Free Talk Live

A photo of two Democratic legislators playing solitaire has ignited controversy at the state Capitol and in the blogosphere.

The Associated Press picture has appeared in any number of venues, and it shows two lawmakers sitting in the back row of the historic Hall of the House in Hartford during the lengthy debate over the two-year, $37 billion state budget.

Two New York State legislators want to require farmers in the state to vaccinate hens against salmonella, which sickened thousands of Americans and triggered the largest egg recall in U.S. history.

Check out this somewhat nervous but well-spoken 15 year-old girl as she completely pwns the legislators on proposed new gun legislation.

One of the better news agencies in Austin has some choice footage showing state legislators casting votes in the place of colleagues who might not even be in the building. Hypocritically, this happened even as the state legislature itself passed laws criminalizing regular folks who vote on behalf another person in general and primary elections. The best part? While the speaker of the House acknowledges that this practice violates the rules of the legislature, but chooses not to enforce the rule.

PA Liquor Control Board has given Walmart preliminary approval to sell liquor in the state, even though grocery stores cannot legally sell alcohol. To keep the state's monopoly on liquor sales breathing, it's now legal as long as the store installs a vending machine that dispenses wine with a breathalyzer.

NH Legislators again raise the bar for the 10th Amendment Movement – felony charges proposed for federal agents violating gun rights in New Hampshire

It seems prohibition is rearing its ugly head, on the heels of Four Loco bans and alcoholic whipped cream looking like the next target:

The state's (North Carolina) liquor stores will stop selling 95 percent pure grain alcohol out of concern the product can be abused by students with dangerous results.

Mecklenburg board chief executive Paul Stroup calls the product "dangerous, with no redeeming social value." Unlike all the other liquor they sell???

Armed with the knowledge that more than 250,000 tickets for civil motor vehicle infractions were challenged in the state last fiscal year, legislators have voted to charge drivers $25 for such hearings.

Many of us here in Florida have repeatedly tried to get the message across to the Florida legislators that there are many things wrong with Florida’s education. They were ask NOT to participate in Race To The Top (RTTT) and the Common Core Standards (CCS). We showed them the problems, but when we mentioned Jeb Bush and how his Foundation for Excellence is doing the state’s children no favors, we were immediately cut off. No Child Left Behind has been a failure from the beginning and the state’s own FCAT scores show that to be true for over a decade.