U.S. Politics

Fox Calls It For Obama. People Desperately Look Up How To Spell "Shadenfreude"

Barack Obama May Be Our Next President But He Doesn’t Get to Talk on KTRH-AM

Log Cabin Fever

Gay caucus endorsements draw out profiles in political courage -- and cowardice

Turkeys (and Other Creatures) On the Ballot

Quick! It's almost Election Day!! Do you know who your candidates are? Check this guide to the mother of all ballots!

The Insider

Quick! It's almost Election Day!! Do you know who your candidates are? Check this guide to the mother of all ballots!

The Kingdom and the Power

Money may be the root of all evil, but it's fueled Steven Hotze's rise from a fringe player on the religious right to kingmaker in the local Republican Party. Now he's trying to stretch his influence further afield.

Crashing the Grand Old Party

Dolly McKenna is the GOP candidate for the 25th District. But will Republicans vote for her?

What's Driving Miss Shelia?

With her frenetic grandstanding, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has irritated her staff, her colleagues, and even the president. she says she speaks for her constituents. But will anyone listen?

The Insider

With her frenetic grandstanding, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has irritated her staff, her colleagues, and even the president. she says she speaks for her constituents. But will anyone listen?

GOP Lay-Ups

Enron fuels Republican soft money machine

Rogue Elephant

Log Cabin Republicans want to be part of the GOP, which wants no part of them

The Insider

Log Cabin Republicans want to be part of the GOP, which wants no part of them

GOP Sweeps Week

Republicans complete Texas political reconstruction

Which Bug Gets the Gas?

Will the next house DeLay fumigates be that big White one or his own?

Bush vs. McCain

A shot of Texas Shrub with a Budweiser chaser

Bush Envy

When Democrats try to impersonate Republicans, the results ain't pretty

Elephants Versus RINOs

Party veterans sound alarms at the proposed GOP political-purity rules

Why This Hound Won't Hunt

The Texas Ethics Commission lacks eyes, ears and teeth

An Open Mike

He wants to castrate pedophiles and purge the courts of politics. He has assailed fellow jurists, lawyers and lawmakers. He's maverick Mike McSpadden, a tennis ace with a tomahawk tongue.

GOP Inc.

How "Scary" Gary Polland turned his party apparatus into a political slot machine

The Day the Democrats Died

Learning to love the one-party state

Bishop's Endgame

An early GOP force could be savoring party triumphs -- from prison

The Deal Busters

GOP chair's super slush fund helps sink arena deal

No Justice

We've bailed out the banks. When do we go after the crooks behind our financial collapse?

The Tug of War

Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison are locked in a pitched battle over the soul of the GOP. They are also running for governor.

New Anti-Perry Ad: Can The Return Of The Chicken Suit Be Far Behind?

Subtle.​Back to Basics, a PAC supporting Texas gubernatorial candidate Bill White, has unleashed a new anti-Rick Perry ad. We're not sure, but we think they're questioning the current governor's manhood. Tell Rick Perry to stop cowering and face Texans like a man. White's supporters are cont ... More >>

1 In 5 Texas Republicans Support Secession; 1 In 5 Texans Support Roger Clemens

Roger Clemens: Texas does not have your back​Public Policy Polling is a respected firm that recently did a survey on the governor's race and other political matters.They threw in some other questions, too, and found some intriguing results. A full 21 percent of Texas Republicans support secession, ... More >>

Rick Perry & Bill White: Midnight Is Nigh In The Great (And Silly) Deadline For Debates

Debates over debates are so fun​The finger-pointing continued Wednesday as the great gubernatorial debate over who's at fault for not having a gubernatorial debate came to Houston.Republican Governor Rick Perry has given Democrat candidate Bill White until midnight tonight to release tax returns f ... More >>

Grinding Justice

Operation Streamline costs millions, tramples the Constitution, treats migrants like cattle and doesn't work.

Watch Out Muslims: State Senator Dan Patrick Creates "Tea Party Caucus" In Legislature

Dan Patrick: FINALLY the Tea Party will be heard in Texas​Right-wing radio guru Dan Patrick has announced the creation of a Tea Party Caucusfor the upcoming Texas legislative session.And no, "Tea Party Caucus" is not necessarily a synonym for "Texas Legislature," at least not yet."The Tea Party ha ... More >>

GOP Is the New Black, Billboard Wrongly Claims

How much more hip can the GOP get?​Raging Elephants, the cutting-edge black Republican group that gets invited to all the best Tea Party events, and will no doubt be shown on camera often during speech cutaways at the 2012 GOP Convention, is proudly proclaiming conservative hipness on a South Loop ... More >>

King Street Patriots Party Hardy At The Rice Lofts

Finding a watch party in Houston for election night was a bit of a chore. About the only thing in town was Bill White's, and since Hair Balls already had that covered, we had to look elsewhere. Even the New Black Panthers can't stop us​We decided on the King Street Patriots' bash at the Rice Lofts ... More >>

King Street Patriots Ready To Go National

The King Street Patriots have plans. Big plans. ​At a King Street Patriots meeting Monday night, the group proved, at least for one week, that it's doing what Democrats and liberals couldn't after riding a wave of emotion to Election Day victories in 2008: still showing up. The group's founder, Ca ... More >>

District Judges Susan & Marc Brown: Two Big King Street Patriot Fans

Harris County criminal court judge Marc Brown, a proud supporter of the King Street Patriots. ​Reports recently surfaced about a police chief and police officer in East Texas being fired for an affiliation with their local Tea Party group, and the whole thing has caused quite the uproar in the tin ... More >>

FAIR-y Tales

Russell Pearce and Other Illegal-Immigration Populists Rely on Misleading, Right-Wing Reports to Scapegoat Immigrants and Terrify Penny-Pinched Americans.

FAIR-y Tales: Fantasy Voter Fraud

Russell Pearce and Other Illegal-Immigration Populists Rely on Misleading, Right-Wing Reports to Scapegoat Immigrants and Terrify Penny-Pinched Americans.

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 >>

Rep. Aaron Pena: GOP Gets Its Supermajority In Texas House: Now It Begins

It's a stampede!!​The upcoming legislative session in Austin might get pretty wild and entertaining -- if not beneficial to anyone who fears the GOP/Tea Party agenda -- thanks to a move today. State Rep. Aaron Pena, a Democrat from Edinburg, is about to announce he is now Aaron Pena, Republic ... More >>

Tea Party Rule: Almost One-Third Of Texas House Signs Up With Dan Patrick

It's The AUSTIN Tea Party now, Sam Adams​Last night Keith Olbermann said Texas had "a Tea Party legislature The Nuge could be proud of." Today State Senator Dan Patrick proved him right. Patrick announced his Tea Party Caucus today, and it contains fully 47 members of the 150-seat House, and ... More >>

The Whipping Boy

How did class size limits become the symbol of an unnecessary luxury in our schools?

The Texas Lege: Five Crazy Things It Will Debate In 2010

Come for the budget-cutting, stay for the insanity​We regret to inform you that 2011 is one of those godforsaken years when the Texas Legislature will be in session. We further regret to inform you that Republicans have a supermajority in the House, and almost half of those GOPers are proud m ... More >>

Carl Lewis' N.J. State Senate Run Going As Smoothly As His Anthem Singing

The political career of UH's Carl Lewis has, so far, proven to be as successful as his "Star-Spangled Banner"-singing sideline. In other words, not very successful at all. Lewis, who is trying to run for the state senate from his hometown New Jersey district, has been thrown off the ballot for no ... More >>

75 MPH Speed Limit Passes: Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

The Texas Senate has sent to the governor's desk a bill allowing 75 mph speed limits in semi-deserted parts of Texas. Assuming that the Tea Party is not against, Rick Perry is expected to sign it. So get ready to put the pedal to the metal, Texas, and try to imagine what it must have been like in t ... More >>

Sonogram Bill Signed: Three White Guys Sitting Around Talking

Sid Miller knows best.​Texas, you may now consider yourself even more safe when it comes to women abortin' babies just `cause they feel like it. Governor Rick Perry, in a big ceremonial show, signed into law the bill that mandates women seeking abortions must undergo sonograms. His official ... More >>

Rebecca Forest: Tea Party Leader Tells Austin Rally There's Too Many Hispanics in Legislature

This weekend saw another thrilling right-wing rally in Austin, and in this one Rebecca Forest, a co-founder of an immigration group called Women on the Wall, offered a unique take on why Texas can't get hard-core legislation passed like Arizona and Alabama. If you want to know why we can't pass leg ... More >>

Miracle Faker

Rick Perry is right: America can learn from Texas. He's just wrong about what the lesson is.

Pop Rocks: A Few (Updated) Non-Pokemon Speeches for Herman Cain

"Over?"​It was fun (to watch) while it lasted, but Herman Cain officially "suspended" his Presidential campaign last weekend. The former Godfather's CEO had long been dogged by accusations of sexual harassment (to say nothing of his unfamiliarity with the Libyan crisis or how to pronounce "Uzb ... More >>

Rocks Off Picks The GOP Theme Songs

​Now that the Iowa Caucus has narrowed down the field a bit, we would like to take this opportunity to offer some advice to the remaining candidates for the Republican nomination to vie with president Obama in the November election. What you guys need is some catchy theme songs, and we have so ... More >>

Comment of the Day: A Rick Perry Supporter Baffled By Whole "Sarcasm" Concept

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

Is Texas Going to Have a Primary? Redistricting Maps Go Back to Drawing Board

Maps are hard.​The Texas primary is allegedly a little more than two months away, but some people still don't know what congressional or state-legislature district they're in, and the people running for those seats don't know who to court. The U.S. Supreme Court today rejected a redistricting ... More >>