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Still, that upward [revenue] revision for the upcoming year would not be enough to cover a shortfall created by a cost overrun related to a state expansion of health care to noncitizens who would otherwise be ineligible for Medicaid benefits. Those programs, which provide health care benefits similar to Medicaid to noncitizens aged 42 and older, are now expected to cost about $1.1 billion next year – a 400 percent increase from the original estimate of $220 million included in Pritzker’s February budget proposal.

I am proud to be an American. Yes, I know that our system of government is not perfect, but I firmly believe that it is the best in the world. We are an exceptional country not because our people are exceptional, but because we have a different -- and exceptional -- structure of government. I am grateful that I was born an American. We declared our independence from Great Britain this week 245 years ago. It happened after years of an overreaching rule by King George III and Britain's insistence on taxation without representation. We had had enough. We were...

200 days; An American classic.

It may be early, but at least three elderly Democrats are already running against President Donald Trump in 2020. The bucket-list field of presidential hopefuls who want to become president before they die is made up of three people who have at least four things in common

Yo, Maura Healey, your party is calling. They want you to run for governor. Please respond. Otherwise Charlie Baker, the RINO incumbent, is going to get what amounts to a free ride, because right now, barring a climate change apocalypse, there is no Democrat currently running for governor who can beat him.

One day in late spring in the early days of the George W. Bush administration, FDA inspectors visited the headquarters of Sargento cheese in Plymouth, Wisconsin—a routine visit as part of the federal government's efforts to ensure the safety of the food we eat. The inspectors took samples of cheese to test for bacteria. Sargento conducted tests on cheese from the same lot. A week later, the results from both sets of tests were in—the cheese was bacteria-free. Sargento, having gotten the all-clear from the government, shipped the cheese to stores across the country. Two months later, however, the FDA...

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said Thursday he is not interested in being considered for a seat on the Supreme Court. Wednesday, the Washington Post reported Sandoval, a Republican, was being vetted by the White House for a possible nomination. Sandoval said in a statement that he notified the White House he doesn´t want to be considered "at this time" for a nomination and that he told Senate leaders the same thing. President Barack Obama is planning to name a candidate to fill the seat of the late Antonin Scalia, though Republicans say they will not hold hearings.

A key part of President Obama’s legacy will be the fed’s unprecedented collection of sensitive data on Americans by race. The government is prying into our most personal information at the most local levels, all for the purpose of “racial and economic justice.” Unbeknown to most Americans, Obama’s racial bean counters are furiously mining data on their health, home loans, credit cards, places of work, neighborhoods, even how their kids are disciplined in school — all to document “inequalities” between minorities and whites. This Orwellian-style stockpile of statistics includes a vast and permanent network of discrimination databases, which Obama already...

We’ve had our issues with a lot of decisions made by this governor. But we do have to give him kudos for his positions on illegal immigration. In 2013, he resisted General Assembly efforts (led by Thom Tillis) to water down e-verify citizenship requirements for the state’s employers. Gov. Pat has made another wise move on the amnesty front by joining a 17-state coalition (led by Texas) challenging Barry’s executive order: […] McCrory’s press office issued a statement Wednesday announcing the legal challenge. “The president has exceeded the balance of power provisions clearly laid out in the U.S. Constitution and...

A Republican member of the Federal Communications Commission is warning about a government-backed study that “seems to have come straight out of a George Orwell novel.” Commissioner Ajit Pai — one of two Republicans on the five-member commission — warned in a Washington Post op-ed on Saturday about a National Science Foundation study of people's communications on Twitter, which he said amounted to government monitoring of people’s speech. ADVERTISEMENT “In the United States, the government has no business entering the marketplace of ideas to establish an arbiter of what is false, misleading or a political smear,” he wrote. “The federal...

Here is a transcript of the trans-Atlantic telephone conversation that would have taken place between General Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower, commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, and President Barack Obama on the eve of the Normandy Invasion, June 6, 1944. Friday is the 70th anniversary of the landing. President Obama: General, are you sure we are doing the right thing by going ahead with this invasion? Ike: It's too late to turn back now. Obama: I should have flown to Berchtesgaden and talked with Mr. Hitler. Or at least called. Ike: He won't take your calls

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's administration defied the federal government by refusing to close popular state properties at the behest of the National Park Service. The park service ordered state officials to close the northern unit of the Kettle Moraine, Devil's Lake, and Interstate state parks and the state-owned portion of the Horicon Marsh, but state authorities rebuffed the request because the lion's share of the funding came from state, not federal coffers. Instead, the state's Department of Natural Resources "issued a statement saying all state parks, trails and other recreational properties were open and not affected by the federal government's...

A Wisconsin school district is apologizing after middle school students were shown a video that featured Hollywood celebrities pledging to be a servant to President Obama.“I pledge to be a servant to our president,” Demi Moore said in the “I Pledge,” video shown Wednesday at Hudson Middle School. The video was part of a number of Peace One Day activities, an international event to build peace awareness. The students were also invited to make their own pledges after viewing the video. But there was a big problem – the video conveyed the idea that Americans should serve the presidency instead...

Catholic Bishop Stands His Ground on Obamacare Rule: ‘We Cannot--We Will Not--Comply With This Unjust Law’ (CNSNews.com) – As many Americans start to enroll in the Obamacare health insurance exchanges on Oct. 1, the position of Bishop Paul S. Loverde, head of the Catholic diocese of Arlington, Va., on the law’s mandate that nearly all health insurance plans include contraception, sterilizations, and abortifacient drugs without co-pays has not changed and is clear: “We cannot--we will not--comply with this unjust law.” Bishop Loverde made that statement in a joint letter with Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo of the Richmond Diocese to the...

McAuliffe on defensive as Cuccinelli gets a boost By Laura Vozzella, Published: September 18 E-mail the writer RICHMOND — Terry McAuliffe said Wednesday that he knew nothing about a failed effort by his supporters to wrest an important business endorsement from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II, his Republican rival in the governor’s race. McAuliffe also dismissed accounts that he had flubbed his interview for that endorsement by touting his ability to schmooze. And he backed off a campaign pledge that Republicans said amounted to a threat to shut down the government over Medicaid. McAuliffe made those comments on a morning...

billion in gold reserves back from the Federal Reserve. State Rep. Giovanni Capriglione is sponsoring a bill that would establish the Texas Bullion Depository, a state-based bank to house the gold bars owned by the University of Texas Investment Management Company, The Texas Tribune reports. Mr. Capriglione told the Texas Tribune that the measure is “not about putting Texas on its own gold standard, [but instead will] give the state a reputation as being more financially secure in the event

I'd like to invite you to join Terry as he visits C'Ville Coffee in Charlottesville to give a campaign update. Terry is excited to meet activists and voters to talk about the upcoming election and listen to their concerns. We hope you'll join us to support him tomorrow. Thank you, Michael Halle Coordinated Campaign Director Democratic Party of Virginia Wednesday, January 16 WHAT: Terry to visit C'Ville Coffee in Charlottesville WHEN: 5:30 PM WHERE:1301 Harris St, Charlottesville, VA 22903 RSVP Today

Bearing Drift: Virginia's Conservative Voice

Madison—Today Governor Walker announced he will not pursue the implementation of a health insurance exchange and has turned down Early Innovator Grant funding from the federal government. The Governor also will repeal the executive order that created the Office of Free Market Health Care. “I have directed the Department of Health Services to notify the federal government that we will discontinue any development on a health exchange and that Wisconsin will turn down funding from the Early Innovator Grant program,” said Governor Walker. “Stopping the encroachment of ObamaCare in our state, which has the potential to have a devastating impact...

Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder voted to send $2.5 million in state funds to a non-profit company he headed, giving the appearance of a conflict of interest, according to auditors. Missouri Auditor Tom Schweich’s office said today in a report that Kinder served as chairman of the board of Tour of Missouri, Inc., which promoted state-wide cycling races in 2008 and 2009. At the same time, auditors noted, Kinder served as chairman of the state’s Tourism Commission and voted for budgets that sent $2.5 million in state money to the corporation for the events. “The commission minutes do not indicate...