Free Republic

You’ll be a patient some day soon. Your life will depend on having trusted, skilled advocates in your corner. Patients are often scared, frequently dependent on others for life, and in great need of a sense of safety and care. This intimate vulnerability is the basis for the Hippocratic oath, medical ethics and patient confidentiality. But how cared for and safe do you feel in today’s health care system?

Fool me once. We were told that the health care system was broken. As a result, the Affordable Care Act was signed into law with the promise that premiums would be lower, we could keep our doctors and our insurance. Fool me twice. When the IRS was accused of targeting conservative groups, the president said there was not even a "smidgen" of corruption. Of course the Department of Justice declined to investigate. Fool me thrice. When four Americans were killed in Benghazi, it was said the cause was an offensive video. Susan Rice went out on a Sunday morning and...

Congress's investigation into the IRS targeting of conservatives has been continuing out of the Syria headlines, and it's turning up news. Emails unearthed by the House Ways and Means Committee between former Director of Exempt Organizations Lois Lerner and her staff raise doubts about IRS claims that the targeting wasn't politically motivated and that low-level employees in Cincinnati masterminded the operation. In a February 2011 email, Ms. Lerner advised her staff—including then Exempt Organizations Technical Manager Michael Seto and then Rulings and Agreements director Holly Paz—that a Tea Party matter is "very dangerous," and is something "Counsel and [Lerner adviser]...

Eating more insects could help fight world hunger, according to a new UN report. The report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization says that eating insects could help boost nutrition and reduce pollution. It notes than over 2 billion people worldwide already supplement their diet with insects. However it admits that "consumer disgust" remains a large barrier in many Western countries. Wasps, beetles and other insects are currently "underutilised" as food for people and livestock, the report says. Insect farming is "one of the many ways to address food and feed security". "Insects are everywhere and they reproduce quickly,...

President Obama had his best run of media coverage during the final week of the campaign, while positive coverage of Mitt Romney dwindled, according to a study released Monday from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. Between Oct. 29 and Nov. 5, 29 percent of stories about Obama were positive, compared to 19 negative, while only 16 percent of Romney’s stories were positive, compared to 33 negative. It was Obama’s best week of media coverage since the Democratic National Convention, and only the second time in the cycle positive stories outnumbered negative ones for the president. The...

America has over 46 million people on Food Stamps. The food stamps program's real name is Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The Food Stamp program is "hidden" from view through Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Cards that work just as credit cards. This article visualizes the size of the program and the vast amounts of people participating.

Teachers Take Entire School to Obama Rally By Todd Starnes More than 250 teachers and students of a public charter middle school in Rhode Island spent Thursday at a political rally for President Obama – instead of in class learning about reading, writing and arithmetic. The Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy rented coach buses as well as school buses to travel more than two hours to New Hampshire where the president addressed his supporters. "Whether you are a supporter of President Obama or not, the opportunity to hear the President of the United States.............

FORT HOOD, Texas—Nearly three years after the shooting rampage at Fort Hood, many of those affected are urging the government to declare it a terrorist attack, saying wounded soldiers and victims' relatives otherwise won't receive the same benefits as those in a combat zone. About 160 people, including relatives of the 13 people killed at the Texas Army post and some of the more than two dozen wounded and their families, released a video Thursday expressing their frustration. They say soldiers injured or killed deserve fair benefits and Purple Heart eligibility. "The victims are being forgotten and it's frustrating," Kimberly...

Remember back in 2008 when shock jock Howard Stern had his associates conduct “man on the street” interviews with Obama supporters? We’re sure you do. The results were both hilarious and depressing (depending on your political persuasion, of course). Why were the results of the 2008 experiment hilarious/depressing? Because it became painfully clear that many of the people interviewed by Stern’s team had absolutely no idea what they were talking about or why they were supporting candidate Obama. And if you thought it was funny (and/or depressing) in 2008, you’ll really enjoy the 2012 edition. Yes, Stern’s cohort once again...

A crowd of people hoping to get federal housing assistance became unruly Wednesday morning with reports of fights breaking out in the crowd. Thousands of people were lined up at the Tri-Cities shopping center, hoping to apply for a voucher from the East Point Housing Authority that will give them a discount on their rent. People began lining up at the shopping center two days ago, and by Wednesday morning the crowd had grown to over 1,000 people. East Point police, some wearing riot helmets, were patrolling the area. Firefighters and EMTs were attending to people who were overheating in...

After years of deliberate neglect, the Justice Department is finally beginning to enforce the federal law requiring states to provide voter registration at welfare and food stamp offices. The effort not only promises to bring hundreds of thousands..;The National Voter Registration Act of 1993, better known as the motor-voter law, is well known for making it possible to register to vote at state motor vehicle offices...the law also required states to allow registration at offices that administer food stamps, welfare, Medicaid, disability assistance and child health programs...But registration at public assistance offices proved far less popular. ...in many states, Republican...

President Obama’s campaign organization, Organizing for America, goes way, way too far. Team Obama wants to use 9/11 to push back against protesters, referred to as “Right-Wing Domestic Terrorists” by calling Senators in support of the Obamacare public government option. Today, the Obama campaign folks sent out a notice to “grassroots” supporters about the planned 9/11″health care organizing event”: What day? Our US Senators return to DC the Tues after Labor Day. That next FRIDAY, Sep 11, is Patriot Day, designated in memory of the nearly three thousand who died in the 9/11 attacks. All 50 States are coordinating in...

President Obama's army of citizen volunteers is now actively recruiting college students in states across the country to "build support for President Obama's agenda" – and earn college credit while advocating for "change." Obama for America, Obama's 2008 political campaign, merged with the Democratic National Committee in January and is now known as Organizing for America, or OFA. The movement some call "Obama 2.0" is now recruiting students and offering to provide credits toward degree plans in exchange for their advocacy skills. A message from OFA national volunteer coordinators announcing the recruitment campaign and internship opportunities has been posted on...

From: Margarida Jorge To: HCAN Field PartnersRE: HCAN—Responding to Right-Wing Attacks in the Field - August 4, 2009Since early February, we’ve seen increasing numbers of militant right-wing activists attending public meetings acrossthe country targeting Members of Congress and President Obama. Now in the August recess, the “tea-bagger” protesters and right-wing activists are showing up in larger numbers with a mission to be as disruptive as possible in thehopes of rattling Members of Congress and halting health care reform through pure spectacle and obstruction.  Our response is shaped by 3 things:  Ø Our targets are Members of Congress who must vote...

LOS ANGELES--The director of the new movie "G.I. Joe: the Rise of Cobra" thinks President Obama is "a Real American hero," but apparently wants Republicans to stay home..... When it comes to selling "G.I. Joe" outside the U.S., the message is "this is not a George Bush movie -- it's an Obama world," director Stephen Sommers said. "Right from the writing stage we said to ourselves, this can't be about beefy guys on steroids who all met each other in the Vietnam War, but an elite organization that's made up of the best of the best from around the world."...

It strikes me as simply unwise to entrust such a significant portion of the debate around a policy that will impact American lives, potentially forever, to just one organization with such an imbalance in their political views.

"My grandfather paid for Carlisle Chevrolet from his labors. My father paid my grandmother for Carlisle Chevrolet through his efforts. It took me nearly 20 years to pay my parents for Carlisle Chevrolet. It took GM and Chrysler a mere 24 hours to take Carlisle Chevrolet from me."

ANKARA, Turkey, April 6 -- President Obama made his most direct outreach to Muslims around the world Monday, telling Turkey's Grand National Assembly that the United States "is not and never will be at war with Islam." "Our partnership with the Muslim world is critical in rolling back a violent ideology that people of all faiths reject," Obama told the assembly. "The future must belong to those who create, not those who destroy. That is the future we must work for, and we must work for it together." (snip) During his campaign, Obama consistently played down connections to Islam, rarely...

A strong sense of civic duty, coupled with a weak economy, is leading many college students to national service as a way to earn money for school while giving back to their country. This comes at a time when President Obama has renewed a call to service for all Americans, an “all hands on deck” approach to solving many of the systemic problems our country faces. When he signs the Serve America Act into law, which was recently passed by Congress with incredible bipartisan support thanks to groups like Georgetown’s chapter of ServeNext, young people will face unprecedented opportunities to...

Students hope to host William Ayers off-campusBoston College yesterday abruptly withdrew two student groups’ invitation to former radical William Ayers to speak on campus Monday. A BC spokesman said he was unaware of the plan for the controversial figure to speak on campus until contacted by the Herald yesterday afternoon. But students last night were scrambling to hold the speech off-campus. “After meetings between administrators and students, the decision was made to rescind the invitation,” spokesman Jack Dunn said. Dunn declined to say why, adding only, “We feel the appropriate decision has been reached.” Dunn, director of public affairs, indicated...