Free Republic

Trial By Media and More This country has entered a new era of justice. Actually, it goes all the way back to the trial of O.J. Simpson, Jodi Arias and now George Zimmerman. More and more the media have begun trying these cases on television and using public opinion and a high degree of emotionalism. Channel HLN, headline News, Nancy Grace has been prominent in this. Now I believe that we will enter a new era that can be very beneficial to the justice system. That of using the television media to actually try criminal cases in vivo. Before you...

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) put out a press release today promoting the savings to consumers from Obamacare in 2012. The department claims that the average consumer receiving a refund will get about $100 as a result of rules on how insurers must spend premium dollars. The press release contains the following curious characterization of ineligible expenses health insurers might incur: Created through the Affordable Care Act, the rule requires insurers to spend at least 80 cents of every premium dollar on patient care and quality improvement. If they spend a higher amount on other expenses like...

Bill Clinton is a multimillionaire, but you’re paying for the Cinemax in his office. That’s just one eyebrow-raising expense a former occupant of the White House has been allowed to put on the taxpayer tab every year, even though every living ex-president is quite wealthy. In an attempt to shed light on this little-known perk of being a former commander in chief, The Daily Caller — through a Freedom of Information Act request filed last year — has obtained thousands of pages of emails and documents from the government detailing how taxpayer money is spent on former presidents each year....

Complete title: Well what else would one wear on a $4m break? From $2,000 dress to $1,000 skirt, Michelle Obama's lavish Hawaii wardrobe revealed Michelle Obama successfully managed to rile U.S. taxpayers with her lavish $4m family jaunt to Hawaii this Christmas. But it seems her expensive taste has not stopped there, as her vacation wardrobe has proved to be equally lavish. Though the First Lady has only been spotted on a couple of occasions since arriving in Kailua, Oahu, some sartorial analysis of her fashion choices has revealed that her outfits have been consistently high-end. A classic example, as...

The hotel maid who claims former IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn raped her has been accused of working as a prostitute. Allegations have emerged that the 32-year-old cleaner was was taking extra money from male guests at the hotel for sex. 'There is information... of her getting extraordinary tips, if you know what I mean. And it's not for bringing extra f**king towels,' a source close to the defence investigation told the New York Post. The woman also had 'a lot of her expenses – hair braiding, salon expenses – paid for by men not related to her,' the source added....

This is out of control. On May 3 I wrote about how the left, President Obama and Democrats can’t admit that what they refer to as major “subsidies” are simply ordinary business expenses. Now Obama has used the word “giveaways” in a direct email campaign looking for donations. ... "The CEOs from the five major oil companies — which together booked $36 billion in profits in the first quarter of 2011 alone — went to the Senate on Thursday to try to justify the $4 billion in tax giveaways they’re receiving this year." Read more...

Arizona lawmakers want to erect a fence along the border with Mexico - whether the federal government thinks it's necessary or not. They've got a plan that could get a project started using online donations and prison labour. If they get enough money, all they would have to do is get cooperation from landowners and construction could begin as soon as this year. Governor Jan Brewer recently signed a bill that sets the state on a course to building a permanent barrier along its borders, and a website is being launched to raise money for the work.

Establish smart spending habits. Live like you're poor. How do you do that? Drive your cars into the ground, don't eat out very much, avoid expensive and potentially unhealthy processed foods, buy food in bulk, buy just enough clothes to fit your needs, and use public transportation. ... Use credit cards only as a convenience to avoid carrying cash; limit your credit card spending so that you can easily pay off the balance each month. Make every dollar count with your spending, so you can free up money to invest in the future. Get healthy. One of the best things...

[This is one reason why healthcare is so expensive. The cost of healthcare insurance is not the problem. It's the high cost of doctor's salaries and hospital services.] "The top employees at Mary Washington Healthcare earned more than $1.1 million in bonuses in 2009, their reward for a successful 2008." "More than two dozen key executives and employee physicians earned annual bonuses ranging from $2,000 to $246,278. The median bonus for the company was more than $28,000." "Fred Rankin, president and chief executive officer, received the largest bonus among managers: $151,430. Rankin continues to be the firm's highest-paid employee, with...

Get over it – or, even better, get out of Parliament and find yourselves a real job….

LONDON (AFP) – Britain's new coalition government suffered a blow Saturday when a high-profile finance minister, David Laws, resigned after just 18 days in the job following revelations over his expenses claims. Laws stepped down as Chief Secretary to the Treasury after the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported he had channelled more than 40,000 pounds (57,800 dollars, 47,100 euros) of taxpayers' money in rent to his long-term boyfriend. "I do not see how I can carry out my crucial work on the budget and spending review while I have to deal with the private and public implications of recent revelations," Laws...

President Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform is working on a plan for what it is calling “pro-growth” tax increases. The Commission is comprised of 18 members. Most are aged political hacks or washed-up bureaucrats. “Critics of government insist that taxes hurt growth,” said Alice Rivlin, a former White House budget director for President Jimmy Carter. “But we’re not convinced this is necessarily true. For example, every family has routine bills it must pay—groceries, rent, transportation. These costs don’t go down just because increased taxes have lowered a person’s take-home pay. It could be that a carefully constructed...

The "healthc-care reform" bills in Congress would hit 39 states hard with new expenses, by raising Medicaid eligibility above the cur rent income cutoffs. The only states that won't have to raise eligibility because of the Senate bill are Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont and Wisconsin (plus the District of Columbia). And the House bill would force even Massachusetts and Vermont to pay more. Hardest hit would be Texas ($2,750 million a year in extra state spending under the Senate bill), Pennsylvania ($1,450 million), California ($1,428 million) and Florida ($909 million). Who...

Former ACORN bigwig Dale Rathke racked up a $157,000 American Express bill that he couldn't repay around the time he was caught embezzling from the group founded by his brother Wade, The Post has learned. Rathke was a big spender with multiple credit cards who rang up purchases at luxury shops, traveled by limo and frequented five-star hotels and restaurants, court papers show. American Express filed a claim against Rathke in 2003 in Louisiana civil district court. Among the court papers is a partial credit history that indicates Rathke had several different cards from different companies. He used them to...

New York - Chrysler Financial employees traveling on business can no longer be reimbursed for lunch on trips that don't require an overnight stay. If flying on business, they must travel coach if the flight is less than four hours. Tips to baggage handlers shouldn't exceed $2 per bag. The $4 cost of an in-flight movie? Not reimbursable. The company's new expense rules, posted on its website Friday, are among a handful of policies that have been made public so far as hundreds of companies receiving federal rescue funds scramble to meet a deadline Monday to put in place policies...

Link only - Senate Approves Disclosing Office Expenses Online

Madison — Gov. Jim Doyle and his staff failed to properly account for 145 travel expenses over two years, including a $5,200 business-class flight to Ireland and a $654-a-night stay in a London hotel. Nearly three-fourths of the time in 2007 and 2008, Doyle and his staff didn't supply receipts as required under state travel policy. By comparison, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton and her staff didn't provide receipts one-third of the time during the same period. Travel records also showed Doyle spent more than $1,500 on two chauffeured vehicles in Canada. That expenditure did not violate state travel policy, however....

Michael Martin, the Commons Speaker, will this afternoon announce that he is to stand down over the MPs' expenses scandal, it has been reported. Mr Martin is expected to inform MPs of his departure in a statement to the Commons at 2.30pm. It is unclear whether he will resign immediately or stay on until the next election. The Speaker's position became untenable after he lost the support of the chamber over his handling of MPs' expenses system.

Governor’s Staff Addresses Expenses Issues on News Media Coverage of Per Diem FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 09-35 Governor’s Staff Addresses Expenses Issues February 23, 2009, Anchorage, Alaska – Staff for Governor Sarah Palin today responded to persistent news media coverage of the per diem the governor has collected while working away from her official duty station of Juneau, while pointing out significant savings the governor has achieved in regard to the way she has discharged her official duties. “The news media have been focused on the $8,500 the governor has collected in per diem annually while working in Anchorage, almost...

California is facing a $42 billion budget hole that is likely to mean severe cuts to state programs and possibly layoffs, but legislators still are collecting $173 a day for expenses when they're in Sacramento. The Assembly and Senate haven't met since Monday, when they held a joint session to hear testimony from the state treasurer, controller, legislative analyst and state finance director about the state's budget woes.