Joe Barton

They Were Kings for a Moment

The feds attack online poker, killing livelihoods and a $2.5 billion industry.

Debt Ceiling: The 10 Worst Tweets From the Texas GOP Congressional Delegation

Tweets don't fail me now​As the GOP debates whether it wants the Tea Party to drive it (and the country) off a cliff by playing games with the debt ceiling, we looked to Twitter for the updates from our state's congresssional delegation. Oddly, the Republicans didn't tweet anything like "Yes, ... More >>

Legalize Online Poker? Texas Congressman Says Yes

Coming soon to a state near you?​U.S. Representative Joe Barton (R-Oil), the man who famously apologized to BP for the horrible way they were shaken down by the Obama administration after the Gulf oil spill, is introducing a bill to legalize online poker, the AP reports. Yay? Barton wants in ... More >>

Tea Party Congressmen From Texas Love Their Earmarks

Damn those earmarks!! Except mine​Brave, insightful, brilliant, not-at-all-crazy U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann founded the Congressional Tea Party Caucus to save America from Muslim presidents and stop federal spending by stopping earmarks, the modern term for pork-barrel projects. Republicans i ... More >>

Drilling Ban Lifted: Five (Possible) New Federal Mandates

The Obama administration has lifted the ban on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, but it is also enforcing steps to make sure a disaster such as the Deepwater Horizon leak never, ever happens again.Don't worry, we have a plan​The feds have outlined a bunch of tough new regulations and g ... More >>

Joe Barton: Houston Is Getting Blamed For Him?

Not one of ours​Look, Houston has enough troubles with this oil-spill thing: BP has its American office here, everyone automatically defaults to thinking of us as pollution-happy, regulation-ignoring money-grubbers, and, you know, we are home to a whole lot of energy companies who probably just as ... More >>

Which Classy Texas Congressman Shouted "Baby Killer" Last Night? (Updated)

Last night's historic health-care vote was an emotional event on both sides of the aisle. Only one side, however, showed the class it takes to yell "Baby Killer!!" at a colleague.And all signs point to a Texan doing the deed.Anti-abortion Democrat Bart Stupak got up to speak late in the evening, exp ... More >>

Fightin' Joe Barton, Taking On The BCS System

​Texas congressman Joe Barton has decided that there's something else besides Barack Obama's mere existence that sends him into a frothing, seething fit of anger.It's college football's bowl system.We've gotten an announcement from something called Playoff PAC, a political action committee created ... More >>

The Real Reason Perry Wants To Secede: Football

Governor Rick Perry has been pressing for Texas to secede from the nation. He might bitch about high taxes, but I think we all know the real reason he's pushing this idiotic movement.  How else can the Texas Longhorns win a national championship?Sure, the Longhorns helped to devise the Big 12 g ... More >>

BCS Bill in Congress? About Time Our Politicos Got to the Important Stuff

The nation is in peril. There's still the threat of terrorism. The military is mired in two wars. The economy is falling apart. Rich banking execs are getting bonuses for their failing businesses -- bonuses being paid by taxpayer money -- and the auto industry is on the verge of collapse. But if ... More >>

Houston Public Library, energy policy, Houston Chronicle, blogging

Fondren Southwest gets a mini-library

A Moon Swoon

One Houston preacher gave up the cross for the cult

Glory Days

The return of the male strippers

The Man Who Would Be Kingmaker

Karl Rove has masterminded all of Bush's political victories. Now he faces his toughest challenge: convincing you that the presidential front-runner owns his own soul.

The Insider

The Insider

Get It in Writing

... at least before you lend any campaign funds to Buster Brown