Free Republic

The race to replace departing Texas House Speaker Speaker Joe Straus (R–San Antonio) at the dais may soon have a new candidate in State Rep. Drew Darby (R–San Angelo). Darby was a fixture of Straus’ leadership team, helping head a coalition that combined Democrats and establishment Republicans to obstruct conservative reforms. During his 12 years in the Texas House, the lawmaker has repeatedly earned failing grades on the Fiscal Responsibility Index. Although new House Republican Caucus rules were passed so that Republican members could united around a candidate for speaker instead of allowing the Democrats to dictate their leader, Darby...

In a move sending shock waves through Texas politics, House Speaker Joe Straus . . . said he wouldn’t seek re-election. Mr. Straus was seen as a moderate bulwark against the Tea Party and hard-line wings of the Texas GOP, and his surprise decision Wednesday came after a bitter legislative session during which he was often at odds with a more socially conservative legislative bloc. Mr. Straus helped defeat a push by social conservatives—including the governor and lieutenant governor—to restrict public-bathroom options for transgender people. It was only one of a range of issues on which he clashed with Republican...

In Part 1, I introduced you to GS1. A United Nations sanctioned not for profit organization with an intent to tag every thing with RFID technology. In this article I will expand on GS1, as well as introduce you to pilot projects, organizations, and people working to implement this agenda. This article will give readers a introduction to the cashless society, as well as the groups and people behind it...... ....a brief review of some history is necessary. Many reading this will be familiar with the Earth Charter. This document more than any other helped lay the foundation of the...

SAN ANTONIO - Before an address to a Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Wednesday, State Rep. and House Speaker Joe Straus discussed his record that he said included cutting taxes and promoting job growth. When asked about challenger Jeff Judson's suggestions in his advertising that Straus represents special interests, Straus said, "A smear campaign isn't going to work in the district that I represent, and it's not going to work across the state." "People know that Texas Republican legislators have done very, very well in recent years," he added. Greeting voters at an early voting site in the district, Judson...

Jeff Judson, the former president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, announced Friday he is launching a long-shot challenge to unseat [RINO Texas] House Speaker Joe Straus, a perennial target of conservative activists."This was not an easy decision because I know what it is going to take to win," Judson wrote to the State Republican Executive Committee, citing Straus' $8 million war chest. "But I am confident that I can win, and have received a tremendous amount of encouragement from people within the district and across Texas. I intend to raise whatever funds are necessary, and am confident I can...

With the general election a happy – very happy! – memory, now comes time to elect the third-ranking constitutional office: the Texas House Speaker. Lobbyists and lawmakers are accustomed to citizens checking out as the governing begins; in truth, citizens must be more engaged than ever. STRAUS AGENDA: STOP CONSERVATIVES House Speaker Joe Straus and his leadership team have made it abundantly clear that killing conservative reforms tops their agenda. Spending limitations, tax reform, education reforms, pro-life legislation… are all viewed with disdain by the Straus leadership team. We know that because they have blocked those measures for two sessions...

While the three tea party incumbents who were being challenged by establishment politicians won big, liberal-leaning Republicans closest to House Speaker Joe Straus lost in race after race this week. Defeated Straus incumbents include State Rep. Lance Gooden in House District 4, Diane Patrick in HD94, Linda Harper-Brown in HD105, Bennett Ratliff in HD115, and Ralph Sheffield in HD55. The key defensive races in the Texas House were those of State Reps. Charles Perry of Lubbock, Jonathan Stickland of Bedford and Matt Schaefer of Tyler. All three were heavily challenged by big-monied, Austin-based lobby interests. Their win-margins ranged from Perry’s...

On the surface, Texas is one of the reddest of red, Republican states. Republicans control every statewide office. In fact, no Democrat has won a statewide office in nearly 20 years nor has Texas voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1976. Republicans also control both houses by large majorities. The tradition of Texas being a Republican state seems secure enough that outgoing Governor Rick Perry bragged that “the University of Texas will change its colors to maroon and white before Texas goes purple, much less blue.” So, with all of this power locked up in Republican hands, does this...

Michael Quinn Sullivan, leader of the conservative activist group Empower Texans, agreed that Texas voters were pushing out Republican moderates, like state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, who lost to tea party leader Donna Campbell. He said lawmakers allied with [RINO] Texas House Speaker Joe Straus continued to lose key races."It's a very bad night for Joe Straus, losing two big committee chairs (Miller and Hopson)," he said, adding that five Straus chairs have now lost in the GOP primary. "The state Senate has become a lot more conservative after this cycle, and especially with this runoff." Gov. Rick Perry tried to...

Complete Title: The Soros Summit - Free Beacon exclusive: Inside the secret Miami meeting of George Soros’s liberal conspiracy ### A secretive network of left-wing billionaires and their political operatives descended on the luxurious Biltmore Hotel in Miami over the weekend to discuss strategy for the coming elections. The location of the conference had been kept a closely guarded secret by the members and guests of Democracy Alliance (DA), a collection of ultra-wealthy liberal donors formed in 2005, and is reported here in a Washington Free Beacon exclusive. Attendees roamed the grounds at the 150-acre tropical resort on their way...

ACTION STEP: Please contact your Texas Legislators and tell them that we do not want any expansion of gambling in our state. Ask them to vote against both Rep. Hamilton’s HJR 147 and Rep. Hilderbran’s HB 254. Hilderbran’s bill is making rapid progress and is on the General State Calendar for this Tuesday, on 5.10.11. Hilderbran’s bill makes Texas horse racing derbies possible; and, of course, the next small step would be a piece of legislation to open the way for racetrack casinos (“racinos”) at those horse racing derbies. We do not want any expansion whatsoever of gambling in Texas...

Remember back when the conservative voters of this state won a massive victory on 11.2.10, and we felt Texas deserved a conservative Speaker who would appoint committee chairs and members who would further the conservative agenda? For over three months the conservatives in Texas waged a battle against the choice of Rep. Joe Straus as Speaker of the Texas House because we knew that Joe Straus was no conservative. Unfortunately, on Jan. 11, 2011, Joe Straus was chosen once again to be the Speaker of the House, but not before he was forced to spend millions of dollars to hire...

The 82nd Legislature got under way Tuesday as House Speaker Joe Straus quelled a conservative rebellion to retain his leadership post and Gov. Rick Perry called on lawmakers to pursue a conservative course that will result in a "leaner, smarter" state government.

The Republican speaker of the Texas House, a Jew, is being attacked by conservatives citing religion, their e-mails show. Speaker Joe Straus "clearly lacks the moral compass to be speaker," said conservative activist Peter Morrison. "Both Rep. Warren Chisum and Rep. Ken Paxton, who are Christians and true conservatives, have risen to the occasion to challenge Joe Straus for leadership," Morrison wrote in his newsletter last Thursday, the Dallas Morning News reported. Asked if he meant to say Straus is unfit because he is Jewish, Morrison replied, "I was simply making factual statements about Rep. Chisum and Rep. Paxton." He...

It is nauseating to hear people tell me over the past 48 hours that Joe Straus, the Democrat backed Speaker of the Texas House, is a “conservative.” With redistricting at stake in a state the size of Texas, we need to come to terms with why Straus is not a conservative and should be defeated. Likewise, Republicans who vote for him will all need to be challenged in primaries. Yes this is that big of an issue. And yes it is worth taking to the front page of a national political blog to focus on this one man in one...

We, Conservative Citizens of the state of Texas, are in a fight to keep a corrupt, powerhouse RINO from keeping the Speaker of the House position in our Texas House of Representatives. After the election of November 2, 2010, the Texas State House of Representatives has the largest Republican majority since Reconstruction. Also, the majority of the ones elected are Conservative, representing Conservative districts. The current Speaker is Joe Straus. His supporters are trying to re-invent his image to portray him as a Reagan social and fiscal Conservative. This man is anything but. His voting record speaks for itself: Rep....

The lawyer appointed to represent the man accused of attempting to bomb Northwest Flight 253 had prior success helping to defend an alleged terrorist. Miriam Siefer, the chief public defender in Detroit, also has handled cases involving disturbances on other Northwest flights, including one in which a man pleaded guilty after illegally transporting ammunition and saying he was traveling overseas to kill Osama bin Laden. Defense lawyers with experience in terrorism-related cases say Ms. Siefer's latest job -- representing 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was charged with trying to blow up a Christmas Day flight to Detroit -- will be...

AUSTIN – As Rep. Joe Straus effectively wrapped up the House speaker race Monday, he pledged to open the House to allow members – Republican or Democrat – to win the day if they had the best argument and the most votes. To most observers, that means the House will be a very different place. Ideas from the far reaches of the political spectrum, whether on abortion, immigration or school vouchers, probably won't make it, while others that have withered under House Speaker Tom Craddick, such as green energy programs, more education funding, and tighter ethics rules, might have a...

Craddick quits House speaker's race; Straus poised to take over08:55 AM CST on Monday, January 5, 2009By KAREN BROOKS and CHRISTY HOPPE / The Dallas Morning Newskmbrooks@dallasnews.comchoppe@dallasnews.com AUSTIN – With a promise to end partisan clashes, newcomer and moderate Republican Joe Straus of San Antonio is poised to become the new Texas House speaker after toppling 40-year veteran Tom Craddick of Midland. In a meteoric rise, the two-term lawmaker won overwhelming support from 72 Democrats and 16 Republicans who said they were seeking a less combative atmosphere in the Capitol. Straus released a list Sunday night of 88 lawmakers –...

SAN ANTONIO - Republican businessman Joe Straus III easily defeated three opponents late Saturday in the special election to fill a Texas House seat in District 121. Straus won with 64 percent of the vote. His closest competitor was Democrat Rose Spector, a former Texas Supreme Court justice, who got 32 percent. "It was a very strong signal that the voters in District 121 want consistent and conservative leadership," Straus, 45, said from his victory party. He served in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. The San Antonio seat was vacated last month by Elizabeth Ames Jones, a Republican...