Free Republic

[Full Title: Newt Gingrich: HUD Chief Ben Carson protects poor Americans and enforces the law – Why is that a problem?] In a bold move, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson is both helping poor Americans and enforcing the law. Some in Congress may consider enforcing the law and prioritizing help for poor Americans (including people who immigrated to the U.S. legally) over help for people in the country illegally controversial or unacceptable. The solution for their position is for Congress to change the law. Until then, it is pretty hard to complain that a cabinet officer is enforcing...

KEVIN Rudd has pledged to tackle hospital waiting times with his $50 billion takeover of the nation's health and hospital system. The Prime Minister kicked off a media campaign this morning to sell his health reforms, telling the Nine Network it was important to put a maximum limit on waiting times for emergency and elective surgery. "What we need through new tough national standards is for patients to have confidence that there will be maximum waiting times, that there will be absolute maximum waiting times for elective surgery and for treatments of accident emergency,'' Mr Rudd said. "We don't have...

In the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi’s version of the bill designed to implement President Barack Obama’s overhaul of the American health care system (and in the process provide coverage to 30 million currently uninsured Americans and possibly illegal aliens) passed, but immediately came under fire for being too expensive. Pundits predicted that a similar version would not pass in the Senate. Harry Reid’s Senate version of the bill had Reid’s progressives looking at what could be cut from the House’s plan in order to make the bill more financially palatable. Since Senate Democrats seem to enjoy spending other people’s...

Back in seventh grade I attended classes with a fellow by the name of John. John was an inquisitive, intellectually proficient student whose interests covered the entire range of his activities. He admired science and loved experimentation, observation, and technology. He was an apt mathematician, fluent in language, and possessing a sound faculty for logic and deduction. I recall once having handed him an Award of Excellence, the highest honor within our middle school, for his commendable academic accomplishments. Along with a sound mind, John also developed a healthy body, actively engaged in sports from football to baseball, as well...

Canadians are waiting longer than ever for medical treatment, a new national study concludes.In its 12th annual survey assessing total hospital wait times across Canada, the Fraser Institute found that the total waiting time for patients between receiving a referral from a general practitioner to undergoing treatment averaged 16.5 weeks in 2001-2002. The time is an average measured across a spectrum of 12 specialties in all 10 provinces.The report says an estimated 1,094,264 Canadians waited for treatment in 2001-2002, up from 878,088 patients the year before.While the increase is marginal over 2000-2001's average wait of 16.2 weeks, hospital waiting times...