Bryan Hughes Drops Out of Texas Speaker’s Race and Endorses David Simpson

December 10th, 2012

This is big news. Rep. Bryan Hughes has dropped his bid to be Speaker of the Texas house of Representatives and has endorsed Rep. David Simpson in his run against incumbent speaker Joe Straus.

While conservatives wanted to see Straus replaced, they was worry that Hughes’ background as a trial lawyer could work against him, and there was also worry that Simpson would split the anti-Straus vote. With Hughes out and endorsing Simpson, conservatives now have their best chance ever to oust Straus.

Expect to hear more about the Speaker’s race in the near future.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Republicans, Texas | 3 Comments »

LinkSwarm for December 7, 2012

December 7th, 2012

Enjoy a Friday LinkSwarm:

  • Krauthammer: Republicans would be insane to take the “taxes now with a promise to consider cuts later” non-deal Obama is offering.
  • Especially since Obama’s tax hike “would have reduced the 2012 deficit from $1.10 trillion to $1.02 trillion.”
  • The national election was disappointing, but here in Texas Republicans continues to make gains. “Overall we have 796 more Republican elected officials in the State of Texas today than we did in 2008.”
  • They’re still wrangling over money the FBI seized from John Wiley Price.
  • Former Texas Democratic congressman Jack brooks has died.
  • And in case it got lost in the election night news, Steve Stockman, the Republican who retired Brooks in the 1994 election, is returning to congress representing the 36th district.
  • Displaying a willingness to perceive reality heretofore unguessed at, the Michigan senate passes right-to work legislation. Tomorrow: David Letterman’s Cold Day in Hell Special.
  • EU unemployment hits record high.
  • Yes, Susan Rice is still lying about Benghazi.
  • Steven Crowder interviews people on the Fiscal Cliff. Bonus: Toonces!

  • Will State Rep. David Simpson enter the Speaker’s race?
  • School goes into lockdown because a student brought…a thermometer.
  • Save the life of a fellow employee at AutoZone? That’s a firing. (Hat tip (last two): Alphecca.)
  • Once you find out that PSY once sang “Kill those f*cking Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives/Kill those f*cking Yankees who ordered them to torture/Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers/Kill them all slowly and painfully,” suddenly “Gangnam Style” doesn’t seem quite so amusing.
  • New Gaza perfume named after Hamas missile.
  • Elsewhere in the world, things could get quite explosive this weekend.

    • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    Posted in Budget, Democrats, Elections, Foreign Policy, Jihad, Obama Scandals, Republicans, Texas, unions, video | 1 Comment »

    DeMint Leaves Senate to Head Heritage Foundation

    December 6th, 2012

    Sen. Jim DeMint has announced that he’s stepping down from the Senate to head the Heritage Foundation. DeMint’s official statement is here.

    It’s big news when a Senator steps down to head a think tank, especially the granddaddy of all conservative think tanks, where founder Ed Feulner is stepping down at age 71.

    It will be tough to lose DeMint from the Senate, where he’s done so much to further the cause of limited government and recruited stalwart conservatives like Ted Cruz and Rand Paul to join him. But hopefully he can awaken a sleeping giant at Heritage, an enormously important institution before and during the Reagan Revolution, but almost invisible in the Internet era.

    Erick Erickson likes the move. “Jim DeMint’s power in the conservative movement just grew exponentially. A man who was going to retire in four years anyway, will now be leading the conservative movement from its base of operations for years to come.”

    Edited to Add: Ted Cruz joins the chorus of congratulations.

    Tags: , , ,
    Posted in Republicans | No Comments »

    A Good List of Conservative Texas Blogs

    December 4th, 2012

    This list of conservative blogs in Texas is well worth taking a look at. For starters, I’m in there, which means it passes the first-cut test.

    I hope to take a good look at all of these when I have some time with an eye toward updating the blogroll.

    Tags: , ,
    Posted in Texas | 5 Comments »

    Paul Burka Discusses Ted Cruz, and Proves (Yet Again) He Doesn’t Understand Conservatives

    December 3rd, 2012

    So Paul Burka noticed that Senator-elect Ted Cruz picked conservative Chip Roy as his Chief of Staff.

    Sayeth Burka:

    What I find revealing about the choice of Roy is that Cruz–who has been making noise as a potential contender for the White House in 2016–appears to be putting his chips on the tea party as the future of the Republican party. In doing so, he is aligning himself with insurgents like Rand Paul and, of course, the chief insurgent, Jim DeMint, who helped fund Cruz’s Senate race.

    Is this a good bet? I’m dubious. The tea party has a lot in common with the old Ross Perot “United We Stand” bunch. These groups seldom have staying power. Granted, the Kochs’ involvement makes the tea party’s survival more likely, at least in the short run, but in the establishment almost always prevails. It may prove to be the case, though, that Cruz is so appealing that he can transcend the factionalism in the Republican party. The strength of the Republican field in 2016 is that it is filled with big names: Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Mitch Daniels, Bobby Jindal, Paul Ryan, Rick Santorum, and Mike Huckabee. Only Rubio and Cruz qualify as fresh faces, though, and that might be where the rank-and-file look first.

    Wait, let me get this straight: A conservative Republican Senator-elect, who worked at a conservative think tank, ran as a conservative, courted conservatives, and beat the overwhelming favorite establishment candidate while pledging to govern as a conservative, has now chosen…a conservative chief of staff?

    Sadly, Burka misunderstanding conservatives is nothing new. The idea that conservatives truly believe in low taxes, balanced budgets, and limited government seems entirely alien to Burka. When it comes to describing inter-Republican-Party dynamics, he’s like a color-blind man trying to describe The Wizard of Oz.

    And so instead of reaching the obvious conclusion, that Ted Cruz chose a conservative chief of staff because he’s a conservative, Burka prefers to envision imaginary 2016 horse-race jockeying.

    I could try to explain to Burka exactly why the Tea Party exists and what it wants, but I fear it would be like trying to teach the fundamentals of optics to a dog.

    Tags: , , , , ,
    Posted in Media Watch, Republicans, Texas | No Comments »

    Pat Condell on “Islamophobia”

    December 3rd, 2012

    Just as he did a few months ago, British atheist Pat Condell takes aim on another mockable aspect of modern radical Islam and their politically correct enablers: “Islamophobia”.

    (Hat tip: Urban Grounds.)

    Tags: , , ,
    Posted in Jihad, video | 1 Comment »

    Syria and Guns

    November 29th, 2012

    OK. Thanksgiving break over.

    I’ve come across a couple of blogs from the world of international conflict you may want to take a look at:

  • Brown Moses tracks developments in the Syrian civil War, with a special focus on the ordinance expended and captured there.
  • The Gun follows the more general word of international military arms, including transfer and use in combat.

    • Both are worth checking out.

    Tags: , , , , ,
    Posted in Foreign Policy, Guns, Jihad, Military | No Comments »

    A Quick Pre-Thanksgiving LinkSwarm

    November 21st, 2012

    Lots of larger pieces in various stage of construction, but rather than put them up when everyone is getting ready for Thanksgiving, here’s a quick LinkSwarm:

  • Ted Cruz named National Republican Senatorial Committee Vice-Chairman. Maybe he can prevent Todd Akins from ensuing.
  • Former Sen. Warren Rudman dead at age 82. Gramm-Rudman-Hollings really worked at controlling the deficit. That’s why Democrats had to kill it.
  • Israel and Hamas agree to a ceasefire. Pretty much ensuring that we’ll go through this whole charade again a year or two down the road.
  • The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco and Grain Millers Union, having been given a second chance by a federal judge, decided that the first hole in their foot just wasn’t big enough and decided to shoot again. Hostess is still dead.
  • Two weeks after wining reelection, and facing an FBI probe for corruption, Jesse Jackson, Jr. resigns. Like father like son.
  • William Shatner would like you to remember not to set yourself on fire frying a turkey.
  • And the Mythbusters would like you to avoid dropping a frozen turkey on your foot, or on your pets.

    • Happy Thanksgiving!

    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    Posted in Budget, Democrats, Foreign Policy, Republicans, Texas, unions | No Comments »

    Texas Vs. California: Thanksgiving Week Edition

    November 19th, 2012

    Another quick update on the respective fates of our nation’s two biggest states:

  • In case you didn’t notice, California Democrats now have a super-majority in the legislature, which means they can raise taxes to their heart’s content. That should only heighten the difference between California’s Blue State model and Texas’ Red State model.
  • California spends far more money on its welfare state that Texas, but has greater income inequality.
  • The election California voters helped accelerate the state’s economic decline.
  • America is becoming California…and California is becoming Greece.
  • The California city of Atwater backs away from bankruptcy after winning concessions from unions.
  • Texas added 36,600 total nonfarm jobs in October, dropping unemployment down to 6.6%.

    • Tags: , , , , , ,
    Posted in Budget, Texas, unions | 1 Comment »

    Your Top Stories, All Mashed Together

    November 16th, 2012

    To much going on. Here’s a sampler:

    First up, Unions kill Hostess. By calling a strike against a company that was already in bankruptcy, against the advice of the Teamsters, who had already taken a look at the Hostess books, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union ensured that instead of a 6% pay cut, unionized workers would take a 100% pay cut. Way to go, unions!

    Israel still seems to be gearing up for a ground offensive in Gaza. And by firing rockets at Tel Aviv, Hamas pretty much guarantees that the only faction in Israeli politics urging restraint will retink their position. “I get a lot less liberal when you want to kill me.”

    Lefties are trying to boycott Papa Johns for daring to lay people off because of ObamaCare. “If this is anything like the Chick-fil-A buycott, and you want Papa John’s for dinner, you’d better get your order in now.” It’s amazing that any business in America ever has to declare bankruptcy, given there are so many liberals around who can tell them exactly how much profit they “need”…

    Former general and former CIA head David Petraeus testifies on Benghazi. He says his report said the attack was launched by al Qaeda, but higher-ups in the Obama Administration deleted the reference. The more we hear about Benghazi, the more it appears that Fox News was right.

    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
    Posted in Foreign Policy, Jihad, Media Watch, Military, Obama Scandals, ObamaCare, unions | No Comments »

    « Older Entries
    Newer Entries »