrest for sedition, ERHC Energy, a tiny company with no experience in offshore drilling, secures the rights from the...

BAGHDADI, Iraq (Aug. 17, 2006) -- After 30 recent graduates from the Iraqi police academy came to Baghdadi, Iraq, residents in this Saddam-era military housing complex are expressing interest in joining the police force because they are noticing a decrease in insurgent activity. Marines with the Hawaii-based 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, or “America’s Battalion”, are combating the insurgency with local police officers – who recently received “much needed” new gear to get the job done – pistols, protective vests, rifles and batons to use while patrolling the city’s streets. Soon they will receive radios and police cars, said Maj....