Free Republic

Tea Party groups in Dallas, Austin and Houston are rallying today at the offices of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to protest her breaking ranks with a GOP filibuster aimed at stalling the Democrats’ health care bill. "We want to let her know that we are not happy," said Dallas Tea Party leader Phillip Dennis. "If we can’t trust her to fulfill her promises as a senator, how can we trust her as governor?" Last week, Republican Senate leaders organized a filibuster of a defense spending bill, though that was not the real target. Hutchison said she supported the tactic, but...

RINO Hutchinson does it again…LIES about her vote for the filibuster and votes with the Democrats to accelerate a vote on Obamacare.

SAVANNAH, Ga. – An Army cook and single mom may face criminal charges after she skipped her deployment flight to Afghanistan because, she said, no one was available to care for her infant son while she was overseas. Spc. Alexis Hutchinson, 21, claims she had no choice but to refuse deployment orders because the only family she had to care for her 10-month-old son — her mother — was overwhelmed by the task, already caring for three other relatives with health problems. Her civilian attorney, Rai Sue Sussman, said Monday that one of Hutchinson's superiors told her she would have...

Here is video of Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson reacting to news of the mass shooting at Fort Hood, Texas this afternoon. Latest update, not mentioned in this video, 3:55 PM ET - Now 12 dead and a press conference at Fort Hood just said the shooter is a U.S. Soldier and he has been killed. Two other soldiers have been apprehended and are suspects. . . . (VIDEO)

Kay Bailey Hutchison's campaign for governor has taken shape around two general themes: Rick Perry is bad for Texas, and Barack Obama is bad for the nation. Oh, and she would defend property rights as ferociously as the Texians defended the Alamo. Aside from elaboration on these positions, the public has few specifics from Texas' senior senator on how she would govern if she turns Perry out of the governor's office. This comes despite Hutchison's declaration of specific policy areas she would concentrate on. In kicking off her campaign in August, she stated, "As governor, I will focus on five...

One of the best ways to determine someone's true political philosophy is to observe the people who support him/her. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is planning to run against Governor Rick Perry in the Texas Republican Primary next March, putting the state GOP in a tough spot. They are being forced to take sides against two leaders of the party, each of whom claims to be the more conservative. As I outlined in a previous column, Hutchison is pro-choice (not a conservative position), while Perry is pro-life (a strong conservative position). Hence, although the Senator claims to be a staunch Republican,...

My Op-ed in The Australian By Leah Farrall, Australia I have an op-ed piece out in today’s edition of The Australian called “Detentions come back to bite” It’s about Guantanamo blowback now having very real strategic consequences: the formation of a new strategy to kidnap civilians in Afghanistan in order to secure the release of prisoners taken by America. Sally Neighbour has a front page piece derived from my op-ed here “Afghan foreigner kidnap order by al Qaeda leader Mustafa Hamid”. I haven’t seen the broadsheet yet, so I’m not sure if the photos I provided of Hamid are on...

Mccain's abstain "makes sense" to me, given that he's the de facto amnesty republican. But what's Vitter's excuse? He also had an amendment to defund ACORN, did he not? I say defeat them all in the primaries for their support of this criminal enterprise.

LAKE JACKSON — U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, stopped at a Lake Jackson woman’s home Wednesday as part of what she says is an effort to bring the Republican Party back to the people. The GOP gubernatorial candidate made her fifth visit to Anne McKeithan house to discuss her campaign and promote a grassroots effort to re-energize the GOP in Texas. “I just love her,” Hutchison said of a smiling McKeithan. “I can call her for anything and I know she’ll be there. She’s been such a friend and supporter for so long.” Hutchison talked about lowering taxes and...

BOOK REVIEW The Mother of Mohammed by Sally Neighbour Reviewed by David Wilson What drives a blonde Australian beach bunny to go on jihad? That extraordinary question serves as the premise for one of the most absorbing non-fiction titles to surface this year. The Mother of Mohammed (MUP) by Australian journalist Sally Neighbour, 48, digs into the background of the beach bunny in question, Rabiah - born Robyn - Hutchinson, with flair, wit and candor. This book pulls no punches. "She was a scrawny, pale-skinned runt, with a shock of frizzy white-blonde hair and an eye-patch she wore from the...

LUBBOCK, Texas — U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said Tuesday she finds "very troubling" statements she says Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has made in the past 11 years that federal judges are able to "change policy." Hutchison, in Lubbock to speak on transportation issues, was one of 29 senators — all Republicans — who in 1998 voted against confirming Sotomayor to be a judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan. Sotomayor eventually was confirmed. Hutchison said her vote against Sotomayor then was about Sotomayor's "judicial activism" as a district court judge. But she said she...

U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said Tuesday she finds "troubling" statements she says Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has made in the past 11 years that federal judges are able to "change policy." Hutchison, in Lubbock to speak on transportation issues, was one of 29 senators - all Republicans - who in 1998 voted against confirming Sotomayor to be a judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan. Sotomayor eventually was confirmed. Hutchison said her vote against Sotomayor then was about Sotomayor's "judicial activism" as a district court judge. But she said she will look "afresh" at...

KBH Gubernatorial Exploratory Committee posts Texarkana Gazette Editorial smearing Sarah Palin, and by association, Gov. Perry. ...If Perry relies too heavily on Palin, he may find himself with a lot of time to watch Russians from her front porch come January 2011.

Here is video of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas talking about the Obama Economic Stimulus Plan with Sen. John Kerry on Meet the Press. Here they focus on the opposition to Obama's plan. Moderator David Gregory plays a clip of Rush Limbaugh challenging Republican Senators to stand up and fight Obama's Plan. Hutchinson says without hesitation that she would "fight this bill as it is, absolutely." John Kerry (aka "Lurch") is his usual blowhard self, praising President Obama and blaming the Republicans for playing "politics." Hutchinson was outstanding in this interview. . . . . . . (Watch Video)

Evolving conventional wisdom holds that the growing string of senior Republican senators packing it in for retirement or a governor's office means gloom for the party in next year's midterm congressional elections, which are usually a time for an incumbent president's party to suffer. But, counterintuitively, that may not be the case. Bill Clinton remembers the Republican revolution of 1994 only too well -- and so does one of his top aides then, Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama's incoming White House chief of staff. Indeed, Emanuel, who took over the House seat of someone named Rod Blagojevich in 2002, was one...

Being on John McCain's short list for vice president makes Tim Pawlenty a busy guy. One day last week began with a meeting on security for the upcoming Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn., where Gov. Pawlenty will play host. Then it was off to Farmfest, the state's biggest agricultural fair. Following that, a side trip to Iowa where, as national co-chair for Sen. McCain's presidential campaign, he passed out tire gauges as a way of poking fun at Barack Obama's suggestion the energy crisis be addressed by having Americans better inflate their cars. The next day it was off...

ABC News' Teddy Davis Reports: The Obama campaign signaled a willingness on Thursday to go after Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn., for the 2007 Minneapolis bridge collapse while saying that the populist argument it is building against John McCain will continue even if the presumptive Republican nominee taps the son of a truck driver as his running mate. "I don't think it's particularly relevant who the running mate is if the running mate is willing to embrace in total the Bush-McCain economic doctrine," Obama strategist David Axelrod told ABC News. "Everyday Americans understand that those policies aren't working for them,"...

As John McCain prepares to announce his running mate on Friday in Dayton, Ohio, speculation is centering on candidates ranging from a former head of the Winter Olympics to an independent senator as the Arizona lawmaker's choice to help him take on Barack Obama and Joe Biden in the historic fall election. With the Democrats' convention winding down in Denver, the focus is shifting to the Republicans, who are scheduled begin their nominating convention in St. Paul, Minn., on Monday. There's a chance the convention could be postponed, however, if Tropical Storm Gustav turns into a hurricane and strikes the...

I'll start: ~~~~ "Could it be Cantor? posted at 1:00 pm on August 28, 2008 by Ed Morrissey The Fayetteville Observer reads a few tea leaves in the veepstakes and suggests that Eric Cantor may become the dark-horse finalist for John McCain’s running-mate. Cantor has not yet appeared on the convention schedule, which would seem strange for such a dynamic member of the House GOP’s leadership. He also represents a Virginia district, which could prove crucial to holding the state for the Republicans in November: Rep. Robin Hayes is predicting that Sen. John McCain will pick Rep. Eric Cantor of...

DENVER — For one last time this morning, Tim Pawlenty went about the business of not answering questions about his immediate political future. Will he — or won't he — be Sen. John McCain's running mate? That's the question about 100 reporters from around the country wanted to ask the Minnesota governor at a Republican Party-sponsored news event. That's the only question Pawlenty didn't want to answer at the session in a light-industrial building on the outskirts of Denver. He's used to this dance, which is expected to finally end late tonight (if the news leaks) or Friday morning, when...

John McCain is poised to announce his vice-presidential running mate, hoping to steal the thunder of his rival Barack Obama, whom Republicans are mocking as an 'emperor' speaking on Thursday night at an 'Obamopolis'. The Republican candidate was due to appear with his vice-presidential pick at a rally in Dayton, Ohio on Friday morning, his 72nd birthday. But Republican officials intimated that a name might even be leaked just before Mr Obama accepts the Democratic nomination before some 80,000 people at Denver's Invesco stadium on Thursday. Senior aides to Mr McCain said that three people were on his shortlist -...

With the Minnesota governor in Denver to continue his role as a GOP surrogate during the Democratic convention here, reporters were bent on determining where he stands -- or rather where he'll be standing tomorrow morning. Pawlenty, a much talked-about vice presidential prospect, said that he is "scheduled to be and plans to be" doing a weekly scheduled radio show from the Minnesota State Fair tomorrow morning at 9:00 am. He told reporters that he will be leaving Denver this afternoon, bound for his home state. The interest in Pawlenty's whereabouts comes amidst news that McCain will debut his vice...

A headline like that may seem inocuous enough, but amid the fevered speculation about whom John McCain will select as a vice presidential running mate, maybe it’s a tea leaf. Or maybe not. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, in Denver as an unofficial Republican observer during the Democratic National Convention, has canceled several TV interviews that were scheduled for this afternoon, said a Republican spokesman. Pawlenty said his travel plans — he is scheduled to be at the Minnesota State Fair on Friday — remain unchanged. The governor, of course, has long been said to be on McCain’s list of potential...

John McCain is expected to reveal his vice-presidential choice on Friday at a rally in the critical battleground state of Ohio. Mr McCain is seeking to blunt Barack Obama’s hopes of a bounce in the polls after he accepts the Democratic nomination in Denver tomorrow night. The Republican nominee’s move comes after a week in which he and his Republican surrogates have had significant success in inserting themselves aggressively into what was meant to be Mr Obama’s week. Republican guerrilla tactics and attack advertisements have forced the Democrat’s campaign to respond in kind. Mr McCain will appear at a midday...

Kay believes in a woman's right to choose. She openly favors abortion rights. She believes that Roe was rightly decided. She believes the Constitution guarantees a woman's right to have an abortion. Kay Bailey Hutchinson is Pro-Choice, and OPENLY so. DO NOT LET HER SUPPORTERS TRY AND SLIP THIS ONE BY YOU: KBH is Pro-Choice, she is PRO-CHOICE She is PRO-CHOICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CRAWFORD — Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's long-shot prospect for vice president is getting a push from conservative and other pundits in the lead-up to next week's Republican National Convention. The latest flurry of speculation online and on cable television constitutes at least a third or fourth wave of chatter about Hutchison, whose name surfaces occasionally as a possible Republican vice-presidential candidate...

The selection of Joe Biden as Barack Obama’s running mate changes the whole dynamic of the Veep choice now facing John McCain. Sure, Biden brings credibility and experience and reassuring familiarity to the Democratic ticket, but he hardly adds sizzle or novelty. The Democrats feel that they’ve got enough pizzaz with their standard bearer, so it doesn’t hurt that they take a Vice Presidential contender with all the excitement of boiled Brussels sprouts. I hope that this choice now gives John McCain reason to reconsider the safe, reassuring possibilities of Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty—apparently, the two leading contenders for...

The law is full of exceptions, and when it comes to conflicts of interest involving personal investments, Congress found a big one: It didn't write a law. While Congress prescribed a strict conflict-of-interest law for the judiciary, which prompted Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to remove himself from a punitive-damages case involving Exxon Mobil, it didn't apply the same test to lawmakers. That has allowed Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to oppose bills that would hurt Irving-based Exxon, in which Ms. Hutchison owns stock valued between $100,000 and $250,000, according to disclosure reports. *snip* Some experts say different rules apply to...

CORPUS CHRISTI — Hutchison plans to run for governor in 2010 The Austin and Republican rumor mills have been in overdrive for months about Gov. Rick Perry's future political plans. U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is planning to run for governor in 2010, her spokesman Matt Mackowiak said while he was in town Wednesday. If she resigns her Senate seat to devote her efforts to the governor's race, Perry would name her successor. Mentioned as the top front-runners are Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (who also has indicated that he plans to run for governor), former Secretary of State Roger Williams,...

Former congressman Asa Hutchinson, whose brother and former U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson is a top Huckabee supporter, said Thursday he's no longer backing Huckabee's presidential campaign and endorsed presumptive GOP nominee John McCain. Hutchinson said he endorsed McCain because it's virtually impossible for Huckabee to gain the 1,191 delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination. Huckabee's campaign had announced in November that the Hutchinson brothers were among high profile Arkansas Republicans backing the former governor's bid. "I was delighted to support Gov. Huckabee whenever there was a possibility he could garner the delegates necessary to win," Hutchinson told The Associated...

Hey gang, Let's watch this video so we can have some more fun maliciously and ignorantly assassinate another good man's character. Let's propigate some more half truths because we are so credulous as to eat the spoon fed pap of Fred Barnes, Mort Kondrackie, Krauthammer, Matt Drudge and Mitt Romney. Crucify him! Crucify him! Give us Barabas!

PROVIDENCE -- A female lawmaker in Rhode Island is demanding her colleagues name a bridge for an outspoken woman who helped found the state, a gesture resisted in a House chamber so dominated by men it lacked a women's bathroom until last month. Lawmakers here routinely crank out honorifics with little fanfare, let alone debate. Not this time. Critics of Representative Amy Rice have rewritten her bill and attempted to scuttle it over a plan to name a new bridge spanning the Sakonnet River for Anne Hutchinson, a religious dissident who led hundreds of followers to Rhode Island in 1638...

WASHINGTON – Texas business leaders are pressuring the state's Republican senators to back the immigration reform bill now being debated in the Senate. A coalition of Texas businesses published an open letter to Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn in Thursday's editions of The Dallas Morning News, to "express the urgency in supporting passage of comprehensive immigration reform." "We hope both Republican senators from Texas would get behind this bill. We think it's a unique opportunity and we need to finish the job," said Bill Hammond, president of the Texas Association of Business and a board member of Texas...

Strong disagreement about the state of the state and what to do about it, punctuated by flashes of humor and sharp exchanges, distinguished the first post-primary debate Thursday between the three major party gubernatorial candidates. Deteriorating road conditions, rising health-care and tuition costs, and unsatisfactory school performance were blamed on Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty by DFL Attorney General Mike Hatch and Independence Party candidate Peter Hutchinson.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. (Sept. 7) - A bartender who last week was left a $10,000 tip by a regular customer now has more than the excitement of the offer: she has the cash. Cindy Kienow received a check Tuesday from Applebee's franchise owner JS Ventures Inc. for about $6,300, her share of the tip after taxes. The customer gave Kienow the hefty tip Aug. 27 on a $26 meal. But since he paid by credit card, the restaurant wanted to make sure it was a valid charge before giving Kienow the money. "I've had a lot of fun," Kienow said of...

Apr 25, 7:36 PM EDT Ark. Hispanic groups plan rallies, not boycott, for May 1 By DANIEL CONNOLLY Associated Press Writer LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Demonstrations in favor of giving illegal immigrants a chance at legal status are scheduled in De Queen, Little Rock and Springdale next Monday, three weeks after rallies in those cities attracted thousands of people. But some organizers in Arkansas say they won't support calls by national groups for immigrants to show their economic power Monday by not working or shopping. "We are not supporting or against that (boycott)," said Margarita Solorzano, one of the organizers...

WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) - A senior Democratic senator plans to force a series of votes on indecency legislation when the Senate Commerce Committee takes up a broad-based telecommunications reform bill in the spring, an aide said Monday. Sens. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, have introduced legislation that seeks to expand indecency regulations to cable and satellite TV providers, include violent content under the same regulations as indecent content and codify the current children's television rules. "Sen. Rockefeller plans to offer his bill, in totality, or section-by-section, as amendments to the telecom bill as this goes forward," James...

A Better Approach to Government Consolidation Print E-mail By The Effort Staff Friday, 03 February 2006 By Jalexson HUTCHINSON, KS -- Current talk about government consolidation in Kansas is basically just a continuation of the ancient attempts of cities to control the surrounding countryside. Cities want to force rural residents to finance the services city residents receive and to obey city laws. There is a better approach to the issue than what city governments are suggesting. County governments are necessary because they are the administrative units of the state. City governments only exist because urban residents want more services or...

Democrat Mike Beebe leads Republican Asa Hutchinson 46 percent to 40 percent in the race for governor of Arkansas, according to a new poll by Rasmussen Reports, an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion polling information. The telephone survey was conducted Jan. 15 of 500 likely Arkansas voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4. 5 percentage points, Rasmussen said. Hutchinson was viewed favorably by 53 percent of the likely voters and Beebe by 55 percent. On other matters, the report said : Former President Clinton, a former governor...

Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman told the recent NAACP convention that he'd pull out all stops to woo black voters to the GOP tent. A few hundred miles away his boss was busy touting his program for jobs, minority business, and homeownership at the Indianapolis Black Expo. Bush and Mehlman got a listen at both places, and they should have. Blacks have gotten precious little in return for their blind loyalty to the Democratic Party. The black poor are more numerous. They live in crime and violence plagued neighborhoods. Their children attend miserably failing public schools. Public services in...

Lt. Governor Win Rockefeller has a blood disorder and is ending his race for governor. The 56-year-old Rockefeller says he was diagnosed in April and that the blood condition could develop into leukemia. Rockefeller has been campaigning and raising money in the hope of following in his father's footsteps as governor of Arkansas. But his illness will derail that plan.

Some dominoes of Texas politics fell into place in the last few days or, more correctly, did not fall out of place as many thought they might. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson chose not to run against incumbent governor Rick Perry next year. She will instead run to keep her seat as a Republican in the U.S. Senate, a race she will almost certainly win. One of the reasons given is that Hutchinson is reaching a point of seniority and leadership in the Senate where she may be able to help Texas achieve some legislative perks. I think there is another...

FBI Probes Allegations On Fields © copyright: Times Record, 2005 Former Sebastian County Prosecuting Attorney Ron Fields has been on administrative leave from the Department of Homeland Security since last summer because of an FBI investigation and grand jury proceedings, his attorney confirmed Friday. Eddie Christian of Fort Smith said the investigation is the “biggest witch hunt he’s ever seen.” Christian said the FBI has accused Fields of dealing drugs and of ordering Jay C. Rider, then a Fort Smith police captain, to shoot a Fort Smith woman, Lori Murchison, in 1995. Christian also represents Rider. “It’s based on...

LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Arkansas Health Department director Dr. Fay Boozman, appointed to the post in 1999 after an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate, died Saturday in an apparent farm accident. Boozman was 58 years old. He is survived by his wife, Vickie; their three children; his brother, U.S. Rep. John Boozman, R-Ark.; and their mother, who lives in Fort Smith. Officials said Fay Boozman was working by himself in his barn in Rogers when part of the barn gave way and crushed him at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Boozman family didn't want further details released. "The family...

LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Former Arkansas congressman and U.S. Homeland Security undersecretary Asa Hutchinson has been named chairman of a private Washington law firm's homeland security practice but will be moving him family to Little Rock. Hutchinson told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he took the position at Venable LLP in Washington because the firm allowed him to make his primary residence in Little Rock and establish his own consulting firm, Hutchinson Security Strategies, in Arkansas. "Venable gave me an opportunity to head up their homeland security practice in a way that's consistent with me pursuing personal and...

LITTLE ROCK (AP) -- Lt. Gov. Win Rockefeller has informed state Republican officials that he will definitely run for governor in 2006. Rockefeller stated his intentions in a letter dated Monday to members of the state Republican Party, state committee and executive committee. "I want you to be the first to know," Rockefeller said. "I look forward to working with you in the coming months to bring about a new era of excellence for Arkansas." He said he would formally announce his candidacy after the Legislature adjourns. He was not immediately available for comment Thursday. In his letter, Rockefeller...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- Asa Hutchinson told a newspaper he plans to resign his post with the Homeland Security Department on Monday after he was passed over twice by the Bush administration to be secretary of the department. Hutchinson, a former Arkansas congressman and former federal drug czar, is the undersecretary for border and transportation security issues. He said his resignation would be effective March 1 to allow a more seamless transition when secretary-designate Michael Chertoff takes over the department from Tom Ridge. "It was just a good time to change for me personally and for the department," Hutchinson...

Illegalize illegals: Time for showdown in open frontier By WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY JR. The new intelligence law, courtesy of 9/11, is mystifying because it does not face directly what is the most prominent threat to homeland security. It is: inimical action by non-Americans. All the people who participated in 9/11 were foreigners, here under various auspices. And yet the bill that has evolved from the findings of the 9/11 commission reads like an elocutionary exercise by a national committee to avoid saying anything unpleasant about unpleasant people born abroad. Specifically, the threat at this moment is from foreign terrorism. The...

Good evening. In August, The Investigators on Eyewitness News 4 first reported the possible threat of terrorists using the Arizona/Mexico border to cross into the U.S. While local government officials and immigration advocates questioned the validity of such a threat, our report, "Terrorist Alley," gained national attention. Just a few weeks ago, high-level sources told a Washington newspaper that Chechen terrorists have entered the U.S. through our state. Now, we've uncovered even more evidence that the threat along our border is real. "The story you did was 100% accurate. It showed what's happening on the border on a daily basis....

Why won't the elites in this country face up to the illegal immigration crisis we are facing? Is it all politics, or like the reaction from blue state pundits to President Bush's reelection, do they just know better than the rest of us? Asa Hutchinson, the head of this country's border control efforts, told The Washington Times several months ago that Americans lack the desire to tackle the illegal immigration issue, implying somehow that it was mean-spirited to throw people out of the country once they're here.