Free Republic

San Antonio failed to properly spend funds approved by Congress to combat the housing crisis while President Barack Obama’s expected nominee to run the Housing and Urban Development Department was mayor of the city, according to a 2012 report from the agency’s inspector general.The report could be a blemish on the record of San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro, a rising star in the Democratic party whose consideration for a spot in the cabinet is seen as a way to burnish his national political profile.

WASHINGTON — President Obama is preparing to nominate Mayor Julián Castro of San Antonio as his new secretary of housing and urban development, elevating one of his party’s Hispanic rising stars as part of a cabinet shuffle that has possible implications for the 2016 presidential race, Democrats informed about the plans said on Saturday. [snip] Some of Mr. Castro’s allies also believe that with income inequality becoming a focal point for Democrats, the HUD job offers the mayor an opportunity to burnish his credentials on issues of poverty and to raise his appeal among those on the party’s left. The...

President Obama on Friday appointed longtime White House aide Kristie Canegallo as deputy chief of staff for policy implementation, to oversee issues that include the continuing rollout of the Affordable Care Act and better integration of technology in classrooms. The move, which comes three days before senior White House health-care adviser Phil Schiliro will step down, aims to institutionalize some of the changes chief of staff Denis McDonough made in the wake of the health-care law’s botched debut last fall. [....] Unlike many of Obama’s top advisers, who came to their jobs through politics, Canegallo started as a civilian Pentagon...

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro is about to be tapped by President Barrack Obama to be the next Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This is the second time Obama will have asked Castro to serve in his administration. The move for Castro comes at a time where a big game of musical chairs is going on in the Obama Cabinet. Castro will be asked to replace HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, who is expected to move to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Mayor Julián Castro is expected to leave his third term in office early to become HUD secretary for President Barack Obama. Mayor Julián Castro (center) with his brother, Joaquín Castro, are interviewed in Time Warner Arena as they prepare for the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 3, 2012.

Hillary Rodham Clinton brings a quarter-century of public service to her potential presidential campaign, but it’s her most recent job as secretary of state for President Obama — overseeing relations with Russia, handling the terrorist attack in Benghazi and negotiating over the war on terrorism — that could come back to haunt her. Many of Mr. Obama’s current political problems also could affect Mrs. Clinton, including the handling of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the decision not to slap the terrorist label on Boko Haram, a group responsible for kidnapping hundreds of Nigerian schoolgirls last month. Even the Keystone XL...

San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro wants President Barack Obama to give temporary amnesty to illegal immigrants whose family members are U.S. citizens. Castro, considered a potential vice presidential candidate for Democrats in 2016, believes Obama should extend the deferred action even more to those over 30 years of age and who may not have come to the country as children. "We should look at people who have been here for more than ten years, who do not have a serious criminal record and who have family members who are United States citizens," Castro said in an interview before his debate...

Photo: Alma E. Hernandez, For The San Antonio Express News Henry Vichique, shown with his pregnant wife, above, is the 19 year old man who was tased by police for carrying a WWII Russian rifle in a San Antonio residential neighborhood while walking home.  From the Houston Chronicle: San Antonio police arrested him March 30 while he was walking home with a loaded Russian World War II-vintage rifle slung across his shoulder. The event occurred after dark.   Police at the scene told Henry that people had reported that he had been pointing the rifle at others.   Henry replied that...

Dan Patrick and Julian Castro Immigration Debate http://kut.org/post/rewatch-dan-patrick-and-julian-castro-immigration-debate BY MATT LARGEY 4/15/2014 KUT.ORG State Senator and GOP Lt. Governor candidate Dan Patrick faced off against San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro in a televised debate over immigration tonight at 6pm. The debate was moderated by the Texas Tribune's Evan Smith.

SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio police arrested a woman on a murder charge late Thursday after a detective said she deleted call records or text messages while being questioned about a fatal shooting earlier in the day. Sara Mary Clements, 24, eventually admitted to being with Alex Navarro, 22, on Thursday at about 1:30 a.m. and said “police were going to find out about her anyway because of the text messages she had sent” to Navarro, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

It was difficult to miss Ian Jacobson at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Known as Rooster, he was 33, with an ample beard, earrings and a towering orange-and-aqua spiked Mohawk haircut. But he also sported a pinstriped suit, French cuffs and a natty contrast collar. Mr. Jacobson’s sartorial contradictions matched those of his politics: He is among the young Republicans who are pro-free market on fiscal issues and libertarian on social ones. While his views represent a potential growth wing for a party that is losing among other demographic groups, they also show an emerging tension with the older social...

SAN ANTONIO — A man who was attacked after leaving a bar on the Northwest Side early Friday might have been a victim of the knockout game. Cody Robinson, 30, said he had just arrived at his car after leaving the España Bar de Tapas, at 5638 W. Hausman Road, around 2 a.m. when an unidentified man punched him in the face and shouted “knockout.” The knockout game is a random act of violence in which an assailant attempts to knock out a person with one punch. According to the Associated Press, the game has resulted in serious injuries, even...

A Texas ophthalmologist and co-founder of AmericanDoctors4Truth tore down the curtain on Obamacare last week, describing President Obama’s “signature” legislative achievement for the con game of forced labor that it really is. When she wrote to the Aetna insurance company canceling her participation in its offerings, Dr. Kristin Held of San Antonio was informed she is contractually bound to care for the company’s patients for another year — as though Obamacare not only re-configured the American health care system, it repealed the 13th Amendment at the same time. In her letter dated Jan. 30, the long-time and vocal opponent of...

SAN ANTONIO -- One person is in critical condition after a home invasion on the west side. Police say four people tried to break into the home on Merida last night. One of the suspects was shot in the face after the homeowner fired a shotgun. The homeowner told police he was watching television when the men showed up at his door. They were banging on the door, yelling at him to come out.

SAN ANTONIO — A proposed high speed rail between San Antonio and Monterrey is in the works. One lawmaker says it would revolutionize trade and travel between the U.S. and Mexico and pump more tourism dollars into the local economy. On Thursday, Representative Henry Cuellar will meet with the Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx along with state and Mexican officials to discuss the proposed rail system. Instead of paying for a round-trip airline ticket to Monterrey from San Antonio — which can cost at least $400 — Cuellar said a commuter could hop on a high-speed train and travel between...

 -adds North Korea 'not that bad...' Celebrity clown and unintelligible drunkard Dennis 'Worm' Rodman arrived today in Pyongyang along with some fellow ex-NBA players he scraped-up (inc. Vin Baker and Cliff Robertson) for an exhibition basketball game- and who better to marshal such an event than an exhibitionist tool who wouldn't dream of doing anything to hurt this latest avenue to attention? The NBA all-stars are set to play the Nork's senior national team on Wednesday, although the original sponsor of Worm's planned exhibition game and DPRK basketball training camp bailed when the Boy King threatened South Korea with annihilation and thew Uncle Jang...

Dennis Rodman said Monday that a game he and other former National Basketball Association players are planning in North Korea will be a "birthday present" for one of their most unlikely fans: leader Kim Jong Un. Rodman's squad —featuring ex-All Stars Kenny Anderson, Cliff Robinson and Vin Baker —will play against a team of North Koreans on Wednesday, which is believed to be Kim's birthday. The former NBA players, who arrived in Pyongyang on Monday, also include Eric "Sleepy" Floyd, guard Doug Christie and Charles D. Smith, who played for the New York Knicks. Four streetballers are also on the...

DALLAS - A San Antonio man says he plans to drop his lawsuit against the city of Athens for putting up a nativity scene in front of the Henderson County courthouse as a Christmas decoration. But he isn't giving up his fight. In short, atheist Patrick Green said it's no longer a fair fight because Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has offered to step in and assist the city or the county. Greene's original suit claims the city is helping fund the display, which is a violation of both state and federal law. But he doesn't believe his suit will...

UPDATE: Here is the response that came from the Attorney General’s office: We will continue to review and monitor the ordinance. I’ve attached the letter sent to Mayor Castro before the vote was taken. The final ordinance did not include the most problematic language, which led to our response: “We are pleased the city council heeded our advice and deleted this provision, which surely would have been grounds for a constitutional challenge to the ordinance. We will continue to review the ordinance and monitor the situation.” I have requested information on what will be monitored, how the AG views this...

Absolute equality is absolute despotism. This statement is becoming truer every moment in which the Sodomite agenda is incessantly advancing over the moral infrastructures, and they are not doing so without destroying lives. Look at the decree that was just passed in San Antonio, TX, which now prohibits all those in political office from being bias toward homosexuals. Homosexuality is not a right, and sodomite marriage is not even recognized in the state of Texas, yet the reprobates are not stopping in their endeavorment to make everyone accept them. Now let me make one thing clear, this bill is not...