Texas Home School Coalition PAC

A statewide political action committee serving home schoolers for more than 20 years

March 29, 2008

Month Year

In This Issue

Around Texas

Presidential Election

National News

Commentaries

Hillary's Whopper, Jeremiah and Jesus, Defund Planned Parenthood

Around Texas

At Dallas Event, Democratic Strategist Carville Takes Aim at Cornyn

James Carville came to Dallas on Tuesday and deployed his sharp wit against Texas Sen. John Cornyn, taking the aim off fellow Democrats who don't support Hillary Rodham Clinton in the strident presidential contest.

Rev. Wright's Sermons Divide Area Religious Leaders

Local black pastors are defending the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., the former pastor of presidential hopeful Barack Obama who has come under fire for controversial sermons, even as other local religious leaders say they've never heard words such as his flow from the heart of a pastor.

Obama's Ex-Pastor Cancels Speeches in Houston

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, presidential candidate Barack Obama's controversial former pastor, has canceled plans to speak at three services at a Houston church on Sunday, the church's pastor said.

Texas Bible Course Standards Raising Concerns

Religious freedom advocates want the State Board of Education to slow down the adoption of Bible course curriculum standards, which they say provide little guidance on how to teach the course within the constraints of the U.S. Constitution.

Teachers Urge State Board of Education to Reject Curriculum Standards for Literary Works

Scores of English teachers urged the State Board of Education on Wednesday to reject proposed curriculum standards that would spell out what literary works their students should read, insisting teachers are best suited to make those decisions.

Democrats Hope Trial Settles Ballot Dispute

Texas Democrats have been fighting a year-and-a-half court battle over mail-in ballots. The case is scheduled to go to trial in May, and the outcome could affect how campaigns are waged in November.

Hays Convention Begins with Call for Unity

The Hays County convention begins with a call for unity as the race between Obama and Clinton has exposed rifts within the Democratic Party.

Texas House GOP Runoff Rivals Button, Dunning Pull No Punches

In their Republican primary runoff for state representative, candidates Angie Chen Button and Randy Dunning have focused less on issues than on each other's record and background.

State Board Ditches Suggested Reading Lists

In a concession to English teachers, the State Board of Education on Thursday backed away from a proposal that would have "suggested" what literary works students should read in English classes under new state curriculum standards.

Further Complicating Texas' Convention Process: Delegates Can Switch Sides

The power of persuasion could be important Saturday and beyond for Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Fat Pork, Your Rights, Water Waste

by Michael Quinn Sullivan

Thanks to my height, one doesn't immediately notice my balding top. Doesn't really bother me; the rapidly reducing number of hairs on my head means I spend less on shampoo and haircuts. On occasion, I must confess to having some interest when late-night infomercials offer "miracle" remedies for hair-loss. So far I haven't bought; I have better uses for my money.

Sheffield Rebuts Tax Attack

Republican District 55 Texas House candidate Ralph Sheffield on Wednesday rebutted accusations made by rival Martha Tyroch during a recent TV commercial.

Read more state news....

Presidential Election

Democrats' Bickering Boosts McCain

The increasingly nasty campaign between Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton is hurting them among independent and swing voters in key battleground states, and in the process is making Sen. John McCain the more appealing candidate, according to election pollsters.

Deepening Democratic Dilemma

by Robert Novak

Barack Obama's speech last week, hastily prepared to extinguish the firestorm over the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, won critical praise for style and substance but failed politically. By elevating the question of race in America, the front-running Democratic presidential candidate has deepened the dilemma created by his campaign's success against the party establishment's anointed choice, Hillary Clinton.

Public Access to Caucus Data Limited

Tarrant County Democrats are directing people who want to file complaints about the March 4 precinct caucuses to the party's presidential campaigns, saying they can't make the records compiled that night available to the public.

McCain in Dead Heat with Dems

by Joel Rosenberg

After months of speeches and debates, and nearly $1 billion in total campaign spending to date, the presidential race is a dead heat.

Breakdown of Final Primaries Shows Some Hope for Clinton

by Robert Novak and Timothy P. Carney

The overriding question in the Democratic presidential contest is whether Sen. Barack Obama(D-Ill.) has overcome the slump resulting from the controversy about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-N.Y.)supporters are hoping for further controversy to slow down the Obama express.

Unconvinced by Obama's Wright Speech

by Edward Koch

Barack Obama's speech last week addressing his 20-year relationship with his radical pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, was very well done, yet unconvincing.

The Audacity of Rhetoric

by Thomas Sowell

It is painful to watch defenders of Barack Obama tying themselves into knots trying to evade the obvious.

A Candidate's Fall from Favor Isn't Very Far

by Wayne Slater

There was something in Barack Obama's troubles that reminded Bill Kenyon how easily a golden candidate can fall from grace.

Uprooting the New Racism

by Patrick J. Buchanan

In his Philadelphia address on race, Sen. Obama identified as a root cause of white resentment affirmative action - the punishing of white working- and middle-class folks for sins they did not commit.

Read more election news....

National News

Certifying Parents

In the annals of judicial imperialism, we have arrived at a strange new chapter. A California court ruled this month that parents cannot "home school" their children without government certification. No teaching credential, no teaching. Parents "do not have a constitutional right to home school their children," wrote California appellate Justice Walter Croskey.

Homeschool Ruling Vacated; Court Will Reconsider

Pacific Justice Institute has just received word that the court ruling which declared most forms of homeschooling unlawful in California has been vacated. This means the Rachel L. decision, which has sparked a nationwide uproar, will not go into effect as it is currently written. The Second District Court of Appeal has instead decided to re-hear the case, with a new round of briefings due in late April. It would likely take the court several additional months to schedule oral argument and issue another decision.

California Homeschooling Case to Be Reheard

A state appeals court has agreed to reconsider its decision last month that barred homeschooling by parents who lack teaching credentials, raising the possibility that the judges will change a decision that has infuriated homeschool advocates nationwide.

Read more national news....

Commentaries

The Big (Untold) Story in the Middle East

by Joel Rosenberg

The lead story on Drudge over the weekend was the Pope baptizing a prominent Egyptian author who converted from Islam to Catholicism, and for good reason. It's a huge story in Italy and the Muslim world, especially coming as it did the week that Osama bin Laden accused the Pope of waging a "crusade" against Islam. But this particular baptism is just the tip of the iceberg.

Read more commentaries...

Hillary's Whopper, Jeremiah and Jesus, Defund Planned Parenthood

Gary Bauer

We've focused a lot in the past week on Senator Barack Obama's credibility,but we haven't forgotten about Hillary. It's not breaking news to say that politicians often exaggerate, but here is an example of Hillary's disconnect from reality.

For the past few weeks, she's told campaign audiences that she faced down death during a visit to Bosnia when she was First Lady. To hear Hillary tell it, her plane "landed under sniper fire," the formal greeting ceremony was scrubbed and "instead we just ran with our heads down to get into thev ehicles to get to our base."

This is all part of her attempt to portray herself as tough, "ready on day one" and experienced enough to be commander-in-chief. But now several folks who attended the trip with her are all saying that the scene Hillary has been describing didn't happen. According to the Washington Post, "Are view of nearly 100 news accounts of her visit shows that not a single
newspaper or television station reported any security threat to the First Lady."

Read the article....