A member of the Republican National Committee from President Bush's home state yesterday escalated the rebellion against Mr. Bush's choice to head the committee going into the 2008 presidential elections.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Vice Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee and a strong advocate of open government, co-sponsored an amendment to protect the rights of grassroots groups to contact congressional offices. The amendment, introduced by U.S. Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, would strike Section 220 of the Ethics Bill, S. 1, currently being debated in the Senate.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Vice Chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee and a strong advocate of open government, made the following statement Tuesday regarding unanimous Senate passage of an amendment to the Ethics Bill, S. 1, to increase transparency in the federal funding process, or specific allocations known as earmarks.

U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, today praised passage of Sen. DeMint’s amendment which requires increased disclosure of earmarks.

There are two sides to the school choice debate - on one side are those who believe politicians and government are best suited to make decisions for our children - on the other side are people who believe parents are best suited to choose what is best for their children.

As the Texas Legislature gears up for another debate over school vouchers this session, naturally Texans are looking for evidence on whether they work.

Pearland Republican Mike O'Day won a runoff election Tuesday to replace deceased state Rep. Glenda Dawson. In complete but unofficial returns, O'Day had 3,555 votes to beat another Pearland Republican, Randy Weber, who had 2,657 votes.

President George W. Bush's attempt to revitalize his Iraq War policy has been a political failure. His "surge" in troops won no converts, and all efforts now are based on attempting to prevent a negative resolution from being passed in the Senate.

The Senate has been bogged down this week debating a wide-ranging ethics and lobbying "reform" bill that has attracted the attention of economic and social conservatives for very different reasons. Last night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pulled the bill from the Senate floor after losing a vote to cut off debate on a Republican amendment to grant the president new line-item veto authority in order to reduce wasteful spending.

“Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst, Speaker Craddick, Chief Justice Jefferson, members of the Legislature, my fellow Texans: the oath that I have taken this morning confers upon me not only a public office, but a public trust. I accept it with humility, knowing to whom much is given much is expected in return.”

Led by House Speaker Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, and Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, the board set the cap at $62.8 billion for the upcoming biennium. It is a 13 percent increase from the current baseline of $55.5 billion.

Economists of every political stripe agree that a higher minimum wage will cost some low-skill workers their jobs, says the Wall Street Journal. Even Speaker Nancy Pelosi seems to understand this. Despite leading efforts to pass minimum wage increases, she granted a reprieve to American Samoa, which has a big fish and tuna canning industry, specifically operations run by StarKist and Chicken of the Sea. Both companies are headquartered in California, and StarKist's parent is located in none other than Speaker Pelosi's own San Francisco district. Democrats rediscovered the eternal economic truth that a higher minimum wage can cost jobs and granted Samoa its reprieve.

A beaming Harry Reid last week basked in the adoration of the Democratic Party's leading Senate reformers and its nine freshman senators. They extravagantly praised the new majority leader as the exemplar of ethical reform. But within 48 hours, Reid was opposing full transparency of earmarks. This week, Republican reformers will target Reid with an amendment to the Senate ethics package.

U.S. President George Bush is preparing to confront the Democratic-controlled Congress by supporting a balanced budget. Since 2002, Bush has been badgered by Democrats for repeat deficits, including 2004, when a $413 billion deficit became the biggest in U.S. history, the Washington Post reported.

Iraq is not the only place that is threatening to dissolve into the anarchy and bloodletting of a civil war. It's about to happen to the Democratic Party.