U.S. House of Representatives

Texas Lawmakers Vote to Lift Restrictions on Craft Breweries

On Friday afternoon, at 4:07 p.m., a round of applause and cheers wafted down from the balcony seats in House of Representatives as a five-pack of craft beer bills were passed with five thick slams of the gavel. It was technically the second vote of three, and the third, as a matter of formality, sh ... More >>

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 >>

Vouchers Suffered a Blow in the Texas House, but "Vouchers" Definitely Are Still in Play

Yesterday the State House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 1, a new state budget of $193.8 billion, by a lop-sided vote of 135-12. One of the more surprising parts of the bill's passage is the approval of an anti-private school voucher amendment, passed by a vote of 103-43. The amendment, spo ... 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 >>

Here's Why Ticket Prices are So Outlandish, and a Modest Proposal to Change That

Ticket prices are getting a little silly, wouldn't you agree? The smaller venues are doing a great job of holding them down (it cost me less than a cheap meal for three hours' of the Melvins and Unsane last year), but at your larger scale venues they long ago passed the $50 mark and kept climbing. I ... 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 >>

Five Texas Takeaways from Election Night

Now that our election night hangovers have been slept off, we can now cut through the chatter and attempt to forecast what last night's election results mean to you, Dear Reader. Dallas County is really, really blue Republicans had a strong showing in local legislative races, easily fending off cha ... 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 >>

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

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 >>

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 >>

No, Domingo Garcia Does Not Live 33rd District. But Neither Do Many of His Rivals.

View You too can see if your candidate lives in the Texas 33rd Congressional District When the polls close on the Democratic primary for Texas' new 33rd Congressional District, surprisingly few of the nearly dozen candidates will have cast a vote for themselves. We received a note from a Friend of ... 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 >>

How To Not Get Deported

So, you're an undocumented immigrant. Your great hope is to stick around, make a living and, some day, become naturalized. Unfortunately, our immigration laws are a tangled morass of inscrutability, insensible to the realities of a globalized world. You may have watched last week's Republican deba ... More >>

State Maps Stayed, Texas AG Abbott Now Wants Supremes to Delay Candidate Filing Period

Carol Kent's hoping to run for House Disrict 107, if there is a House Distict 107.​As we were leaving the office Friday, word came down that Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (and former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement) got what they wanted from the U.S. Supreme Court: a ruling that, for now, ... More >>

Ex-Channel 5 Reporter Stinchfield Now Out to Expose the "Idiocracy" in D.C. ... As a Politician

This morning, MediaBistro directs our attention to Uncle Barky's item from yesterday about former KXAS'er Grant Stinchfield, who, after seven years on the job, left the NBC owned-and-operated in April so he could run for the U.S. House of Representatives. Stinchfield, whose wife Amy Vanderoef co-hos ... 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 >>

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 >>

Oh, and Happy 100th Birthday, Ebby Halliday

As I was heading out, a Friend of Unfair Park wondered if I was going to that Ebby Halliday wingding underway at the Meyerson. No, hadn't planned on it. Too fancy. Nevertheless, it reminded me: Pete Sessions stopped down the U.S. House of Representatives and C-SPAN today to wish the Dallas real-esta ... 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 >>

Before Mayoral Candidates Make Issue Out of Political Affiliations, a Look at Who's What

During the 2007 mayoral campaign, former city council member Ed Oakley sent out mailers depicting himself and convicted felon Don Hill as Democrats and Tom Leppert and former Mayor Pro Tem Max Wells as Republicans. Oakley also accepted the endorsement of the Dallas County Democratic Party and printe ... More >>

Yahoo! Them Huddled Masses Sure are Good for Texas!

Mass deportation, strict border enforcement, amnesty. What will comprehensive immigration reform look like if the feds take action--or if they don't?

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 >>

Will Senate Hopeful Bill White Consider Jumping Into the Governor's Race if Kay Bailey Hutchison Keeps Her Seat? We're Still Not Sure, and We Asked Him Four Times.

Photos by Sam MertenHouston Mayor Bill White's speech Saturday afternoon in Plano was, initially, as insipid as the front of the brochures handed out at the door touting his experience as a Sunday school teacher. "I'm here to work for you, and that's about it," White said at the Baker Bros American ... More >>

Rep. Jeb Hensarling's Feelings Upon Bailout Bill's Passage: "Resignation, Relief, Doubt, Hope and Fear."

Never, Ever Volunteer

Mark Cuban: What Bailout?

Going Dow, Dow, Down: Localizing the Stock Market Plunge

Whatever Happened to That Presidential Library Disclosure Bill, Anyhows?

Southwest's Up and Down Day

Hunt-ing Season

The China Syndrome

Double Trouble

A new gay LULAC chapter fights discrimination on two fronts

Re: Van the Man?

Van the Man? Or, Not So Much?

A Taxing Situation

Unfair Park, Brought to You By AT&T?

Seriously Kinky

This Texas Jewboy wants to be the next governor of Texas, and if you think he's kidding, the joke may be on you

Letters

Oklahoma Snubbed

Dems bolt for Albuquerque

Broken Body, Wounded Soul

John Garfield coulda been a contender

Swing Vote

Think all politics is local? In the 5th District, think again.

Hash Over

Order in the cork

Letters

The B word

For women in the public eye, there's no end to the verbal abuse