Free Republic

My wife, three children and I are all US citizens. Returning to the United States yesterday via Miami International Airport, my wife and I were asked what we do for a living. The border agent checked his screen after we answered. He asked my girls after consulting his computer monitor, "Which one of you is the singer? And which one of you is the dancer?" in light of the NSA database stories, perhaps I'm being paranoid. But I felt like they had this information and we're verifying it. He entered notes on his screen as we answered. My girls are...

Liberals are very excited that Texas Governor Rick Perry decided not to run for a full fourth term. But a closer examination of jobs number shows that if not for Perry, Obama’s job record would be a worse joke than what it already is. From the start of February 2009 (Obama’s first full month in office) through the end of May 2013 (the last month there is available Federal data for jobs per state) the United States had a net gain of 2,076,000 jobs. In the same time, Texas had a net gain of 882,582 jobs. In other words, 43%...

Rick Perry has announced that he will not seek reelection in 2014. When he leaves office, Perry will have served as governor of Texas for 13 years (the longest such tenure ever, I believe) and, as John Fund notes, he has a fine record. Perry kept taxes low and business regulation reasonable, and it is no coincidence that approximately 30 percent of new private-sector job creation during the last decade occurred in Texas. Perry will also be remembered for his extremely weak run for the presidency. His lack of fluency and failure to remember his own talking points cost him...

Wendy Davis, stating how she came from a disadvantaged background to become a Texas State Senator, before the famous pink tennis sneakers. Grover Jeffers a liberal reporter for the Dallas Morning News, stated that she should run for statewide office.

Gov Perry will not seek re-election.

Governor Rick Perry appeared on a Sunday current events television show and pledged that the Texas legislature will pass and he will sign the bill that bans late-term abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. A Texas state House committee approved the bill last week and more legislative action is expected on Monday and Tuesday. The last attempt to pass the bill was halted in the state Senate with a pro-abortion filibuster but state Sen. Wendy Davis says she will not filibuster the bill a second time. In his interview, Perry defended comments he made about pro-abortion lawmaker Wendy Davis. “She...

The Talk Shows July 7th, 2013 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Jack Reed, D-R.I.; Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Egyptian reform leader Mohammed ElBaradei; Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J.; Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; Reps. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Xavier Becerra, D-Calif.; Janet Murguia, president and CEO, National Council of La Raza; Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.THIS WEEK (ABC): President George W. Bush and Laura Bush; Egypt's ambassador to the United States, Mohamed...

Efforts by conservatives to restrict abortion in several state legislatures are receiving national attention, as Republicans work to pass national versions. In Texas, state Sen. Wendy Davis (D) found herself in the national spotlight after filibustering a proposal that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The legislation would also have toughened requirements for locations offering abortions and required that doctors who perform abortions have admission privileges at a hospital close to their clinics. Davis's effort caused Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) to call a second special session to try and pass the bill through the Republican-controlled legislature. Davis...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Gov. Rick Perry promised friends and top fundraisers Tuesday he’d reveal “exciting future plans” next week in San Antonio, sparking wide speculation he will announce if he’ll run again for governor. (click link for full article)

Governor Rick Perry of Texas made little impression on the 2012 election. Once billed as a class act, he emerged as a comic turn. There was the “I’ll never forgetwhatshisname” debate flub when he couldn’t remember one of the Cabinet departments he was committed to abolishing was Energy. And there was his tired and emotional stump speech in New Hampshire when, well, I’m not quite sure what he was talking about. Perhaps it was his Dean Martin impression. But Perry is sure to make a strong impression on the outcome of the 2016 election. When he signs into law the...

Immigration Reform Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush …, a longtime advocate of comprehensive immigration reform, said in a statement that the Senate vote was a “strong step for meaningful immigration reform and encouraging legal immigration for those that want to contribute to a better America.” …New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has called for tighter border controls and a pathway to citizenship for legal immigrants. …Texas Gov. Rick Perry … has steadfastly opposed a border fence, saying it would take 10 to 15 years to build, cost $30 billion and wouldn’t work. …Gay Marriage In a speech in June, (Jeb) Bush...

The Texas Senate will reconvene Monday afternoon to once again take up Senate Bill 5. The measure would, among other things, ban abortion after 20 weeks gestation. While the bill has received nationwide media attention, Texas would not be setting a precedent with its passage. Since 2010, a dozen states have passed similar legislation. You can see them below, in this map: Nebraska was the first state to pass such legislation in 2010, when it was aiming to push a late-term abortion clinic outside of its state borders. Eleven states have since followed in its footsteps and, if Senate Bill...

Forever Filibustering: Wendy Davis shows no substance by Daniel Clark Not content with letting half a day’s worth of empty words fly across the floor of the Texas state senate, Wendy Davis responded to a critique from Gov. Rick Perry by going into a snit that showed as little substance as anything that’s ever been harrumphed in the halls of Congress. Perry had observed that Davis was “the daughter of a single woman” and “she was a teenage mother herself.” He added, “It’s just unfortunate that she hasn’t learned from her own example, that every life must be given a...

Speaking at a conference on Thursday, Texas Governor Rick Perry offered some powerful words of wisdom about the moral imperative of protecting innocent human life. As you’ve probably heard, earlier this week State Senator Wendy Davis (D-TX) garnered national headlines when she staged a ten hour filibuster to raise awareness about “women’s health issues” and draw attention to a so-called "anti-choice" bill that would ban abortions in Texas after 20 weeks gestation. Never mind that 62 percent of women in the Lone Star State support such a measure -- or that 68 percent of Americans nationwide oppose second trimester abortions...

FORT WORTH, Texas — The Democratic state senator who is leading the fight against significant new restrictions on abortions in Texas said Gov. Rick Perry and other Republicans were hypocritical, claiming to support smaller government but actually trying to increase state intrusion in people’s lives. Wendy Davis, the lawmaker who single-handedly overcame and outlasted the Republican majority in the state senate last week, is preparing for another battle on Monday. Armed with her new-found fame in Democratic circles in Texas and across the nation, Davis vowed to fight even harder. “He’s awfully fond of talking the talk of small government,”...

Wendy Davis is the new darling of the left(dems, msm, etc.). If she decides to filibuster again, to sustain her new pro-abortion heroine status, I think that the Texas Senate should adopt a new rule for the filibuster. The new rule would be that after a half hour of speaking the other side gets to use a "silent rebuttal". The silent rebuttal would be the use of graphics or text to rebut her testimony, by using a split screen on TV, where the other side could use pictures such as of a 23 week old baby that was aborted and...

Here in Texas, the new heroine of pro-choice America is an interesting installation on the throne of radical pro-choice admiration. She is a tough and talented Democrat State Senator from a historically Republican district who has positioned herself skillfully as a moderate Democrat just looking to save education funding from current budget austerity. She narrowly fended off a Republican challenger last year, and faces an eager field of GOP primary candidates looking to unseat her next year in a quick turnaround forced by a quirk in Texas Senate election law. One wonders how her Fort Worth-area voter base is feeling...

Perry, who has called for a second special session of the state legislature to pass the measure, told those gathered that it was lawmakers’ duty to prevent abortions, regardless of the conditions into which a child may be born. “Even the woman who filibustered in the Senate the other day was born into difficult circumstances," Perry said. "It's just unfortunate that she hasn't learned from her own example that every life must be given a chance to realize its full potential and that every life matters."

Governor Rick Perry gave a rousing speech to the National Right to Life convention today and urged pro-life activists to continue pressing members of the Texas legislature to ban abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy. Perry responded to the mob that shouted down members of the state Senate, who came a few minutes short of passing a bill that would ban late-term abortions and hold abortion clinics accountable for violating the health and safety of women. “Even if they lose at the ballot box and come up short with stalling tactics, they will resort to mob tactics to force their...

A mob in the statehouse didn’t beat Scott Walker on labor reform and it’s not going to beat Perry on abortion. Bring ‘em back: Gov. Rick Perry today announced a Special Session of the Texas Legislature will begin at 2 p.m. Monday, July 1. “I am calling the Legislature back into session because too much important work remains undone for the people of Texas. Through their duly elected representatives, the citizens of our state have made crystal clear their priorities for our great state. Texans value life and want to protect women and the unborn. Texans want a transportation system...