Free Republic

Last month’s Democratic National Convention ended up costing the DNC host committee a pretty penny. According to an Associated Press report, the DNC fell nearly $13 million short of its goal of raising $36.7 million for the Charlotte, N.C., event. ... The news of the overall shortfall comes on the heels of a Politico report, which notes that the committee also forked over an $896,000 rental fee to reserve Bank of America Stadium for President Barack Obama’s official nomination acceptance speech—a rental the committee ultimately abandoned due to an alleged threat of inclement weather on the night of the speech.

In case you didn't know, the beginning of October marked the point where, under Obama(Doesn't)Care Section 6001, physician-owned hospitals are banned from being started, existing ones prohibited from expanding. This improves our health care system how? It doesn't. But just keep saying everyone's covered, covered, covered. We're all covered, covered, covered. Covered, covered, covered. Like a bunch of freaking sheep. Free colonoscopies! Free condoms! Free free free! Covered covered covered! Republican war on women! Ryan hates Grandma! Romney hates Big Bird! Free free free! Covered covered covered! Meanwhile, things aren't going terribly swimmingly in the U.K., whose utopian health care system was...

There are 600,000 physicians in America who care for the 48 million seniors on Medicare. Of the $716 billion that the Affordable Care Act cuts from the program over the next ten years, the largest chunk—$415 billion—comes from slashing Medicare’s reimbursement rates to doctors, hospitals, and nursing homes. This significant reduction in fees is driving many doctors to stop accepting new Medicare patients, making it harder for seniors to gain access to needed care. Here are a few of their stories. Paul Wertsch is a primary physician in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1977, he and his two partners invested $500,000 of...

States that have refused to implement the Obama health law have already blocked $80 billion of its new deficit spending. If more states follow suit, they can block the other $1.6 trillion and force Congress to repeal the law. The law relies on states to implement two of its most essential pieces: health-insurance "exchanges" and a vast expansion of Medicaid. Exchanges are government agencies through which the law channels $800 billion to private health-insurance companies.The Medicaid expansion adds another $900 billion to the federal debt, with private insurers again taking a slice. States are under no obligation either to implement...

Behold what a prominent politician's "CYA" instinct hath wrought:   Facing questions about why she and other top Congressional officials won’t release their tax returns, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) downplayed her previous demands for presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney to release his, calling the issue a distraction. As recently as Wednesday, Pelosi had strongly urged Romney to provide further disclosure of his tax returns. But today, while maintaining Romney should release more documents because of “custom” and “tradition,” Pelosi said the issue was trivial compared with economic issues. “We spent too much time on that. We should...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry originally endorsed Newt Gingrich as the top candidate after dropping out of the Republican presidential race. But with Gingrich set to quit the campaign trail, Perry on Wednesday evening gave his support to the probable nominee, Mitt Romney. "Mitt Romney has earned the Republican presidential nomination through hard work, a strong organization, and [a] disciplined message of restoring America after nearly four years of failed job-killing policies from President [Barack] Obama and his administration," Perry said in a statement provided to FOX News Channel. "So today I join the many conservative Republicans across the nation in...

Republican presidential candidate and former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich stressed his desire to return the country to its religious values and reform social security Wednesday. Gingrich’s talk in Gaston Hall sparked a protest on Copley Lawn that drew about 20 students chanting and holding signs. At the lecture, Gingrich introduced a proposal to partially privatize social security. Under his plan, taxpayers would manage a private savings account with funds drawn from their paychecks. Contributions from employers would continue to fund the social security trust. “It turns out, according to the official actuary for social security, if...

There's no telling who the Republican presidential nominee will be, even though the White House thinks it has a pretty good idea. But even if Mitt Romney squares off against Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election, one factor might throw off any voter-modeling that either campaign could do ahead of time -- and wildly. The real unknown in next year's presidential race is whether a viable third-party candidate will enter the race. It's not just the potential that Ron Paul would launch a general election bid -- even though he’s said... --snip-- Asked how likely an Americans Elect ticket...

Senate Democrats are increasingly concerned that President Barack Obama’s campaign money machine is sucking up so much cash that it will cut into the party’s aggressive campaign to hold on to the Senate next year, several Democratic sources say. Democratic senators have already pressed Obama campaign officials — including campaign manager Jim Messina — not to lock up the richest Democratic donors, but the presidential campaign declined to make such a promise.

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, July 26, 2011 For More Information: Ellen Carmichael, (678) 601-2772 media@hermancain.com Cain to Embark on Iowa Bus Tour (Stockbridge, GA)- Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain will embark on his "Common Sense Solutions" bus tour throughout the state of Iowa leading up to the FOX News debate and the Ames Straw Poll. Thursday, August 4, 2011: Des Moines, Oskaloosa, West Des Moines Monday, August 8, 2011: Sioux City, Denison, Council Bluffs Tuesday, August 9, 2011: Davenport, Cedar Rapids, Cedar Falls, Fort Dodge Wednesday, August 10, 2011: Clear Lake, Rock Rapids, Okoboji Thursday, August 11, 2011: Ames Friday,...