Free Republic

As the final deadline for creating state health insurance exchanges passed Friday, New Jersey, Tennessee and Florida said they would not work with the federal government on establishing insurance markets required under ObamaCare. Exchanges are online markets required under the federal health care law where consumers will be able to buy individual private policies and apply for government subsidies to help pay their premiums. In his announcement Friday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said his administration is committed to complying with ObamaCare, but "only in a manner that is the most effective and efficient for the residents of New Jersey,...

TX Redistricting Deal Rejected - NO Apr 3 Primary - Apr 17 Unlikely – Split Election Likely – TX Should Stand Up to Feds & RNC Monday, February 6th, was the deadline for a Texas Redistricting agreement to be made in order to have a one 2012 Primary Election in Texas on April 3rd. There was an agreement made between Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and some of the minority groups who are plaintiffs in the Redistricting Lawsuit, but then a Federal US District Judge, Orlando Garcia, in San Antonio struck down the deal. Yep, this is the same...

Legislation to abolish the California Air Resources Board has been killed by a legislative committee. The proposal by Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, died Monday in the Assembly's Natural Resources Committee on a party-line vote, with Democrats opposed to the measure. Assembly 1332 would have transferred the Air Resources Board's duties, powers and jurisdiction to the state Environmental Protection Agency.

Part 4: GM by the Numbers Last week, the Volt, GM's signature hybrid vehicle, turned in a lackluster performance in its first series of road tests by Consumer Reports. CR told Reuters on Monday that "when you look at the finances, [the Volt] doesn't make any sense." The publication went on to note that the Volt was "not particularly efficient as an electric vehicle and not particularly good as a gas vehicle... This is going to be a tough sell to the average consumer." GM and the Feds are betting the farm - and their credibility - on the...

s FOX Network puts the finishing touches on its advertisement lineup for the February 6th Super Bowl — arguably as popular a part of the evening as the game itself — one thing is certain: just about any thing will be permissible in the way of sex, sleaze, and crude humor. Apparently, however, one type of ad will not be permitted: those promoting positive values and faith in God. Following last year’s media furor over a Focus on the Family-sponsored pro-life spot during the Super Bowl featuring Christian football phenomenon Tim Tebow (left) and his mother, FOX has put the...

NEW YORK (CBS) — After a suffering a “shellacking” in the midterm elections, President Obama acknowledges what many have seen as his chief weakness – failing to sell the importance of several legislative milestones to the American people. “I think that’s a fair argument.

Barack Obama revealed his goal for the Supreme Court when he complained on Chicago radio station WBEZ-FM in 2001 that the Earl Warren Court wasn't "radical" enough because "it didn't break free from the essential constraints placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution" in order to allow "redistribution of wealth." Now that Obama is president, he has the power to nominate Supreme Court justices who will "break free" from the Constitution and join him in "fundamentally transforming" America. That's the essence of his choice of Elena Kagan as his second Supreme Court nominee. She never was a judge, and...

I think it was an omen. See the video of Obama's Memorial Day Speech getting rained out.

Obamacare is in the midst of tanking, and all the democrat rats are scrambling around on the deck as the ship goes down. They are running out of time and getting desperate. The fact is, most people do NOT want this extreme government solution to cover a small fraction of Americans without insurance coverage. Most people now see it for what it is, a MASSIVE, unprecedented POWER GRAB over the average citizen's life and privacy, PLUS making us have the privilege of paying a whole lot more for a whole lot less. Even the majority of doctors (Sept 15 Investors...

House GOP leaders who unveiled their “vision” for healthcare reform made clear that a major provision endorsed by 2008 GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) was not included. Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), chairman of the Health Care Solutions Group that spent months writing a "comprehensive" reform plan, said that McCain's proposal to tax employer-based benefits was "certainly not part of our plan."

WASHINGTON, March 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Please find, below, the statement of Democratic National Committee communications director Brad Woodhouse on Governor Sarah Palin's decision to reject over $500 million in federal funds due the state of Alaska under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: "After soliciting and accepting more federal dollars per capita than any other governor in the union, Sarah Palin's decision today to deny the state of Alaska over half a billion dollars in recovery and reinvestment funds - including millions for schools, energy and public safety - appears to be nothing more than political posturing. At a time...

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The judges in the Minnesota Senate trial have identified the first of what could be many wrongly rejected absentee ballots that they say must be included in the final count. The judges' order Tuesday means that 24 supporters of Democrat Al Franken whose absentee ballots were rejected will see their votes counted. Republican Norm Coleman wants the judges to count about 4,700 other rejected absentee ballots, and his lawyer says their decision means they're more likely to take that step. Franken has a 225-vote lead over Coleman, not including the 24 votes at issue Tuesday.

He walked naked through the Australian outback and died without clothes in a canoe in the jungle - but it was learned yesterday that the so-called 'Naked Nomad' had left behind a £2 million fortune. Eccentric Victor Flanagan wandered the sun-scorched roads of Australia without a stitch of clothing, slipping on a simple sarong when he entered towns, a curious figure with shoulder-length greying hair who had rejected civilisation. Everyone believed he was penniless, but it has now been revealed that Mr Flanagan had left behind land worth £2 million near Busselton, in Western Australia. He had inherited the property...

WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court today struck down a market-based effort by the Bush administration to regulate emissions of mercury from coal- and oil-fired power plants, agreeing with critics that the Environmental Protection Agency had violated the Clean Air Act when it established the rule. A coalition of environmental groups and 17 states, California among them, challenged the policy, which was slated to take effect in 2010. The EPA had planned to establish a mandatory national cap on mercury emissions and then allow power plants that fail to meet their targets to buy credits from less-polluting plants. Environmentalists have...

Link only per protocol www.wwj.com/Transplant-Decision-Too-Late--Teen-Dies/1376284

As many as 13 potential wind-farm projects in western Kansas could be in danger because of the state's decision to reject two coal-fired generating plants near Holcomb, proponents of the wind farms said. New transmission lines were to be part of the $3.6 billion Sunflower Electric Power Corp. project, which was rejected by Rod Bremby, the state's secretary of health and environment.

Video of Hillel Neuer of UN Watch giving the morons at the Human Rights Council a piece of his mind.

CINCINNATI: A U.S. appeals court on Friday ordered the dismissal of a lawsuit challenging President George W. Bush's domestic spying program, saying the plaintiffs had no standing to sue. The 2-1 ruling by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel was not on the legality of the surveillance program, but it vacated a 2006 order by a lower court in Detroit. That court had found the post-911 warrantless surveillance aimed at uncovering terrorist activity to be unconstitutional, violating rights to privacy and free speech and the separation of powers. The American Civil Liberties Union led the lawsuit on behalf...

Gaza - Palestinian leaders roundly rejected a US proposal on Saturday that aims to foster peace moves by setting a timetable of reciprocal security measures with Israel. The Israeli government, beset by an internal crisis, had already poured cold water on Washington's plan for a "timeline" of "benchmark" steps that included Palestinian forces cracking down on rocket attacks and Israel easing travel restrictions. In an atmosphere of profound mutual mistrust and fundamental weaknesses in the governments on either side, the future of the proposal seemed unclear. Leaders of the ruling Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas ruled out any further discussion of...

The female baby - a type of ape called a gibbon - was born April 9. BOISE, Idaho - The first ape ever born at Zoo Boise is being hand-raised by humans and is gaining weight, after being rejected by its mother. The unnamed female baby -- a type of ape called a gibbon -- was born April 9 and weighed half a pound, but is now up to three-quarters of a pound, zoo director Steve Burns said. Her mother rejected her five days after she was born, Burns said.The female baby - a type of ape called a gibbon...