Free Republic

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Friday he's "definitely undecided" on another run for the White House next year and is increasingly concerned Republicans will "Balkanize themselves" ahead of 2012. A day after the sparsely attended first debate of the GOP primary season, Huckabee said in an interview on Fox News that he had no regrets about missing the gathering and that he's still working toward a decision on 2012. "First of all, I've got to come to a place where I believe I should run, and I'm not there yet," Huckabee said. "My feeling is I'll be there by...

AUSTIN — The state's new $5 surcharge for strip club visitors will not violate the clubs' First Amendment free speech rights, state officials argued in a court brief filed in advance of a court hearing. The new fee, which was approved this year by the Texas Legislature, is set to take effect on Jan. 1. It's expected to raise about $44 million to be dispersed for sexual assault prevention programs and health care for the uninsured. A state district judge was scheduled today to consider a request made by a group of strip clubs to delay the fee. The Texas...

Sacramento -- Bleary-eyed lawmakers voted early today to put a $37 billion package of bonds intended to fix levees and build new highways and schools on the November ballot. "Today we made a giant step forward in terms of our commitment to the state's economy and in terms of strengthening our crumbling infrastructure," said Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland. "We also showed what bipartisanship can look like." An attempt by the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to put a larger bond on the June ballot failed two months ago. Of the four bonds, transportation is the largest, at...

For the first time since 1972, the United States is planning to fly to the moon, but instead of a quick, Apollo-like visit, astronauts intend to build a permanent base and live there while they prepare what may be the most ambitious undertaking in history -- putting human beings on Mars. President Bush in 2004 announced to great fanfare plans to build a new spaceship, get back to the moon by 2020 and travel on to Mars after that. But, with NASA focused on designing a new spaceship and spending about 40 percent of its budget on the troubled space...

WASHINGTON -- As House and Senate tax writers head into talks over $70 billion in tax cuts, new estimates show that the alternative minimum tax could hit 23 million individuals and families next year. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., asked the Joint Committee on Taxation to estimate the growth in a tax that increasingly threatens middle-income taxpayers. It originally was intended to prevent wealthy individuals from avoiding taxation. Lawmakers in recent years have enacted temporary fixes to blunt the tax's impact. Without such a fix, the committee's staff of tax experts who advise lawmakers estimated 23 million taxpayers could feel the...

Last week, the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District voted to place yet another multi-billion bond measure on the ballot. This $3.8 billion proposal is, of course, on top of the $9.5 billion in bonds that have been approved since 1997, the most recent, less than 18 months ago. Of course these figures do not include interest on the bonds which nearly doubles the taxpayers' obligation. It will be very interesting to see if voters, once again, allow themselves to be fleeced. To put into perspective the magnitude of these multi-billion dollar bonds, all one has to do...