Straus likely to see more challenge him for top job
By Tim Eaton
With primary election night in the rearview, much of the political discussion at the Texas Capitol turned Wednesday to the topic of a speaker’s race.

The Extraordinary Nature of the Texas Runoff
Posted by Erick Erickson
It is hard to overstate just how extraordinary Ted Cruz’s underdog entry into the Texas runoff is and just how the odds are still stacked against him unless conservatives rally quickly with lots of money.

One Metric on Impact: SWATting
Posted by Erick Erickson
Last week I wrote about the Speedway Bomber and current left-wing activist Brett Kimberlin. In 2011, after writing about Kimberlin, LA County Prosecutor Patrick Frey was rousted out of bed after midnight by the LA County SWAT Team. Someone had called 911 claiming to be Frey saying he’d just murdered his wife.

Catholic bishops sound battle cry for religious liberty
By Jeffrey T. Kuhner
Liberals are waging a war on Christianity. This is the real reason why the Catholic bishops this week filed lawsuits against the Obama administration’s contraception mandate. The Catholic church realizes religious freedom is at stake. If the courts don’t overturn President Obama’s authoritarian regulations, America will slide toward secular tyranny.

‘Welcome home’ Vietnam veterans – We need to remember the war the way it really happened
By Robert F. Turner
Many reading this probably don’t know it, but at 1 p.m. Monday afternoon, the Pentagon will host a “Welcome home” ceremony for Vietnam War veterans at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Mall. If it comes off, it will be a good thing. A lot of very brave men fought nobly in that conflict, only to return home to be treated with scorn and disrespect. (I still remember my own reception while out-processing at Oakland Army Base in California following my second Vietnam tour, when we were warned, “Don’t wear your uniforms into town.”)

Several Republican House leaders were defeated by conservative challengers, and several more are in a runoff scheduled for July 31st. Overall, it was a night where conservatives seemed to have much influence, and a stalwart conservative House member and great friend to home schoolers, Bryan Hughes, announced his plans to seek the Speakership of the Texas House.

In the Texas Senate, conservatives also made great strides, and THSC PAC-endorsed Dr. Donna Campbell forced Senator Jeff Wentworth into a runoff for the representation of Senate District 25 in the San Antonio and Austin areas. Dr. Campbell is a former home school mom, who, unlike her opponent, is strongly pro-life and pro-parental rights.

Perhaps the most watched race in Texas was the race for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate between Lt. Governor Dewhurst and Ted Cruz and seven other candidates. While the Dewhurst Campaign claimed polling that showed he would win without a runoff, the final tally was about 45% for Dewhurst and 34% for Cruz, which was much closer to the nine-point difference other polls showed, and this race will result in a runoff. While Dewhurst continues to try to undermine Cruz’s conservative credentials, the endorsements of Sarah Palin, James Dobson, Ron Paul, Sean Hannity, and many others undercut those attacks.

While there was much good news last night, including the win of a number of judicial candidates endorsed by THSC PAC, there are a great number of races going into a runoff, and the turnout will be miniscule, which means that a small number of committed voters can have a huge impact on the makeup of the Texas Legislature and Judiciary. Stay tuned!

I wrote about Representative Eissler’s duplicitous action with THSC last spring. The reporter asked me why the issue of UIL participation was so important to us. I should have asked her why it was so important to the public school superintendents who opposed it so strongly. However, I explained that it was a matter of fairness. Home schoolers pay taxes to support public education at the state, as well as the local, level and should be allowed to participate if parents wish.

The reporter then asked if I was willing to “irreparably damage my relationship with the Chairman of the Public Education Committee over this.” My response was, “What will he do, kill my legislation? He has already done that.  This guy said to me, ‘I’ve always been there for the home schoolers,’ while he was killing one of the most important pieces of legislation to the home school community.”

Later yesterday, I was contacted by Representative Jim Murphy (HD 133) who was upset that we had endorsed his opponent, a home school grandmother, Ann Witt. His consultant contacted me first regarding comments that I made about Murphy supporting daytime curfews and opposing legislation to limit the production and sale of pornography. When the consultant told me that Representative Murphy did not hold those positions, I sent him documentation of Representative Murphy’s response to our questionnaire.

Representative Murphy left me a terse message, stating he would like to speak with me and explaining he may have “hit the wrong button(s)” in our survey, but that he “had always supported us and that was surely worth something!” When I talked to him, he confirmed completing the questionnaire, as we had expressed, but told me that he did not hold those positions. I agreed to accept his assurance. He also told me that he “supported home schoolers 100%.”

I explained to Representative Murphy that THSC had worked last session to pass the Texas Parental Rights Restoration Act (TPRRA) and had contacted his office on at least four occasions to explain the critical issue and the need to pass this legislation to protect innocent families. We requested his support in co-sponsoring the legislation. He and his office never responded to us regarding that request.

Representative Eissler and Representative Murphy may continue to tell home schoolers that they support us and they have “always been there for us,” but that is no longer enough. As we often say in Texas, “Talk is cheap!” Words are no longer enough. Candidates who want support from the home school community must show by their action, not just their words, that they support the right of parents to direct the care, control, and upbringing of their children. THSC PAC has listed the candidates we believe truly support home schooling, and we urge you to vote for them and work toward their election.

Two years ago I, and a number of conservative Republicans, gave a great many reasons to support someone other than Representative Joe Straus for Speaker of the Texas House. I think a fair summary of those reasons is that Straus is a moderate. He was once proud to claim that designation, but not so much today. In fact, conservative Republican Texas House members were targeted in the redistricting process by Straus’ chairmen and are also targeted in this election cycle by groups that are clearly liberal in their policy goals.

Matt Beebe for HD 121

Today there are a great many reasons to vote for Matt Beebe and against Straus, who has never before been opposed. I am supporting Matt Beebe for HD 121 because he is an unabashed conservative, both on fiscal issues and social issues, and he more closely represents what conservative Republicans support from a policy standpoint. One indication of that is the report from the nonpartisan Baker Institute of Rice University that indicated the Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives were more successful in passing their policy goals under Straus in 2009 than they had been when they actually ran the House.

It is instructive regarding the moderate Republicans that in these Texas campaigns moderate Republicans like Straus are reaching out to liberal Democrats to cross over and support them. In San Antonio, public employee unions are reportedly paying members to work the polls for Straus and indications are that over 1,000 voters who have a history of voting in Democratic primaries have voted early in this race. All the more reason to vote for Matt Beebe in HD 121.

So I guess David Dewhurst is wrong. We do have moderates in Texas, and they would rather work with Democrats than Republicans.

Ted Cruz for US Senate

Those two candidates lead the field of nine candidates, and the mailboxes, airwaves, and inboxes are full of accusations and counter-accusations between Dewhurst and Cruz about which one is the true conservative. The usual rule of thumb in politics is to look at the endorsements of the candidates to get an idea of who has the conservative support of the grassroots.

While Dewhurst continues to call Cruz a “trial lawyer” and hammer him about a case involving a Chinese company, the national conservative magazine, National Review, calls the charges “laughable” and points to Cruz’s own response to this on his website.

I know both of these men and have known David Dewhurst since the 1990s. He is a fine man, but he has always been known as a moderate and in my opinion would probably be a U.S. Senator in the mold of Senator Kay Baily Hutchison, who is retiring. Ted Cruz has a compelling family story of his father escaping Castro’s Cuba and coming to this country.

Everyone who knows Ted Cruz is impressed with his intellect, his character, and his staunch conservative positions. In fact, the Austin American Statesman, no bastion of conservatism, last week said about Ted Cruz, “For Republican primary voters looking for a no-frills, no-apologies conservative, Cruz is the genuine article.” They went on to call him a consistent, compelling conservative.

That is why not only I, and THSC PAC, have endorsed him but so have Dr. James Dobson, Sarah Palin, Senator Rand Paul, Senator Jim DeMint, Sean Hannity, and others too numerous to mention. That is also why the Tea Party favorite raised as much money as Dewhurst since April 1^st at $6.1 million and why Dewhurst was forced to put in another $9 million of his own money to try to close the deal with the misleading ads. Cruz, however, has seven times more donors than Dewhurst. That says volumes.

This election appears to be headed for a runoff, and grassroots activists will be more important than ever. In state after state the GOP base has been saying enough is enough with incumbents and choosing those whom they believe will go to Washington, D.C. and make a difference. Texas has a chance to do the same.

If you want to help Ted Cruz by making calls and getting the vote out, you can do so. The Ted Cruz for Senate campaign has an easy-to-use system to conveniently make get-out-the-vote calls from anywhere you have a computer and phone for Ted Cruz. You can log in via your Facebook account at the link below by pressing the “Connect with Facebook” button.

http://votergravity.com/cruz

You can also make calls for Ted at one of the physical phone bank locations below.

Central Houston Phone Bank Location
Firkin and Phoenix’s Back Porch
1915 Westheimer Rd.
Houston, TX 77098
Mon-Fri: 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Sat: 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Sun: 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Contact: Susanna@TedCruz.org, 832-384-5039

West Houston Phone Bank Location
Cafe Express in City Centre
780 W Sam Houston Pkwy N # 100
Houston, TX 77024
Mon-Fri: 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Sat: 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Sun: 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Contact: Bobby@TedCruz.org,  832-452-3063

D/FW Phone Bank Location
Crazy Jay’s Pizza and Pasta
2817 West Berry St.
Ft Worth, TX 76109
Mon-Fri: 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Sat: 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Sun: 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Contact: Kris@TedCruz.org, 254-592-5399

Austin Phone Bank Location
Ted Cruz for Senate Office
807 Brazos Street, Suite 602
Austin, TX 78701
Mon-Fri: 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Sat: 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Sun: 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Contact: RachelK@TedCruz.org,  512-637-8777

Where Is The Balance?
Posted by Erick Erickson
In the past week, I’ve been called a bigot, a hater, had people wish I died, and had people wish Christians had died, been rounded up and killed, or experienced their own personal holocaust.

At Emory University, Darwin’s Bullies Smear Commencement Speaker, Dr. Ben Carson of Johns Hopkins
Posted by David Klinghoffer
The serious problem of bullying in junior high and high school has received some overdue attention lately. Lee Hirsch’s documentary Bully is in theaters and highly recommended.

What the Mainstream Media Isn’t Reporting About Solyndra
Posted by repmorgangriffith
After just a short time in Congress, I find myself more keenly aware of the research and reporting failures of the modern mainstream media. If a story gets more depth and attention than the typical 10 second sound bite, I admit, I’m surprised. Solyndra is no different.

Cleaning Up the GOP Moves to Texas
Posted by Erick Erickson
Late last evening came word that House Republicans intend to keep parts of Obamacare. Even if the United States Supreme Court throws the whole law out, House Republicans intend to resurrect portions of Obamacare. House Republicans publicly say the story is wrong. I’ve talked to several House Republicans who tell me the story is actually on the money and the Republicans now denying it are really playing at semantics.

Why the Left Wants to Blacklist ALEC – For nearly four decades, the group has been an effective facilitator of good governance.
By Wendy Gramm and Brooke Rollins
Let’s put the bottom line up front: We at the Texas Public Policy Foundation are members of the American Legislative Exchange Council, otherwise known as ALEC, and we’re proud of it. Amid continuing reports of efforts by political critics to isolate and destroy the group because of its limited-government advocacy, it’s appropriate to say a few words in the council’s defense.

Cruz consistent, compelling conservative
Editorial Board
In the Republican primary, the competition for the U.S. Senate nomination is a race to the right and a crowded one at that. Though there are nine candidates in the race, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is the best known and certainly the best financed. Dewhurst acts like the chosen one, but GOP voters looking for a no pretense, no apologies conservative found one in challenger Ted Cruz.

The Battle Continues
By Gary L. Bauer
Barack Obama’s open support for same-sex “marriage” has reignited the culture war and galvanized millions of voters. It has also been a great opportunity for us to make the case for our pro-family values.

Fast and Furious: Barack Obama’s Bloodiest Scandal and its Shameless Cover-Up
Posted by Jeff Emanuel
Fast and Furious: Barack Obamas Bloodiest Scandal and its Shameless Cover-up, by Katie PavlichIMAGINE A GOVERNMENT agency designed for the specific purpose of investigating and preventing the unlawful use, manufacture, and possession of firearms. Now imagine this agency engaging in an operation that not only goes against that purpose, but actually seeks to accomplish the opposite, by actively encouraging the sale of firearms to people whose ties to organized crime and gun violence are well known– and that this operation involves sending firearms across an international border into a country that this agency, and the government of which it is a part, purposely failed to warn, inform, or request permission from.

Communists, Cop-Killers, and Cocaine: Why the Washington Post Focuses on Romney Instead – Let’s Focus on Undocumented Fifty Year Old Events Because Otherwise We’ll Have To Talk About The Economy
Posted by Erick Erickson
Now this is just silly. The Washington Post can’t be bothered to worry about Barack Obama’s college years, college transcripts, communist friends, cocaine use, or cop-killing plotters in whose living room he first launched his major political career, but they can get in the really way back machine to 1965 and Mitt Romney’s high school years.