Past Contributions

• Perry and the Tea Party: Depends on Whom You Ask

  By Chris Hooks Aug. 22, 2011

  News analysts described Gov. Rick Perry as the Tea Party darling when he announced his bid for the presidency. But at a recent Tea Party gathering in Waco, that status seemed tenuous. Full Story 

• Tea Partiers Hear From Senate Candidates — Except Dewhurst

  By Chris Hooks Aug. 13, 2011

  Five of the declared Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison met in Waco on Saturday night for a wide-ranging forum notable for the absence of the frontrunner, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Full Story 

• Court Rules Against Individual Health Care Mandate

  By Chris Hooks Aug. 12, 2011

  A federal appeals court today ruled that the individual insurance mandate in President Obama's health care reform plan is unconstitutional, a decision Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott lauded as a step toward ending "Obamacare." Full Story 

• HuffPo Publishes Perry's College Transcript

  By Chris Hooks Aug. 5, 2011

  The Huffington Post published a copy of Rick Perry’s college transcript today — and it's fair to say the governor barely made the grade. Full Story 

• State Climatologist: Drought Officially Worst On Record

  By Chris Hooks Aug. 4, 2011

  It’s official: Texas is now in the midst of the worst one-year drought on record, according to State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon. Full Story 

• Aggie Years Launched Perry — and a Rivalry

  By Chris Hooks Aug. 2, 2011

  At Texas A&M University in the late 1960s, a campus culture shift pitted Rick Perry, then a traditionalist cadet, against several other future Texas politicians who were reform-minded civilians. Full Story 

• EPA Issues New Standards for Hydraulic Fracturing

  By Chris Hooks July 28, 2011

  The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday issued new regulatory standards for oil and gas wells that use hydraulic fracturing. Full Story 

• Perry, Lawmakers Blast Obama Over Shuttle Retirement

  By Chris Hooks July 21, 2011

  Texas lawmakers marked the end the of shuttle program and criticized NASA’s course on Thursday, hours after the shuttle Atlantis landed in Florida. Gov. Rick Perry singled out President Obama for criticism. Full Story 

• The Final Frontier for Space City?

  By Chris Hooks July 21, 2011

  Houston’s official nickname since 1967: Space City. It’s NBA team: the Rockets. Its MLB franchise is the Astros, and they played in the Astrodome. No wonder the city is in a funk as space shuttle Atlantis makes its final landing today. Full Story 

• Perry Blasts New Federal Gun Rules

  By Chris Hooks July 13, 2011

  Gov. Rick Perry is attacking new Department of Justice reporting requirements for gun dealers in states on the U.S.-Mexico border, calling the new rules “misguided” and “constitutionally questionable.” Full Story