Bill Expanding Self-defense Rights Zips Through House
A self-defense bill opposed by prosecutors across the state breezed through the House on Monday and is expected to be on the governor's desk by the end of the week.

House Supports Ending Phone Fee
Texans would stop paying a 1.25 percent surcharge on telephone bills as soon as this summer under legislation the House approved Monday.

Appraisal Reforms Stymied by TAC, TML Lobbyists
Proponents of tax appraisal reform are facing determined opposition from Texas Association of Counties and Texas Municipal League lobbyists and a Legislature in Austin that has so far not coalesced, spokesmen for the governor's task force on the complex issue said Tuesday.

House Votes to Trim Governor's Veto Power
In another rebuff to Gov. Rick Perry, the Texas House passed a proposed constitutional amendment Wednesday for an automatic special session during which lawmakers could attempt to override gubernatorial vetoes.

Workers' Handgun Bill Passes Senate Panel
A Senate panel on Tuesday approved a bill, fiercely opposed by businesses, that gives workers the right to lock concealed handguns in their cars, even if the parking lot is owned by their employer.

Lawmakers Revisit CPS Reforms
Two years after Texas overhauled its child abuse investigations, lawmakers and advocates for children say Child Protective Services investigators are removing abused and neglected children from their families faster than caseworkers can place them in foster care.

Use of Deadly Force Likely to be Expanded in Texas
Texas legislators have sent to Gov. Rick Perry's desk a bill that allows people to use deadly force against attackers outside their homes under a much broader range of circumstances than current law allows, including in defense of their cars or businesses.

Patrick's Adoption Incentive Is Baby Selling, Some Say
Houston state Sen. Dan Patrick wants the state to pay $500 to women who give their babies up for adoption instead of aborting them, an idea some say borders on baby selling.

The End of the Rove Era in Republican Politics
A few weeks after the Republicans were routed in the November 2006 elections, a longtime Bush Republican from Texas told me that it was time for Karl Rove to go.

Lights, Camera ... Candidacy?
"Expect her to recount every moment of her ordeal," the savvy district attorney mused to his deputy. "There won't be a dry eye in the jury."

State GOP Leaders not Enthusiastic About Front-runners
None of the GOP presidential front-runners has generated much support among Republican Party loyalists in Texas, whose early favorite to head the ticket in 2008 hasn't even announced – Newt Gingrich.

Draft Fred ... Enough Said!
The 2006 elections rightfully showed that conservatives are in a funk. There were no issues to rally around, and voters rejected Republicans who didn’t stand on principle. That same funk has continued into the 2008 presidential race.

You Might Be a Fredhead
It seems as though the movement to draft Fred Thompson into the 2008 presidential race is gaining steam. The former Tennessee senator, lawyer and actor's appearance on Fox News Sunday a few weeks ago has re-energized the right in a way that no one else in the race has come close to doing. Why? Because he is truly one of us and because he can win.

House Democrats Weigh Plan for Iraq Withdrawal
Representative Dan Boren is a Democrat, but after visiting Iraq last week he announced a decision that puts him at odds with his party’s leaders: he intends to vote against their plan to set a deadline for troops to leave Iraq.

Last Man Standing
Time for victory in Iraq is waning. American political support will probably not last another year. Anyway, it will not last through another presidential election cycle, and the base of the Democratic Party will demand military pullout from its majority in Congress before then.

Legislators Stilled When Honoring Fallen Troops
Iraq and Afghanistan are far away. But the countries seem eerily nearby when Texas legislators pay tribute to fallen troops, as they have more than two dozen times this year.

President Bush Discusses Iraq War Emergency Supplemental
Today I'm joined here at the White House by veterans, family members of people serving in combat, family members of those who have sacrificed. I am honored that they have joined me here today.

House Kills TIF Tax, But Senate Is Hesitating
by Michael Quinn Sullivan
The Texas House voted [this week] to eliminate the TIF tax! Your calls, letters and e-mails made a big difference! The battle now moves the Texas Senate, but the terrain is very rough. The influential chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Sen. Steve Ogden (R-Bryan), isn’t committed to eliminating the TIF tax.

'300' Therapy
by Amanda B. Carpenter
I’ve never been in therapy, but I can’t imagine anything could be more cathartic than watching King Leonidas and his mighty band of Spartans brutally massacre the thousands of jihadis that descended on them at the epic Battle of Thermopylae in the blockbuster hit 300.

Gore's Global Warming Religion
by Ann Coulter
No matter how much liberals try to dress up their nutty superstitions about global warming as "science," which only six-fingered lunatics could doubt, scratch a global warming "scientist" and you get a religious fanatic.

Universal Pre-K
by Gina Parker Ford
Proponents of universal pre-K, such as the Texas Early Childhood Education Coalition (TECEC), are less interested in improving educational opportunities for children and more interested in growing the ranks of public school teachers.

A Cure for Political Depression
by Peggy Noonan
I will never forget the stunning Oct. 7, 1962, Time magazine cover that showed Franklin D. Roosevelt weeping, a shining tear snaking its way down his pale and sunken cheek as he surveyed the destruction wrought by the New Frontier--tax cuts, a Republican running Treasury.

Connecting the Dots
by Gary Bauer
Watching the nightly news, it would be easy to think that jihadist violence is primarily limited to the Middle East, but recent events elsewhere suggest that Islamic terrorism is not geographically limited.

Why Don't the Two Parties Work Together?
by William Rusher
Every once in a while some hopeless idealist, sick unto death of the constant squabbling between the two major parties, demands to know "Why don't the Republicans and Democrats in Washington just get together and work for the good of the country?"

Power to the People
I could tell right away this wasn’t going to be your average Washington D.C. anti-war protest.

Bush to Fight Democratic Subpoenas
President Bush yesterday warned congressional Democrats that he would "oppose any attempt" to subpoena White House officials involved in the firing of eight federal prosecutors last year.

DeLay Blasts GOP Colleagues
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's just-published memoirs skewer his former comrades in the historic 1994 Republican Revolution for squandering the victory through useless and ineffective leadership.

Attorney Firing Precedent
George W. Bush and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales are taking a lot of heat from Democrats lately for allegedly discharging some U.S. attorneys for political reasons.

Family Hangs in the Balance of New Budget
As you fill out this year's IRS paperwork, enjoy your family tax breaks. If the new Senate leadership has its way, they may be among your last.

State police take children from parents. Their crime? They were home schooling their daughter.
How would you feel if a group of 15 fully armed police officers walked into your home, grabbed your 15-year-old daughter, and left without telling you where they were taking her?