Here is your Morning Brief for February 24, 2015.

**Program Note: Lubbock County Republican Party Chairman Carl Tepper will be filling in for me today on The Chad Hasty Show. I will return Wednesday as we broadcast live from Premier Sportsplex at 90th and Memphis.

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Texas 2016

According to MySA.com, the Presidential race in Texas is revving up and what happens in Texas will actually matter this time. Already we have seen top Texas political donors being picked off by some of those running for President.

Texas' plan to hold its 2016 primary on March 1 means that only the traditional two early voting states, along with South Carolina and Nevada, would predate it, though some other states may eventually move their primaries up too. In 2012, Texas' primary came in late May, when the GOP race was already settled.

Traditionally, opening the campaign with small states has allowed the candidates to concentrate on connecting with highly motivated groups of voters rather than wooing the masses, and gradually building momentum. Adding an early behemoth like Texas makes a difference. More than 150 delegates to the GOP nominating convention are at stake in one place, dozens more than Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada combined. And Texas's 270,000 square miles requires more campaigning by television across 20 cash-draining media markets.

Thus, no longer would Texas be primarily a political ATM, where national GOP candidates come to stockpile campaign cash they can spend elsewhere. And Texas donors may have to decide sooner where to place their money.

Texas will be a major player in the Republican primary and that is great news for conservatives who are not on board with a Jeb Bush or Chris Christie candidacy. Texas gives hope to Rick Perry, Ted Cruz, and even to Scott Walker. Should be fun to watch.

Iran to Get the Bomb?

According to Yahoo News, Iran could be given more leeway with nuclear weapons after ten years under a proposed phased agreement.

The United States and Iran are working on a two-phase deal that clamps down on Tehran's nuclear program for at least a decade before providing it leeway over the remainder of the agreement to slowly ramp up activities that could be used to make weapons.

Officials from some of the six-power talks with Iran said details still needed to be agreed on, with U.S. and Iranian negotiators meeting Monday for the third straight day ahead of an end-of-March deadline for a framework agreement. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry joined the negotiations after arriving Sunday.

A breakthrough was not expected before Kerry returns to Washington later Monday. Still, Western officials familiar with the talks cited long-awaited progress on some elements that would have to go into a comprehensive deal. They described the discussions as a moving target, however, meaning changes in any one area would have repercussions for other parts of the negotiation.

The idea would be to reward Iran for good behavior over the last years of any agreement, gradually lifting constraints on its uranium enrichment program and slowly easing economic sanctions.

Iran says it does not want nuclear arms and needs enrichment only for energy, medical and scientific purposes, but the U.S. fears Tehran could re-engineer the program to another potential use — producing the fissile core of a nuclear weapon.

Well this doesn't really sound like a great idea at all. Rewarding Iran for good behavior? Isn't that what we have been doing on some level for a while now? Maybe lawmakers should listen to what Israel has to say.

Other Must Read Links:

These and many more topics coming up on today’s edition of The Chad Hasty Show. Tune in mornings 8:30-11am on News/Talk 790 KFYO, streaming online at kfyo.com, and now on your iPhone and Android device with the radioPup App. All guest interviews can be heard on our KFYO YouTube page after the show and online at kfyo.com.

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