U.S. Congress

Why Plano-based Chinese Telcom Huawei Thinks It Has Been Frozen Out of the U.S.

Last fall, Huawei, the Chinese telecommunication giant whose U.S. base just happens to be in Plano, was the subject of intense scrutiny over fears that it might serve as a Trojan horse for cyber-spies in Beijing. Huawei, for its part, did little to allay fears by dummying up during a congressional i ... More >>

Obama, Bloomberg Groups Are Teaming Up for Dallas Gun Control Rally This Weekend

Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the advocacy group funded and founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is struggling to stoke the kind of grass-roots passion for gun regulation that has made its arch-nemesis, the NRA, such a political force. Organizing For America, the post-electoral version o ... More >>

Greg Abbott Wants To Make Texas' Interim (And Still Probably Unconstitutional) Redistricting Plan Permanent

As you may recall, Texas' 2011 plan to redraw political boundaries was so brazenly partisan, so undeniably bent on reducing minority influence, and the evidence was so mountainous and convincing that a federal court didn't even bother cataloging it all in its ruling against the state. "The parties h ... More >>

Ted Nugent is Going to the State of the Union, Thanks to Texas Congressman Steve Stockman

To say that rocker/maniac Ted Nugent is not a fan of Barack Obama would be something of an understatement. Take this quote, which he screamed to fans at a concert while brandishing a pair of machine guns: "Hey Obama, you might want to suck on one of these you punk," adding that the president is a " ... More >>

A Majority of Texans Favor an Assault Weapons Ban, But Their Politicians Don't

Texas, the Second Amendment bastion of sport shooters, concealed carriers and Stand-Your-Grounders, also favors a ban on assault weapons by a surprising margin -- 49 percent to 41 percent, according to Public Policy Polling. Texans oppose arming school teachers (56 percent to 31 percent), but also ... More >>

As the National GOP Leaps into the 20th Century, Ted Cruz and His Texas Pals Cling to the 19th

Last Thursday, New York Times conservative columnist David Brooks said Republicans, smarting from Mitt Romney's defeat, have learned their lesson and are undergoing what Brooks described as a "glasnost," a term defined by Merriam-Webster as, "a Soviet policy permitting open discussion of political a ... More >>

Congressman Ralph Hall is Almost 90, and Totally Unstoppable

On this Election Day, I pause to consider Representative Ralph Hall, the man from Fate, Texas. Not long after he is re-elected -- and he will be re-elected -- he will turn 90. Why am I so confident? Because Hall is, if nothing else, a survivor after more than 30 years spent inside the cage of howle ... More >>

John Jay Myers, Texas' Libertarian Senate Hopeful, Barred from KERA's Debate

Last night's Senate debate between Ted Cruz and Paul Sadler got surprisingly heated, with the two men snapping at each other about illegal immigration, healthcare, where Barack Obama was born and whether Ted Cruz is, in fact, a troll. Meanwhile, John Jay Myers, the Libertarian Senate candidate who ... More >>

How Texas Came Within an Atom's Breadth of Discovering the God Particle

Craig James Didn't Get Your Vote, But He'd Really Like it if You Chipped in a Couple Bucks to Pay off All That Campaign Debt

You remember Craig James, right? The SMU football star-turned ESPN broadcaster-turned stick-pin doll of Red Raiders everywhere? And how he ran for Senate and lost in embarrassing fashion? Well, losing that badly isn't cheap, and seeing as he doesn't really have a job at the moment, he's having trou ... More >>

FreedomWorks Will Bring Thousands of Tea Partyers to Dallas Next Week

You might remember FreedomWorks. In 2010, the nonprofit, established and funded by billionaire David Koch, helped shape a sprawling Tea Party movement into the force that swept a large number of very conservative Republicans into Congress. Call it grass roots, call it astro turf. For a hint, if on ... More >>

Breaking: Domingo Garcia's Dog Endorses Domingo Garcia For Congress

For months now, Domingo Garcia and Marc Veasey have been groveling before increasingly less significant public figures for endorsements in the race for the U.S. House seat stretching from Oak Cliff west to Ft. Worth. I thought that, with the July 31 runoff fast approaching, they had exhausted all en ... More >>

Texas Senators Demand EPA Review of Fracking Endangerment Order in Parker County

Six Republican members of the U.S. Senate -- including Texas' Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn -- have requested an investigation of the EPA's decision to accuse a natural gas producer of contaminating a North Texas water well. In a letter sent last week, the senators asked the EPA inspector ge ... More >>

Jason Roberts Won't Endorse. We Advise Marc Veasey and Domingo Garcia How to Woo the All-Important Hipster Vote

Now that the race for North Texas' newest congressional seat has officially been whittled down from a dozen to just two, it has transformed from an entertaining, no-holds-barred political cockfight with several amusing sideshows into a ethno-geographical scramble for endorsements. A mess, in other, ... More >>

The Modern Texas GOP, a Viper's Nest of Mao-Lovin' Commie Bastards

On the one hand, our former mayor and Republican primary candidate for the U.S. Senate, Tom Leppert, wasn't afraid to break GOP ranks and tell us that his fellow Republican opponent Ted Cruz is a known communist sympathizer. Amazing. On the other hand, now we also know that Leppert himself is a fel ... More >>

Five Questions for Mike Miles, DISD Superintendent (and Former Senate) Candidate

Yesterday, Mike Miles, an Army Ranger turned education reformer, was named the lone finalist for Dallas Independent School District's superintendent job. Today begins 21 days of tire-kicking, a mandatory waiting and vetting period before the district and Miles can officially wed. Plenty of people ... More >>

Meet the Race Car-Driving Conservative After Rep. Ralph Hall's Seat

America is in a pissy, irascible, throw-the-bums-out, anti-incumbent kinda mood. Even, apparently, if it means unseating a longtime congressman with some serious seniority and a choice committee chair. According to Charlie Cook over at the National Journal, there are some 22 House Republican primar ... More >>

In the Race for District 33, the Bank of Domingo is Open (but Not for Kathy Nealy)

It costs north of a million bucks to win a U.S. House seat these days. Winning District 33, the new DFW block carved out of the totally riveting and not at all arcane redistricting process, should cost considerably less, thanks to a shortened primary and probably noncompetitive general. Still: It wi ... More >>

Texas Lawmakers Bravely Stand For Astronauts' Rights ... To Hawk Space Souvenirs

NASA was perturbed when Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell auctioned his checklist from the ill-fated mission through Dallas-based Heritage Auctions back in December. So perturbed, in fact, that NASA general counsel asked the auctioneer to halt the nearly $400,000 sale so that proof of ownership could b ... More >>

Does the GOP really think Latino voters will buy Marco Rubio?

What's Occupying Tom Leppert

The Senate candidate doesn't like mobs of protesters. Someone alert the Tea Party.

The Barack Obama Show Hits Dallas

​Our Sara Kerens was on the Love Field tarmac when President Obama arrived yesterday; revisit that moment via this slide show. Then hop on over to the White House website, where all three of the president's Tuesday speeches are preserved -- not only his Eastfield College American Jobs Act remarks, ... More >>

Tom Leppert Responds (Sorta) to Mike Rawlings's Response to Ron Natinsky. Got That?

Photo by Patrick Michels​Really, it'll be like the day after Christmas when this mayoral campaign ends -- that sad, empty what-now. Who knew this morning's email from Dallas mayoral candidate Ron Natinsky would provide a small handful of highlights from an otherwise ho-hum campaign season.There wa ... More >>

It's Emmert v. Georgatos in May 17 Election to Determine Next Dallas County GOP Chair

​Wade Emmert's no longer on the fence about attempting to succeed Jonathan Neerman as Dallas County Republican Party chair. After telling us last week that he was interested in the position, he's now committed to running against current vice chair Debbie Georgatos (pronounced Jor-jah-tos). Pre ... More >>

National Review: Tom Leppert's "Mayoral Past May Hurt Him Still" During Senate Run

Via.Rand Paul and Tom Leppert in February​Since he quit being nonpartisan mayor to run as a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, Tom Leppert has certainly made his politics very clear: He's for drilling in the Arctic Wildlife National Refuge and a balanced-budget amendment, and against National P ... More >>

Legal, shmegal. We stole that chunk of Mexico fair and square.

Tom Leppert Among Republicans Urging Congress to Withdraw NPR's Funding

Who knew Leppert was so savvy with hashtags?​A couple hours after U.S. Senate candidate Tom Leppert tweeted what you see above, we contacted Leppert spokesman Shawn McCoy to find out why the former mayor supports eliminating public funding for National Public Radio. He said he'd talk to him an ... More >>

Tiffany Derry Defends For-Profit Culinary Schools

​Dallas chef Tiffany Derry this week dove into the maelstrom surrounding financial assistance at for-profit colleges, arguing in an essay for The Hill that the government is threatening the culinary arts by withholding loans from students enrolled in career schools. The Department of Educatio ... More >>

Is Dallas "Built Out," or Are City and County Officials' Priorities Completely Out of Whack?

​A little more than a week ago, the U.S. Census Bureau revealed that the city of Dallas barely grew between 2000 and 2010 -- by 0.8 percent, to be precise, though Matt Stiles and Emily Ramshaw, the Texas Trib'ers contributing to this morning's New York Times, are generous enough to bump it up to " ... More >>

Tom Leppert for Senate. Let's Talk About That.

​Dear Opposition Researchers working for U.S. Senate campaigns other than that of former-after-midnight Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert: Please contact me about the following things Leppert is going to say about himself in a campaign. First, he is going to say he led two successful referendum campai ... More >>

Hours Before He Becomes Mayor, Caraway Has Message for "Believers, Doubters and Critics"

​At midnight, Dwaine Caraway will erase the "pro tem" from his title and become, simply, Dallas Mayor. And though he will replace U.S. Senate candidate Tom Leppert for just a few months, Caraway tells Unfair Park this evening: "It's very humbling to be able to be in this position." He then goes on ... More >>

Reason No. 1,364 Why Tom Leppert's U.S. Senate Announcement is Imminent

The pic from McCoy's twitter account, which recently retweeted Leppert's thoughts about DOMA.​Tom Leppert has hired Shawn McCoy, the deputy communications director for the 2010 U.S. Senate campaign of Linda McMahon, whose website was designed by the same folks who are behind Leppert's. While i ... More >>

Mayor Leppert's Last Day is Friday

​Moments ago, after the last of the afternoon speakers came to the council chambers microphone to denounce Mayor Tom Leppert and the media one last time, the mayor said what we've known was coming since last night, if not well before: He's outta here."This will be my last city council meeting. Eff ... More >>

Circling the Dwaine, Countdown to Cara-watch, Day One, So It Begins, And ... Go

​Time to start a watch. I hereby declare this the beginning of the "How Totally Useless Are the Dallas City Council and Mayor?" watch. Day One. I wrote here yesterday about the huge dilemma City Hall faces with Dwaine Caraway, the council member who is next in line to fill the mayor's shoes shou ... More >>

Top 10 Mayor Tom Photos of '10

If 2010 turns out to be Mayor Tom Leppert's last full year in office before he attempts to snag Kay Bailey Hutchison's U.S. Senate seat in the March 2012 primary, it was certainly another productive year for the workaholic. Whoever takes his place has a lot to live up to as far as appearances go -- ... More >>

Yahoo! Them Huddled Masses Sure are Good for Texas!

Carla Ranger: Power to the People, Not the Dallas Independent School District Trustees

DISD trustee Carla Ranger​Last week we noted: Tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. at Dallas Independent School District HQ, the school board's set to hear how the public feels about extending trustees' terms from three to four years. You got something to say on the subject, now's the time to sign up -- deadline ... More >>

The News Has Endorsed Stephen Broden. But What Does the Paper Really Know About Him?

Texas GOP VoteRNC Chair Michael Steele and Stephen Broden​This afternoon, The Dallas Morning News endorsed Stephen Broden, the Republican vying for Democrat Eddie Bernice Johnson's seat in the U.S. Congress. Fascinating -- in no small part because Johnson has been the No. 1 purveyor of federal por ... More >>

No. 22 Can Also Hand Off Some Political Cash

Pro Football Hall of Fame​The great Dave Levinthal decamped from the City Hall beat in the spring of '09 for the Center for Responsive Politics, where we find this item of some local interest: Emmitt Smith, freshly minted Pro Football Hall of Famer, is also a generous federal-campaign contributor ... More >>

News & Notes With Tom Hicks, Mark Cuban, Luke Wilson and The Wyly Bros' Broker

Kit NelsonOne of Liverpool FC supporters' myriad posters advertising their disgust with Tom Hicks's asking price for the club​Some start-o-the-week news and notes while I roll a few fat blunts in preparation for this afternoon's Public Safety Committee meeting ...Remember when Tom Hicks said, why, ... More >>

Did You Know It's American Craft Beer Week? These Bars Do.

​As mentioned in Hophead a couple of weeks back, this week (May 17 to 23) is American Craft Beer Week. That item already mentioned the Texas Craft Brewers Festival Saturday night at the Dancing Bear Pub in Waco, but there are a few other ways to celebrate closer to home. This effort by the Brewer ... More >>

Iron Man 2 Will Lead To 3 And Probably 4, But That Doesn't Mean It's Good

Angela Hunt and Craig Holcomb: C'mon, Let's Hug It Out

Just Forget It

Move on folks, there was nothing to see in an ugly 2004

Democracy Inaction

Mr. Gonz doesn't go to Washington

Of men, meat, and money

Capital Grille lays it on thick

De Sade lite

Stage West presents a lighthearted romp through incest, bestiality, and necrophilia

Dynamic duo

Sapphic sistersslug it out with the mobin the terrific Bound

Gold diggers

The telecommunications bill brings out the greed in all of us