Free Republic

Just heard on Fox News. That is all.

... almost apologetic for failing to recognize the warning signs that her husband was not prepared for a White House bid.

Internet old-timers - those of us over age 25 - remember a time when the web was called the Information Superhighway. The debate over net neutrality has us thinking about another sort of highway: the Trans-Texas Corridor. The TTC, a proposed 4,000-mile toll road, rail and utility project, died a death of a thousand cuts in 2010. First proposed as a much-needed infrastructure investment, the well-intentioned project grew into a monstrosity of politically connected contractors, private property concerns and conspiracy theories. The biggest blow to TTC was statewide opposition to granting Spanish-owned developer Cintra a 50-year, multibillion-dollar deal to control...

On Tuesday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said Texas Gov. Rick Perry's enthusiastic embrace of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants is a magnet that lures more illegal immigrants to America – just like President Barack Obama's temporary amnesty program for DREAMers. “President Obama won’t send them home, and Gov. Perry has done the same thing by giving them in-state tuition," Paul told the Wall Street Journal during a significant Iowa trip. "That’s a beacon without any kind of border security."

"Rick Perry Will Not Depart From His Conservative Record or Path" - The Real Record, The Real Man Musings of a Rick Perry supporter... I don’t think the American people know Gov. Rick Perry. He burst onto the national stage and seemed like a Texan, okay, a politician with some nerve, some courage, some outspokenness, who was taking on the sacred cows and telling it like it is. But the debates reversed that image...the early ones. Then there are the lies...oh so many, many MANY lies about him. Because of them, people might be forgiven for their confusion, for not...

In a campaign speech late Tuesday night, Governor Rick Perry stated that he is "returning to Texas" to reassess whether he is going to continue running for President. The speech contained several emotional moments, in particular two moments. The first was when he read a letter from an adoring supporter who called him a "great man." The letter described a conversation that Mr. Perry had had with a soldier and how his supporter looked on in awe as he watched Governor Perry call the veteran his "Christian brother." The second was when Perry announced that he would be returning to...

With one week left before the Iowa caucuses, Texas Governor Rick Perry is touting his outsider status in a new ad that highlights his opponents' combined 63 years of congressional experience. As the narrator says, "If Washington's the problem, why trust a congressman to fix it?" Prominently featuring fellow GOP contenders Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum; the ad reminds voters that federal legislators are responsible for the earmarks and deficit spending that have led to our unsustainable national debt and that the nation needs a leader who will provide real solutions.

In 2007, Rick Perry endorses Rudy Giuliani calling him a leader with executive experience this country needs.

Kings of Crony Capitalism. That’s the modern Democratic Party. Washington handouts are coming so fast it’s impossible to keep track of them, but here is one more ... the New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act, better known as the NAT GAS Act. What does NAT GAS do? It imposes a user fee on natural gas that starts at 2.5 cents and ramps up, in the Senate version, to 12.5 cents per gallon.… who benefits? ... T. Boone Pickens has campaigned actively for the NAT GAS Act; in fact, the bill is sometimes referred to as the “Pickens Plan.”......

The five reasons I asserted that Governor Perry would have the best shot at beating Obama were simple ones: He decisively created more jobs than Obama. He greatly respects and tries to encourage small businesses. He has a clear understanding of federalism and what states shouldn't be forced into. He has solid core convictions that replicate most of America. And he could unite the core conservative Democrats, Republicans and Independents across the nation on economic, social and defense policy. All five of those reasons remain -- even now -- solidly relevant and valid. However, he's certainly nowhere near where I...

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 3 -- The Texas Democratic Party issued the following news release: According to data released by the Health and Human Services Department in October, retired teachers and retired state employees in Texas have been among the biggest beneficiaries of the early retirement provision of the health care law. The Teacher Retirement System of Texas received $70,629,796 from the feds to offer health insurance to early retirees, and the Employees Retirement system of Texas received $30,175,627. These two state entities are among the top 25 beneficiaries of this provision of the health care law in the country. More...

Over his 10 years in office, Rick Perry has picked more Texas Supreme Court justices than any other governor, and if he wins the White House, his choices could be a clue about what kind of justices he would nominate in Washington. While Perry has been praised even by his critics for bringing diversity to the state’s highest civil court, critics say the governor leaned heavily on conservative, business-friendly ideology and gave too little consideration to judicial qualifications. Texas high-court judges are elected, but the governor fills vacancies when sitting justices step down, so six of the nine current justices...

When Rick Perry announced he was running for president back on August 13, to tell you the truth I got a little excited. Now I know what you're thinking -- James you are a big Democrat, why on earth would you be excited about Perry running for president? This was my thinking: Perry would get in and he would be a major force. He was the bona fide conservative complete with a pedigree to take on Romney. With the way things are shaping up now, the convention planners might be more inclined to take a motivational speaker. Hey Rick --...

October 28, 2011 Perry’s Game-Changing Plan for Jobs and Growth By Ken Blackwell 10/28/2011   Editor's Note: This column was co-authored by Ken Klukowski, a columnist for the Washington Examiner.Governor Rick Perry unveiled his plan for fundamental tax reform with an optional flat tax. This bold proposal for economic growth is a fiscal game-changer, and demonstrably superior to the proposals of rivals Herman Cain and Mitt Romney. In the 1990s, the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform (the Kemp Commission) chaired by the late Jack Kemp created the framework for a flat tax. This research was later...

I have good news and bad news for conservatives. But the good news and the bad news are both the same thing: We have six very impressive, lifelong conservative candidates running for the presidency. They are the smartest candidates, the most principled candidates, the most patriotic candidates, the most persuasive candidates, and the candidates with the best ideas. The problem lies in the fact that conservatives do not have a single favorite candidate. (Snip) William F. Buckley used to say that he was not for “the most conservative” candidate. He said he was for “the most conservative candidate that is...

WASHINGTON — Rick Perry's Republican rivals are struggling to find a coherent, easy-to-grasp argument against the Texas governor, who tops GOP presidential polls despite attacks from all sides. In fact, it's the "all sides" nature that complicates the opposition's message. Republican voters who watched last week's presidential debate and its aftermath might wonder: Should I see Perry as too conservative or too moderate? Perry is the newest face in the GOP race and his opponents are determined to define him for primary voters, casting him as liberal, conservative and unelectable. They hope their characterizations of the front-runner take hold before...

The less the Trans-Texas Corridor is brought up during the Republican presidential primaries, the better for Rick Perry. Although it was officially killed in the most recent Texas legislative session, the proposed massive transportation and infrastructure project and ensuing debacle could still end up being a thorn in the governor's side as he preaches his anti-big government mantra on the campaign trail. As originally proposed and backed by Perry, the state of Texas would have taken more than 500,000 acres of private land to build the 1,200-foot-wide toll road. The majority of those acres were agricultural lands and wildlife habitats,...

A wave of fear has come over Washington — and it’s not the earthquake or the hurricane. Self-appointed Republican elites, fretting Hill Republicans and left-wing carnival barkers all have one thing in common: Perryphobia. It’s an acute condition, with different manifestations. But it has the same root cause – arrogance toward Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Let’s get this straight — with Congress being as popular as cholera, they think they are going to hurt Perry’s chances by dissing him? Really? Congress is at an all-time low, according to a new Gallup poll, with only 13 percent of Americans approving of...

I can’t shake the feeling that this column might not be well received by the base. She’s referring, of course, to his comments about Bernanke’s near-treason and offhand musings about secession: Mr. Perry’s primary virtue for the Republican base is that he means it. He comes across as a natural conservative, Texas Division, who won’t be changing his mind about his basic premises any time soon. His professed views don’t seem to be an outfit he can put on and take off at will. In this of course he’s the anti-Romney. Unlike Ms. Bachmann, he has executive experience, three terms...

When Ron Paul and Rick Perry meet on stage at the next presidential debate at the Reagan Library, that handshake might be their most substantial encounter ever. It’s not that the Texas congressman and Texas governor have a bad relationship. Despite nearly three decades of overlapping in state politics, they don’t seem to have any relationship at all. “To Ron’s memory, they’ve never spoken a word or shaken hands,” top Paul adviser Jesse Benton told POLITICO, though he said the two have occasionally been in the same room over the years. Even that’s a point of disagreement, though. Perry spokesman...