Free Republic

MURRAY, Ky. (AP) - Texas Gov. Rick Perry threw his support behind U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell on Saturday, telling 300 fellow Republicans that the minority leader will win re-election. McConnell finds himself in a GOP primary fight with wealthy businessman Matt Bevin, who attended the event but wasn’t allowed to speak.

Sometimes funny, though sad, commercial from Second City about a Kickstarter fundraiser for Obama's WWIII.

This report lays out the case for elimination of the franchise tax. Part II of this report (which is forthcoming) advocates for a transition Be Bold Texas! Franchise Tax Report Be Bold Texas! Franchise Tax Report (PDF) away from property taxes to consumption taxes to fund the maintenance and operations of public schools. That report will also make the case for a lower property tax appraisal cap or property tax revenue cap to provide homeowners and business owners with relief from inexorable appraisal growth. Taken together, these reforms would represent a substantial transformation of the state’s tax structure, and thus,...

I received this in the mail the other day. The front of the envelope reads: "U.S. Census Bureau Form Enclosed. YOUR RESPONSE IS REQUIRED BY LAW. Please complete and return by February 12, 2013. I knew the Census is part of the Constitution but a business census? They have pages and pages of forms they want filled out. They want to know how many employees, all my financial numbers, (sales and types services and products offered). First, is this Constitutional? Second, doesn't the IRS have most of this information already?

Prayers requested, please. My young second cousin and three other men are missing since Tuesday. They were flying from Marshall, Texas, to Casper, Wyoming, in a small Piper aircraft. No word from them. Search crews are out, as is his parents (dad is a pilot). No emergency beacon activated. They think they had a ping from a cell phone but found nothing in that area. Crews are searching. News story at the link. My cousin in on the left.

Dear Friend, With all that is going in Washington these days some things don’t make the news the way they should. Fourteen days ago President Obama issued an Executive Order that you should know about. This order gives an unprecedented level of authority to the President and the federal government to take over all the fundamental parts of our economy - in the name of national security - in times of national emergency. This means all of our water resources, construction services and materials (steel, concrete, etc.), our civil transportation system, food and health resources, our energy supplies including oil...

In 1980, Dwinna Barker was a divorced mother in Amarillo who had just lost one of her two young children to Reyes syndrome. She had also been laid off from a well-paid job. “After two months of unemployment, I was lucky to find work with Bell Helicopter in the Fort Worth area, which I badly needed. … I was desperate with all the unpaid medical bills and another small child and no help whatsoever,” she said. Her insurance had expired just days before her daughter was diagnosed with Reyes, a nearly always fatal disease that attacks the brains and livers...

A Tarrant County College professor alleges he was forced to resign for his beliefs, while school officials say they received complaints that he used his classroom as an aggressive pulpit. Ginger Ruiz and Sarah Lara met in their world religion class at Tarrant County College in Arlington. The two wanted to broaden their minds. “I wanted an academic view of the different religions of the world,” says Ruiz from Arlington. Her classmate Lara signed up for the class for similar reasons, saying, “To me, religion defines a person. That’s why I took this class to learn other people’s belief.” But...

In 1983, Eva Vachal, then 24 years old, was hired by Godfather’s Pizza. She began in the information-technology department. By 1986, when Herman Cain became president of the company, she was the corporate receptionist. For the next decade — Cain’s entire tenure at the Omaha-based firm — she continued in that position, answering phones and assisting executives with various projects.

State Rep. Van Taylor just posted to his FB that Voter ID bill passed Texas House.

As mentioned below, Gov. Rick Perry was in town yesterday -- at Manda Machine Company, on Myrtle Springs Road near Harry Hines -- insisting, yet again, that Texas need not tap the Rainy Day Fund to deal with the state's $27-billion-ish shortfall. You can watch the entirety of his speech here, and you'll see standing behind him the man you see above: Grover Norquist, founder and president of the Americans for Tax Reform -- and the man The Huffington Post only yesterday referred to as "the most powerful Republican in America."

SWAT team at Cowboys Stadium. No details yet.

Bill Whittle, writer, pilot and TV editor, has launched a new film company called Declaration Entertainment. The website states it will be an endeavor that "empowers everyday Americans to declare their independence from Hollywood and become Citizen Producers who help finance movies that represent their values."

The University of California, Irvine suspended its Muslim Student Union (MSU) for a year after a school investigation concluded the group organized disruptions of a February speech by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, then lied about it. The suspension is effective September 1. The chapter must complete 50 hours of community service before it can apply for reinstatement. If that is granted, the MSU faces another year of disciplinary probation. In a 14-page letter dated May 27, UCI Housing Senior Executive Director Lisa Cornish detailed the findings of the school investigation. It found that MSU violated four student policies involving dishonesty,...

The Lone Star Tea Party will take place on April 15, 2010. The event, organized by more than 30 North Texas Tea Party, Conservative and 912 groups, is both a celebration of American freedom and a protest of the increasing loss of personal liberty. Organizers expect as many as 25,000 attendees for the event, which includes musical entertainment and several speakers. The gates open at 4:30 p.m. with the main activities scheduled for 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The venue for the Tea Party is QuikTrip Park, a minor league baseball stadium in Grand Prairie, Texas, which is located between Dallas...

Denton (WBAP News) - The University of North Texas has announced that it will soon be offering something unique to students, faculty and visitors, unisex bathrooms.

After weeks of speculation and buzz, it was reported this morning in the Houston Chronicle newspaper that Farouk Shami has announced he is running for the Democratic nomination of governor of the state of Texas. In an exclusive interview in the September issue of MODERN SALON, Farouk hinted at the possibility. When MODERN Editor in Chief Laurel Smoke asked about rumors surrounding Shami’s political ambitions, he answered, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” A few weeks ago, Shami hosted thousands of guests, including current Texas governor Rick Perry and Houston Mayor Bill White, for the ribbon cutting of CHI USA, a...

The Arlington, Texas, Tax Day Tea Party is a go. The site for the event is Southern Recipe Grill on North Collins Street. The proprietor has generously offered his property for our event. More information is available at the above link to the Facebook Group, or you can also access it at http://arlingtonteaparty.blogspot.com/. Please sign up to volunteer or attend.

Just saw on the local (D/FW) news about a couple that I know personally (former employee's parents) who launched their own rescue operation for her mom in N.O. I heard they were going to do this but just saw on the news. They flew to Baton Rouge, bought a boat, drove to N.O. and found grandma at home and brought her back. She didn't want to leave because of her cat, but they got her back safe with the help of other relatives.

Okay, y'all. I don't post vanities but this one is a doozie. If you can help, great. If not, that's fine, too. And if this gets pulled, I understand.This young (15-year-old) Texas performer has a chance to make it huge, and bring real rootsy-feeling music to the masses.Maren Morris has been invited to compete in CountryThunder.com's Young Guns 4 competition, which has 40+ performers battling (through internet voting) for the opportunity to share the stage with folks like Darryl Worley, LeAnn Rimes, Sara Evans and Montgomery Gentry.Country Thunder is a huge 5-day fest in Wisconsin next month.I believe this young...