Free Republic

>Nebraska State Senator DiAnna Schimek's 20-year legislative career is nearly over. She feels victimized, no doubt, by the voter-enacted term limits that make this her final year in power. Still, Senator Schimek hopes to go out with her boots on, firing one final shotgun blast to maim or kill the initiative process she has long abhorred. You see, it was only through the voter initiative that Nebraskans passed term limits . . . three times. Yup. It took three petition drives and three votes of the people. Of course, term limits passed overwhelmingly each time. But a charmed third initiative...

The Texas Department of Transportation is pushing Congress to pass a federal law allowing the state to "buy back" parts of existing interstate highways and turn them into toll roads. The 24-page plan, outlined in a "Forward Momentum" report that escaped widespread attention when published in February, drew prompt objections Thursday from state lawmakers and activists fighting the spread of privately run toll roads. "I think it's a dreadful recommendation on the part of the transportation commissioners here in Texas," said Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee Chairman John Carona, R-Dallas. "I feel confident that legislators in Austin would overwhelmingly...

House, Senate passage seem likely The careening vehicle that has been this legislative session's toll road overhaul appeared to pull into the garage about 4:35 p.m. Thursday. At that moment, Republican state Sen. Robert Nichols of Jacksonville, after spending several moments huddling on the floor with Sen. Tommy Williams, sponsor of Senate Bill 792, affixed his signature to a compromise version of the bill, and the two shook hands. "We've got a deal now," Williams, R-The Woodlands, said about an hour later. "This is really going to move transportation issues forward, particularly in large metropolitan areas." The deal was among...

Ric Williamson, a former state legislator and longtime pal of Gov. Rick Perry, runs the monthly meetings of the Texas Transportation Commission like a traffic cop. Staff members give brisk status reports before Williamson dismisses them so the next bureaucrat can take the podium. If members of the public embark on a diatribe, Williamson will let them prattle on with an air of friendly indulgence. Then, rounding his shoulders and leaning forward—using body language no doubt perfected when he and Perry were freshmen state representatives harrying their elders—he’ll pleasantly announce that their time is up. As commission chairman, Williamson sits...

The California Assembly just passed a bill widely described in the press as “an end run around the Electoral College.” It now goes to the California Senate, which is likely to agree. There is only one slight problem with this proposal. It is thrice-times unconstitutional. The bill is an “interstate compact,” and has been introduced in the legislatures of most of the largest states, by do-gooders who are clueless about the Constitution and how it works. The theory is that if states possessing “a majority of the votes in the Electoral College” pass similar bills, those states would be committed...

Last week, the European Trade Commissioner had a grim warning for Britain: if we vote against the EU constitution in the forthcoming referendum, we could end up like... Switzerland. Graham Turner asked the Swiss exactly what this would mean Lack a day! Lack a day! News that the British might actually be allowed a say on the EU constitution has brought predictable auguries of doom and woe from the Euro-federalist brigade. Should Britain vote No, it would become no more than an impotent shadow on the margins of Europe - relegated to the "rearguard" of its nations, according to Pascal...

Decision may sway Swedish voters to reject single currency EURO FOCUS FOREIGN STAFF BRITAIN'S decision to hold off on the euro could help persuade at least one other European Union member - Sweden - to stay out. The country's nine million population is to vote on euro entry in a referendum in September, and polls show public opinion has slowly shifted in favour of keeping the krona. Euro proponents brushed off Britain's decision to stick with the pound yesterday. "Sweden is a small and open economy," said Jonas Frycklund, a spokesman for the Federation of Swedish Industries, a pro-euro trade...

A post-Election Day gripe: Usually a bunch of state constitution referendum questions and local or state bond issues show up on the ballot. There usually isn't a problem getting information on the bond issues; their constituency is usually easy to identify, so there's someone out there for them - if only the brokerage who gets to sell the bonds - and you can tell a lot from their agenda. And there may also be someone against them. So you can make an informed voting choice if you take the trouble. (And then they usually pass anyway because there seems to...