Huckabee Ends Fox News Show, Preps for 2016 Bid

NEWSMAX

TV host and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says he is leaving his Fox News talk show as he considers whether to seek the Republican nomination for president, a decision he expects to reach in the spring. 

Huckabee said Saturday night's edition of "Huckabee" would be his last as he ponders his political future. The weekly show, which is taped with a live audience and features political commentary as well as interviews with guests and musical entertainment, has been on the air for more than six years.

"There's been a great deal of speculation as to whether I would run for president. And if I were willing to absolutely rule that out, I could keep doing this show. But I can't make such a declaration," he said at the end of Saturday's program.

"Now, I'm not going to make a decision about running until late in the spring of 2015, but the continued chatter has put Fox News into a position that just isn't fair to them — nor is it possible for me to openly determine political and financial support to justify a race. The honorable thing to do at this point is to end my tenure here at Fox. Now, as much as I have loved doing the show, I cannot bring myself to rule out another presidential run."

The former Baptist preacher and Arkansas chief executive — he led the state from 1996 to 2007 — is a favorite among social conservatives. While hosting the TV show he has published books, appeared at conservative conferences around the country and offered harsh criticism of President Barack Obama's policies.

Huckabee has been particularly critical of the nation's swing toward accepting gay marriage. In October, after the Supreme Court rejected appeals from five states that sought to prohibit marriage by same-sex couples, he said: "It is shocking that many elected officials, attorneys and judges think that a court ruling is the 'final word.' It most certainly is not."

He campaigned last fall for several Republican office-seekers — among them Senate candidates Joni Ernst in Iowa, David Perdue in Georgia, Tom Cotton in Arkansas and Mike Rounds in South Dakota. Rounds was national chairman of Huckabee's 2008 presidential campaign.

Huckabee, 59, won the Iowa caucuses in 2008, finishing ahead of Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, John McCain and Ron Paul. He came in third, however, in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary, behind McCain and Romney. McCain emerged as the leader in the primaries that followed and Huckabee ended his campaign that March.

Muslim Supremacist Leaders Go After Facebook and Twitter Demanding Islamic Speech Restrictions

 Pamela Geller / Atlas Shrugs

While jihadists in Nigeria, Congo, CAR, Philippines, Syria, Iraq et al wage their bloody holy war against freedom, individual rights and the “other”, their stealth counterparts are waging the same war insidiously but just as fiercely in the West.

Islamic attacks across Africa and the Middle East are not condemned by Muslim leaders in the West. Who is in their crosshairs? Those that oppose the ideology that inspires those attacks —

Muslim gunmen storm a building in Libya and go”room to room” in their residence at 2:30 a.m. Saturday and asked for identification papers to separate Muslim workers from Christians….the gunmen handcuffed the Christians and drove away.”

While jihadists in Nigeria, Congo,...

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Progressive Anti-Police Protesters Show Their Hand

Derek Hunter / Townhall Columnist

 

In watching the anti-police protests over the last month you may have found yourself wondering what it is, if anything, these people blocking traffic want. Chants of “No justice, no peace,” are meaningless platitudes progressives have been chanting since the 60s, and drum circles don’t exactly convey a coherent message of any sort. But underneath all the “Hey-heys” and the “Ho-hos,” there is an agenda – it’s convoluted, rings of fascism, is decidedly anti-police and is downright stupid, but it is there.

As if chanting their desire for “dead cops” and actually celebrating that chant coming to fruition wasn’t bad enough, the protesters now have a list of demands.

So what do the people who couldn’t bring themselves to take a few days off of protesting so New York could bury two police officers murdered by someone sharing their sentiments and their cause want?

On New Year’s Eve these self-appointed arbiters of “justice” planned to march to Times Square and disrupt the celebration. Unfortunately for them, the shine had worn off their cause. The short attention span of those easily moved to the streets in the name of a hoax had their indoctrination trumped by their desire to party.

In addition to the natural boredom that sheds anyone from a cause, the general rudderlessness and downright nastiness of the anti-police progressives in charge has led to a hemorrhaging of members.

New GOP Senate chairmen aim to undo Obama policies

AP News / via Townhall.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican senators poised to lead major committees when the GOP takes charge are intent on pushing back many of President Barack Obama's policies, setting up potential showdowns over environmental rules, financial regulations and national security.

The all-GOP Congress — Republicans also have a commanding majority in the House — gives the powerful Senate committee heads a newfound opportunity to steer legislation and help shape the national debate.

With Republicans winning control of the Senate in the November election, all the committees will get new leaders, though all have been around for years.

The heads of the 13 major committees and Veterans' Affairs are some of the most senior members of the Senate. Three are octogenarians and four are in their late 70s. Only one new leader will be a woman; Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is in line to take over the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

A look at the powerful senators and their issues:
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AGRICULTURE
Kansas' Pat Roberts, 78, will consider renewal of child nutrition programs that have been pushed by the White House and expire next year. Roberts has criticized efforts to make school lunches healthier, calling for studies on the costs of the program and economic impact on schools.

Roberts has been a recent dissenter on the normally bipartisan panel, voting against the five-year farm bill that Congress passed in May. Roberts supported the bill's boost in crop insurance for farmers but said other subsidies needed more changes. He called the entire bill "a look in the rear-view mirror."

Like his Republican counterparts in the House, Roberts has championed cutting back spending for food stamps, saying the farm bill's estimated cut of $8 billion over 10 years was insufficient.
Roberts held the gavel of the House Agriculture Committee 20 years ago and during his tenure he helped write the 1996 farm bill.
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APPROPRIATIONS
The gavel of the powerful panel responsible for drafting approximately one-third of the federal budget will return to Mississippi's Thad Cochran, who turned 77 in December and was just re-elected to a seventh term.