Free Republic

The Affordable Care Act exchange is collapsing in Virginia, with the last potential insurer pulling out of western Virginia and leaving about 70,000 people without the ability to purchase health insurance for 2018. “Any individual, regardless of income, who purchased an individual policy — on the exchange or non-exchange — won’t be able to buy a policy next year,” Carilion Clinic Chief Financial Officer Don Halliwill said Tuesday. “When people think of the exchange, they think of poor people. That’s not accurate. It’s all income levels.” About 40,000 of the people affected live within Carilion’s service area. Should nothing change...

Accountability matters, especially in the military — and the US Navy just delivered some internal accountability for the capture of sailors by Iran. NBC, ABC, and other news agencies report that the Navy has “fired” Commander Eric Rasch, the executive officer of the sailors in the embarrassing January incident. This reverses the promotion Rasch got while the investigation took place, and will end any hopes he has for promotion: The Navy has fired the commander of the 10 American sailors who entered Iranian territorial waters in the Persian Gulf and were captured and held by Iran for about 15 hours.In...

ATLANTA (AP) — Police officers who arrived at the wrong Atlanta home after a report of suspicious activity shot the man who lives there, killed his dog and "likely" shot a fellow officer, leaving him seriously wounded, authorities said Tuesday. The bloody misunderstanding began Monday night when DeKalb County police received a report of a possible burglary at a one-story residence near an intersection in southeast Atlanta. Lacking an exact address, the officers were sent in the dark to a neighborhood where many of the single-story homes look similar. Three police officers found a home they thought matched a description...

Obamacare's confusing tax credits, coupled with fines and the implementation of previously delayed mandates, will make the 2015 tax filing season “one of the most chaotic in years,” a national tax expert and tax preparer warned House lawmakers yesterday, reports the Washington Examiner. “I am here today to tell you that the upcoming tax filing season has the potential to be one of the most chaotic in years,” said Ryan Ellis, an IRS enrolled agent and tax policy director at Americans for Tax Reform. Ellis warned the House Ways and Means subcommittees on Health and Oversight on Tuesday that the...

The hunt for alleged cop killer Christopher Dorner has turned into a major public relations challenge for law enforcement officials, in particular the Los Angeles Police Department working its way back from a history of corruption and abuse. Not only have hundreds of well-trained officers equipped with military-style vehicles – including helicopters with thermal imaging devices one pilot says can pick out a rabbit in a snowstorm – been unable to find the man charged with killing three people and wounding two others on a rampage aimed at police officers and their families. The LAPD also has been forced to...