Free Republic

Donald Trump will not reach 1237 delegates before the GOP July Cleveland Convention and there will be a floor fight for the Nomination. For the purposes of this analysis, both Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are peripheral characters. Both will continue to pursue their best strategy to the nomination, Trump on first ballot, Cruz on 2nd or 3rd (most likely 4th after Florida delegates are released). There will be a contested convention because the media will push for it. 1. Blood in the streets in Cleveland? Damn, that's a generational story. Somebody's gonna win a Pulitzer here. 2. Permanent...

Last night was brutal for Rubio. He has no path forward and now he cannot risk the career ending humiliation of being beat in his home state. The writing is on the wall. Either tonight, after PR or latest Tuesday after MS and MI, Rubio will have no choice but to withdraw. He's done. So. Strategy. If Rubio endorses Cruz and pledges his delegates to Cruz, it's a brand new game. Unspoken but plainly in view is the idea that Rubio will be Cruz' VP choice. Ordinarily, this would be a lack of balance on a ticket to be avoided....

Early voting for Prop 1 (Houston) Yes - 37,045 37.49% No - 62,599 62.51%

In Irving, Texas on Monday, High School student and 14 yr old Sudanese immigrant Ahmed Mohamed proudly brought his homemade “clock” to school. In a rabid bit of Islamophobia, his teacher feared the worst and in a gross overreaction, called the police. The police equally overreacted and Ahmed found himself under arrest. In order to highlight and educate against our biases, the President has invited Mr. Mohamed to the White House as a show of solidarity. In the wake of this tragic misunderstanding, how can we, as Americans, learn to better deal with our inner racist programming and prejudices? The...

So, a co-worker asked me what I thought about the Presidential race this evening. Before I could answer, a Latino visitor comes up and asks, "Are y'all talking about Trump?" This is what he had to say on the subject:

I just bought two half gallons of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla in Central Texas. There was a line big enough to buy out the entire stock I have Blue Bell in my freezer. Neener. Neener.

Texas has a "Sore Loser" primary law. Here's how it works: In order to be on the Ballot for the March 1st primary, you must file by Dec 14, 2015. If you are an independent candidate for the Nov, 2016 General, you must also file by Dec 14, 2015. If you are a political party that doesn't choose your candidate by Primary ballot, you must file your party's intent to field a candidate by Dec 14, 2015. If you file for a place on the ballot for Mar 1, 2016, and you do not win the Primary in which you...

A Collusion of Powers "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - John Adams Our founders were very afraid of the native impulses of people, including themselves. Power is a very potent drug. As a result, they devised a government that is supposed to function such that the natural tendency of men to seek power will work against itself. There is a separation of power and authority within a Congress divided into two branches, within a federal government divided among three branches and with a federalism...

Popeye's Chicken vs. Rick Perry 2016As you may already know (or predicted long ago), Rick Perry is running for President, again. Rebranded with hipster glasses and a campaign logo that might make Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen cry plagiarism, Perry is hoping to correct the mistakes of his failed 2012 campaign. Separating himself from the current field of Senators, Perry’s announcement speech emphasized the need for governor that has led, rather than those who have given “a speech on the Senate floor”. His campaign website touts the Texas economy under his leadership, claiming he “he championed conservative principles that helped Texas become...

The Iowa caucuses are still 284 days away, but Republicans now have a second candidate for President, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. Labeling himself a conservative, Paul is primarily known as being the son of former Congressman Ron Paul, an ardent libertarian with a history of making many controversial statements and endorsements. Sen. Paul has retained many of his father’s followers, but it seems that Sen. Paul has also tried to distance himself from the elder Paul. It’s become a delicate balancing act for Sen. Paul, as he has to grow his base by appealing to more traditional conservatives while...

So. I flew from Texas as a guest of Ted Cruz' PAC to attend CPAC. I'm in my hotel room in Crystal City getting ready to go back home in the morning. This was my first time to attend CPAC. My observations: 1. Three types of pepole in attendance: college intern type, political operative type, and far fewer: average people. 2. The Paul people were everywhere. Judging by the idiot sitting behind me at the "Big Government Sucks" rally, I'm not impressed. This college kid was trying to explain, very patiently, to his buddy that the problem isn't really big...

Lyrics to song on current Apple Commercial: "Who Needs You" by The Orwells. You better toss your bullets You better hide your guns You better help the children Let 'em have some fun You better count your blessings Kiss mom and pa You better burn that flag Cause it ain't against the law! You better pledge your allegiance You're not the only one Listen up forefathers I'm not your son You better save the country You better pass the flask You better join the army I said: "no thank you, dear old uncle Sam!" You better toss your bullets You...

After noticing some irregularities in certain legislators’ campaign loans, we took it upon ourselves to examine every sitting State Representative’s and Senator’s campaign and PAC finance reports from their first report until now (prior to January 2015 reports) and audit their loans (more to come from contributions and expenditures at a later date). Very quickly, we noticed that, at the very least, the numbers weren’t reconciling. In some cases, the figures were off by hundreds of thousands of dollars, some by millions.

Full Disclosure: I'm a Texas A&M Graduate... When Duke kicked the onside kick late in the second half, I was telling my friends I watched the game with that that move was a grave strategic mistake not only because it was bad karma but because it would rally the Aggies. I know that you can't rule Johnny Football out and any way to pad the score is fair. Yeah. Yeah. But. You don't kick a dog when it's down. Duke just needed to play efficient football from that point forward to win the game. The LAST thing that Duke needed...

Many are already familiar with Obamacare’s front-page debut and subsequent debacle called Healthcare.gov. Its crashes, bugs, and general incompleteness are infamous and have been the butt of many jokes, excuses from administration officials, and complaints from consumers attempting to use it. With not many signs of improvement for the website, many have looked for a scapegoat to place blame. One possible scapegoat has been a Canadian company, CGI Group, who was awarded a $93.7 million contract to develop Healthcare.gov, but that hasn’t discouraged the state of Texas from continuing and expanding its existing relationship with CGI. In August of this...

An interview with US Senate Candidate Dwayne Stovall running against John Cornyn (TX).

I have a question/observation. The deductibles and co-pays combined with restrictive networks make Obamacare one of the WORST groups of insurance products to come out in history. The redistributive elements of the program make it literally a scam for the majority of users. Yet, the Administration is out there touting it as "high-quality" insurance and everything else as "substandard". Why aren't the GOP challenging this? Shouldn't they be out there using the meme that, in fact, Obamacare is Substandard Insurance. 2nd observation: Why is the GOP letting the dems get away with referring to a federal coercion as a "marketplace"...

On the surface, Texas is one of the reddest of red, Republican states. Republicans control every statewide office. In fact, no Democrat has won a statewide office in nearly 20 years nor has Texas voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1976. Republicans also control both houses by large majorities. The tradition of Texas being a Republican state seems secure enough that outgoing Governor Rick Perry bragged that “the University of Texas will change its colors to maroon and white before Texas goes purple, much less blue.” So, with all of this power locked up in Republican hands, does this...

I went to listen to Dallas Fed Reserve President Richard Fisher speak tonight on the Campus of SMU in Dallas sponsored by Texas Monthly. There are a few observations I wanted to make: 1. Fisher states that the Fed has two legislated missions: monetary policies to maintain price stability, and policy to attain maximum employment. Fisher says the latter is an impossible mission because the Fed can set the right conditions that would allow for full employment, but they cannot control the policy decisions that would allow for it. Three times he said this. His example: the Fed is pumping...

From a letter to employees titled "Important News About Pay and Benefits" dated 9/9/13. The letter to employees starts, "This is one of the most difficult messages I have ever had to deliver to you." Among other cuts, including pay and bonus freezes for 2014, Scott and White informed employees of the following, "If you are not eligible to receive pre-65 retiree medical benefits from Scott and White by Dec, 31, 2013, you will not receive pre-65 retiree medical coverage if you retire from Scott and White." The letter is signed, Bob (Pryor - Pres S&W).