Free Republic

There is another roadblock on the Democrats' plan to turn Texas blue. On Monday Michael Barone belatedly noted the unexpected showing of Ray Madrigal indicates possible dissatisfaction by Hispanics with the pro-abortion feminists beloved by Democratic Party leadership. What hasn't earned more than a couple of brief mentions, however, is the unexpected development in the US Senate race in Texas. The Democrat plan was to have an attractive, well financed candidate ready for after the Republicans pulled themselves apart in a battle between the establishment and the Tea Party. The reality is the Republican primary was tame but there is...

Now isn’t that some great news? Reports have been rolling in from Texas – the state where 40 Days for Life began – that abortion facilities are shutting down left and right. The latest closures include three businesses where faithful 40 Days for Life volunteers have prayed on the sidewalks outside for years. Plus – there’s another abortion center where volunteers are very hopeful that the business they’re praying in front of will soon join the list. Here are the details.——————————————————- BEAUMONT, McALLEN AND HARLINGEN, TEXAS ——————————————————-The three businesses closing are Whole Woman’s Health in Beaumont and McAllen, along with...

On Saturday, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul won the presidential straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference by a landslide for the second consecutive year. Conservative firebrand Texas Sen. Ted Cruz came in second, but he actually gained the most ground of any candidate year-over-year. On Sunday, Cruz began making a play to draw foreign policy distinctions between himself and Paul, both of whom are considered two of the GOP's top presidential prospects. "I'm a big fan of Rand Paul. He and I are good friends," Cruz said on ABC's "This Week" Sunday. "I don't agree with him on foreign...

Dewhurst is fighting for his political legacy after presiding over the Texas Senate for 11 years. In that role, he has chosen committee leaders, controlled the legislative agenda and maintained the Texas Senate's clubby atmosphere that keeps the wheels of government turning. But after his loss to Ted Cruz in the 2012 GOP primary race for the U.S. Senate, Dewhurst has tacked hard to the right. He has talked more about banning almost all abortions and even appointed Patrick to chair one of the Senate's most power committees, public education. Patrick, meanwhile, focused on passing abortion restrictions and expanding the...

It's a normal part of the school day for many students and teachers, but what happened Friday during the pledge and moment of silence that follows at Cy-Fair High School is creating quite a buzz, thanks to a teacher who captured the moment on camera. 

While the three tea party incumbents who were being challenged by establishment politicians won big, liberal-leaning Republicans closest to House Speaker Joe Straus lost in race after race this week. Defeated Straus incumbents include State Rep. Lance Gooden in House District 4, Diane Patrick in HD94, Linda Harper-Brown in HD105, Bennett Ratliff in HD115, and Ralph Sheffield in HD55. The key defensive races in the Texas House were those of State Reps. Charles Perry of Lubbock, Jonathan Stickland of Bedford and Matt Schaefer of Tyler. All three were heavily challenged by big-monied, Austin-based lobby interests. Their win-margins ranged from Perry’s...

Can conservatives win the battle of ideas and transform America? According to Ted Cruz, the outspoken Texas senator who won with support of the Tea Party in 2012, it’s possible.At a breakfast hosted by Politico’s chief White House correspondent Mike Allen last week, Cruz laid out four ways he thinks conservatives can win.1. Continue to fight against Obamacare.“The reason the Obamacare issue has such potency is because it’s real. Millions of people are hurt by this, and there is not a trip that I take back to Texas where I don’t run into at least one person, if not several,...

(NEW YORK) -- It may be the opening salvo of the 2016 Republican primary. During an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl for This Week, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a friend, but drew a distinction between himself and the Kentucky senator on foreign policy, saying the U.S. “has a responsibility to defend our values.� “I’m a big fan of Rand Paul. He and I are good friends. But I don’t agree with him on foreign policy,� Cruz said. “I think U.S. leadership is critical in the world. And I agree with him that...

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN--During a filibuster-style radio interview in Milwaukee Friday, senior Republican Congressman James Sensenbrenner (Wisconsin) charged that the State of Texas as a whole had a tendency to discriminate against minority voters and should be placed back under Holder Justice Department supervision thanks to his proposed legislation. After the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision to strike down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act—a policy that held a number of southern states like Texas and other jurisdictions structurally discriminatory toward minorities until proven otherwise—Rep. Sensenbrenner vowed to revive the law. When pressed to justify his desire to again empower the...

Just a link to a poll currently running on the front page, center, of the Drudgereport.

Sen. Rand Paul demolished his competition in the 2014 Washington Times/CPAC presidential preference straw poll on Saturday, winning 31 percent of the vote -- nearly three times the total of second-place Sen. Ted Cruz. Mr. Cruz's 11 percent was still a big improvement for the freshman senator, who won just 4 percent in last year's straw poll. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson was third with 9 percent and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was fourth with 8 percent in results that signal growing discontent with the GOP establishment in Washington. Indeed, CPAC voters now have an unfavorable view of Republicans in Congress,...

The major news in the conservative world this week has been the goings on at the annual Conservative Political Action Committee meeting in Washington, D. C. It seems to have become a sounding board for possible future presidential candidates to stretch their legs, testing the wind beneath their wings, so to speak. Many of the speakers may be in the running for the 2016 Republican nomination for President. Since I am nowhere close to deciding who my favorite will be, I have not listened to any of the speeches, before now. I suppose I have just not been in the...

I caught a bit of Rick Perry's CPAC speech today and, boy, does he have a fire in the belly. Had we seen this fire in 2012, then perhaps he would have won the GOP nomination. Of course, Perry underwent back surgery which significantly contributed to his lackluster campaign.

Abortion practitioners across the country are responsible for nearly 57 million abortions. They kill unborn babies on a daily basis, kill and injure women in failed abortions, and leave women, men, and families dealing with devastating mental health and spiritual issues as a result. While a majority of Americans oppose abortion and believe abortions ought to be illegal, MSNBC held a segment calling abortion practitioners heroes. The Maddow show story focused on the anger abortion advocates have over pro-life laws in Texas and other states resulting in closing abortion businesses because they can’t seem to follow the law. As Texas...

Move over Barbie, there's a new doll in town that is making headlines. This is Lammily – and she's being called "Average Barbie." Her body shape is based on averages of data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. You can see in the above image that she's shorter and a little wider than the traditional Barbie.

At least 28 Senate Democrats plan to spend hours Monday night and early Tuesday speaking on the Senate floor in a push for congressional action on climate change. It's a strategy that's been in the works for several months, organized by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who've been seeking to raise awareness about their concerns on and off the Senate floor. Adopting a strategy used in the past year by some Senate Republicans, the Democrats will begin speaking Monday night after a series of votes and continue until about 9 a.m. Tuesday, according to...

This was the flag of slave holding states in the United States that seceded in 1861, causing Civil War. Today the symbol is used by the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazi groups, and other organizations who are hostile to African-Americans. For the last several decades, protests have continued, demanding that this flag not be displayed in public places. Many people were greatly disturbed to see that the Confederate Flag is now being displayed, not in the United States, but in Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. Larry Holmes, a civil rights activist in New York City, explained why the flag is...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry‘s cross-country campaign to promote his state’s favorable tax and regulatory conditions and attract businesses and jobs throughout his tenure hasn’t been based on him just talking the talk; Texas can absolutely walk the economic walk, too, as WaPo reports: Texas experienced stronger job growth than the rest of the nation from 2000 to 2013, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Not only that, a pair of researchers note in a Thursday research publication, but Texas leads the nation in creation of jobs at all pay levels, too. “Texas has also created more ‘good’ than...

Texas technology exporters have surpassed the number of exports by California of technology equipment including semiconductors, telecommunications devices and computers. According to the Tech America Foundation Tech Trade in the state 2014 report, Texas has surpassed California in technology exports and technology jobs. Kenny Marchant, Dallas/Fort Worth congressional representative, spoke at a press conference about the topic and his excitement for the reports, according to a U.S. press release. “America’s high-tech sector is an innovation powerhouse and one of the fasting-growing elements of global trade,” he said. “High-tech exports play a crucial role in creating new jobs, growing the most...

Texas’ fast-growing job market has become a popular talking-point for conservatives. They claim that the “Texas Miracle� is proof that a low-wage economy built on union-busting and limited public interest regulations works. This, they say, is America’s future.But at The Washington Monthly, Phillip Longman takes a much closer look at Texas’ economy, and he finds that it’s nothing to which the rest of the country can or should aspire.A few excerpts: The first and most obvious question to ask about the Texas boom in jobs is how much it simply reflects the boom in Texas oil and gas production. Texas...

Touting the contrast between red states and blue states, Rick Perry kicked off the second day of CPAC by spiritedly urging his audience to help bring back those successful conservative policies that have been absent in Washington for the last several years. “It’s time for a little rebellion on the battlefield of ideas,” the Texas governor said, paraphrasing Thomas Jefferson. “We don’t have to accept recent history — we just need to change the presidency,” Perry continued. “We must elect the right kind of leaders to represent us to Washington.”

Texas Democratic gubernatorial hopeful 'Windy' Davis woke to some unsettling numbers along the Texas/Mexico border today. Of the 14 counties along the Rio Grande, Davis lost seven—including heavily Hispanic Webb and Hidalgo Counties. Davis Challenger Reynaldo “Ray” Madrigal’s prediction may have come true to an extent—Wendy has a pro-life Catholic problem and may not hold the support of motivated Latino voters by default. Based on unofficial vote tallies by county, Davis lost to Madrigal by substantial gaps in Webb, Zapata, Starr and Hidalgo Counties while managing to fall flat in three lesser populated jurisdictions along the western portion of the...

Economy: When not making excuses for President Obama's dismal economic record, liberals try to explain away Texas' stellar growth. But what choice do they have? The Lone Star State proves limited government works. After Gov. Rick Perry entered the presidential primaries in 2011, the left made a determined effort to dismiss the fact that his state had outperformed the rest of the country. Economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman called it the "Texas Unmiracle." Time magazine dismissed Texas' burgeoning growth as mere luck. Others chimed in along the same lines, insisting that low taxes, limited government spending and...

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), a former chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has apparently had enough of what he sees as the pro-amnesty mentality at the Conservative Political Action Conference. In response to a panel which includes four proponents of comprehensive immigration reform and one critic, Smith ripped the American Conservative Union, which hosts CPAC, in a press release. “You have to wonder when a self-described conservative organization stacks an immigration panel with amnesty advocates,” Smith accused. “For the second year in a row, CPAC has featured a panel where all but one speaker supports the agenda of liberal Democrats...

Ted Cruz, the rock-ribbed conservative Texas senator who figures to be a factor in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, told thousands of conservatives Thursday morning that the IRS should go the way of the dodo. 'We need to abolish the IRS,' he said, calling instead for a flat income tax rate and a user-friendly tax return that can be filed on a postcard. That verbal gauntlet, thrown as much at a near-century of tax collection as at the Obama administration, was Cruz's biggest applause line.

The FBI investigates the use of politiqueras in Valley elections. In the deeply Democratic Rio Grande Valley, the primary is the election that matters. And in local races like county commissioner and district attorney a sliver of votes can make a difference between winning and losing the election. Many times, paid campaign workers called “politiqueras” deliver the votes that put a candidate over the top. Politiqueras—who are paid to turn out voters, especially in low-income neighborhoods and colonias—have been part of elections in the Rio Grande Valley for decades. But the recent suicide of a school board president in the...

I'm looking for the best links and contact numbers to find affordable alternatives to ObamaCare. Anyone got any suggestions? I'm a 42 year old never-used-tobacco male in the state of Texas. Through State Farm I found a 5k deductible plan with 80% co-insurance beyond the deductible that costs $168 per month. The ObamaCare option with a 5k deductible and 75% co-insurance costs $350 per month. Assuming that the law's implementation doesn't change (though the executive branch has rewritten a lot of the rules contrary to what Congress enacted) I could face a fine of 1% of my income this year,...

While the three tea party incumbents who were being challenged by establishment politicians won big, liberal-leaning Republicans closest to House Speaker Joe Straus lost in race after race this week. Defeated Straus incumbents include State Rep. Lance Gooden in House District 4, Diane Patrick in HD94, Linda Harper-Brown in HD105, Bennett Ratliff in HD115, and Ralph Sheffield in HD55. Straus lieutenant Jim Keffer of HD60 did manage to hold on to his seat, but only after spending more than $750,000 and losing in the population center of the district. The key defensive races in the Texas House were those of...

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — George P. Bush took the first step toward continuing his family's political dynasty Tuesday, shaking off an under-funded primary challenger and securing the Republican nomination for the little-known but powerful post of Texas land commissioner. The 37-year-old Fort Worth attorney is the grandson of former President George H.W. Bush, nephew of former President and Texas Gov. George W. Bush, and son of ex-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is frequently mentioned as a possible GOP White House hopeful in 2016. He's also a Spanish speaker whose mother Columba was born in Mexico and who Republican leaders...

"John is a friend, and a good man. He's earned considerable respect in the Senate. We have not agreed on everything, but we have agreed on the vast majority of issues. Together, we're a strong and effective team for Texas," Cruz wrote, later adding that he is "proud" to endorse Cornyn.

From George H.W. Bush to George W. Bush to now George P. Bush, the 37 year old attorney who is likely to be our next Land Commissioner: "George P. Bush took the first step toward continuing his family's political dynasty Tuesday, shaking off an under-funded primary challenger and securing the Republican nomination for the little-known but powerful post of Texas land commissioner.   The 37-year-old Fort Worth attorney is the grandson of former President George H.W. Bush, nephew of former President and Texas Gov. George W. Bush, and son of ex-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush who is frequently mentioned as a possible...

Texas Voters Take A Stand: 9 out of 10 Want Obamacare Repealed and Welfare Recipients Drug Tested Mac Slavo March 5th, 2014 SHTFplan.com Texas-Takes-Stand Just because one part of the country has seemingly lost its mind and is willing to give up their freedom for the promise of more security doesn’t mean everyone is on board. In Texas, where voters took to the polls Tuesday night, a completely different set of ideas is at play. And if nationwide sentiment is any indication, other conservative and libertarian leaning states will soon follow. Though only about half of the votes have been...

The National Enquirer, the same magazine that broke the news on John Edwards’ love child, reports there is a $500 million plot out there to destroy Hillary Clinton. Author Marinka Peschmann claims Hillary Clinton of ordering the government’s attack on David Koresh’s compound in Waco, Texas. The National Enquirer reported: And in a national inter­view on the FOX News Channel, former Demo­cratic volunteer Kathleen Willey – who has insinu­ated the Clintons were involved in the mys­terious deaths of her husband, Ed, and depu­ty White House counsel Vince Foster – accused Hillary of “ruining” and “terrorizing” people. Foster and Willey, a...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Tuesday took a strong stance against President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, calling the nomination “insulting to law enforcement officers everywhere.” Cruz’s opposition to Debo Adegbile’s nomination stems from the man’s time with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. During that time, Adegbile volunteered to advocate for Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted of murdering Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981. As Townhall’s Katie Pavlich notes, attorneys with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund were able to get Abu-Jamal’s death sentence overturned. “Mr. President, this is insulting to law enforcement officers...

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texans went to the polls on Tuesday in primary elections where the top candidates for governor were expected to post easy wins and favorites of the conservative Tea Party movement are trying to topple established Republicans in several races. U.S. Senator John Cornyn, a Republican, will win his race easily, opinion polls show. Attorney General Greg Abbott, the leading Republican candidate for governor, and state Senator Wendy Davis, the top Democratic Party candidate, were also expected to win by wide margins. Voting closes at 7 p.m. U.S. Central Time. Run-off elections will be held on May...

<p>An 85-year-old North Texas man said he couldn't get out of a local hospital on Wednesday. Instead of going home, he ended up in a nursing home.</p> <p>Charlie Fink called FOX 4 for help Wednesday after he went into Richardson Methodist Hospital on Friday for hernia surgery and wasn't released.</p>

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas is holding the nation's first primary election Tuesday with a political free-for-all in Republican races that could push the state further right, though Democrats are calling it the next big electoral battleground. Republican Gov. Rick Perry has decided this would be his last of a record 14 years in office, and his looming exit has set off a scramble resulting in the most open races in Texas in more than a decade. Republicans are favored to win them all come November — including Perry's seat, despite Democrat Wendy Davis building a national profile and an early...

A Harlingen man wants to know why an uninsured driver was able to take her car with her after crashing into his wife's car. Robert Castillo wants to know why Harlingen police didn't tow her car. "I want to understand are you out there to take care of us or not because that was your job and you didn't do it and that failed me as a citizen," Castillo said. Castillo says he is a man loyal to the law and is disappointed when people are given an exemption. He claims he encountered a few weeks ago an exemption when...

“With all due respect, Texas is crushing it,” says Texas Gov.Rick Perry. When it comes to attracting new business projects to the state, that’s true, according to a survey conducted by the real estate magazine Site Selection. For the second year in a row, the Lone Star State’s governor won the magazine’s Governor’s Cup for luring more commercial projects than any other. Other states with the most total commercial projects in 2013 were Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Michigan. But the ranking changes when you look at the largest number of projects per capita. Using this methodology, Nebraska came in first,...

The Texas electric grid operator extended its call for residents and businesses to conserve power until Tuesday morning as a late arctic cold front that barreled as far as South Texas boosted the state's electricity consumption to a monthly record on Monday. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state's primary grid, had issued a public call for conservation on Sunday evening, citing freezing temperatures that would strain available generation capacity. "With the continued cold weather, we expect conditions to remain tight, especially during the early evening tonight and early morning hours tomorrow," said Dan Woodfin, director of system...

Here’s a YouTube that the Electra, Texas, convention and visitors bureau probably would like to see disappear from the firmament. It shows what can happen when cops with a bad attitude come up behind you at night and end up accusing you of the bad attitude. You can end up driving off with a couple of bogus tickets. Or, if you’re like the guy who produced the video, you can stand your ground and beat them at their own game. Ask yourself how you would handle something like this. You can imagine these two cops were the overgrown bully-boys who...

A Good Samaritan stopped and helped an injured dog that somehow ended up in the HOV lane of the Eastex Freeway early Friday. The dog was spotted in the outbound HOV lane near Tidwell shortly before 8:30 a.m. Animal Control officers were called to the scene, however it was a Good Samaritan who was able to get there first. Rickey Young, a father and contractor, said he heard about the problem on the radio and wanted to do something to help. “I’m just kind of a softy on that stuff,” he said. “I have a dog and would hate to...

On February 28th, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) reacted to President Obama's "hastily arranged" speech against Russian military intervention in the Ukraine by saying the U.S. needs to suspend "Russian membership in the Group of Eight (G8)," and we need to do so "immediately." He made it clear that mere words and "the President's vague threats" are not enough because mere "appeals to international norms" hold no sway over Russian President Vladimir Putin.Moreoever, Cruz said international norms mean even less than usual to Putin "when they run counter to his goal of re-establishing Soviet-style regional hegemony over unfortunate states like Georgia...

"A series of videos from several town halls in 2013 have surfaced showing that Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) supports amnesty for illegal aliens, despite claims from his re-election campaign that he is against allowing illegal aliens stay in America...."

Attorney General Eric Holder’s call to restore voting rights to felons after they’ve served their time in prison has split Senate Democrats. Liberal Democrats who are not facing tough re-elections this year say it’s the right thing to do, but vulnerable incumbents are steering clear of the proposal. ADVERTISEMENT Holder has become increasingly outspoken recently. This week he declared that state attorneys general are not obligated to defend laws that are discriminatory. Political experts say barring ex-felons from voting impacts African Americans disproportionately.

Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE)--which received more than $2.75 million in government funding in 2012--has produced and posted online a video specifically aimed at teenagers that promotes bondage and sadomasochism (BDSM) and proposes "rules" to follow when engaging in these activities. “People sometimes think that those who practice BDSM are emotionally scarred or were once abused—not true, it’s a total myth," the host of the video, Laci Green, informs its intended audience of teens. "BDSM relies upon and creates trust," she says. In a message published at the beginning of PPNNE´s 2012 annual report, PPNNE President Meagan Gallagher

Who’s likely to do well in New Hampshire’s 2016 first-in-the-nation presidential primary? It’s a preposterous question, here in 2014, but what the heck? We asked six experts to weigh in on some of the biggest political players. Our analysts are Wayne Lesperance, political science professor at New England College; Phil Boynton, president of the University of New Hampshire College Republicans; Peter Burling, Democratic national committeeman; Dante Scala, professor of political science at UNH; Jess Steever, vice president of the Plymouth State University Democrats; and Brandon Lemay, public relations officer for the PSU Democrats. Today, our panelists consider the Republicans. Tomorrow,...

The Ohrt family in Victoria, Texas, gunned down an unidentified beast in their backyard over the weekend. The mangy beast looks like a Coyote with big teeth and long legs. Although the Chupacabra's existence has yet to be confirmed, that hasn’t stopped rumors of possible sightings.A south Texas family claims that they killed the mythical Chupacabra in their backyard. Doug and Lucy Ohrt of Victoria proudly displayed the slain beast that their grandson gunned down on their property last weekend. “My grandson ran and got the gun and shot it at 240 yards, and my grandkids said, ‘Oh that's a...

A Texas man was stopped at a polling station during early voting Tuesday because of guns—namely, the ones referenced on his t-shirt. Chris Driskill was on his way to the voting booth when, he said, “I heard a gentleman’s voice over my shoulder say ‘he can’t vote with that shirt on. You’ll have to either turn it inside out our you’ll have to leave.’” YouTube:Man Not Allowed To Vote While Wearing Second Amendment Shirt

In a witty, optimistic, and passionate speech that showed why he is the politician in D.C. that most resonates with the Tea Party and conservative grassroots, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Thursday said he believed Obamacare will be completely repealed. "I am absolutely convinced that we are going to repeal every single word of Obamacare," Cruz, a potential presidential contender who is leading among Tea Party voters in nearly every 2016 presidential poll, said to a standing ovation. Speaking at an event honoring the five-year anniversary of the Tea Party movement that was sponsored by the Tea Party Patriots, Cruz...