Joe Barton News

Republican lawmakers pressed their case on Wednesday that new U.S. recommendations advising against routine mammograms for women in their 40s could be used to ration healthcare under reform legislation before Congress, a charge Democrats denied.

For Texas lawmakers in both parties, President Barack Obama's plan for Afghanistan offered something for everyone and not enough for many.

Dear Friend, Do you ever wonder what really goes on in Washington? You will often hear 30-second sound bites on the evening news.

"The percentage of Americans who believe global warming is happening has dipped from 80 to 72 percent in the past year, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, even as a majority still support a national cap on greenhouse gas emissions," the Washington Post reports.

If You Hate the Bowl Championship Series. . . . . . now you can blame George Bush : College Football's Bowl Championship Series has turned to Ari Fleischer, the former press secretary to President George W. Bush, to spiff up its image.

Michael Mann Dr. Michael E. Mann, famed originator of the " Hockey Stick " graph, is now officially under investigation by his current employer, Penn State University.

The Minority Media & Telecommunications Council is opposed to the FCC's collection of Social Security numbers as part of an expanded media ownership reporting form .

Because they know their constituents prefer pictures to facts, Republican opponents of health care reform love to provide visuals of to back up their claim that the Democrats' health care reform bill is so long, my goodness, it's unwieldy and dangerous and shouldn't be passed.

In this Nov. 7, 2009, file photo Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., picks up a copy of the House health care bill HB-3962 after he wheeled it up the steps to the House more... FILE - In this Saturday, Nov.

In this Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009, file photo Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., pulls a copy of the House health care bill, pages taped end-to-end, through the crowd during a rally against health care reform on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Here's how area members of Congress voted on major issues in the week ending Nov.

NEWS : Some thoughts on biking . Half of all aboriginal villages surveyed must be moved .

Supporters of Taiwan in the U.S. Congress on Friday pushed for President Barack Obama to move toward selling arms to the island, a step that would likely set back warming U.S. ties with China.

The Democratic-controlled House voted Tuesday to add more than $200 billion to the deficit to prevent steep Medicare payment cuts to doctors, a move Republicans denounced as a political payoff.

Rep. Heath Shuler inserted a statement into the Congressional Record during the House health care reform debate that parroted language provided by lobbyists for a large biotechnology company, his office acknowledged Wednesday.

Last year's presidential election was the first in which both major-party candidates acknowledged carbon's role in global warming.

The New York Times reported over the weekend that dozens of statements from members of congress printed in the Congressional Record during the House debate on health care "were ghostwritten, in whole or in part, by Washington lobbyists working for Genentech, one of the world's largest biotechnology companies." "E-mail messages obtained by The New ...

Gov. Rick Perry has been campaigning against Washington, and Washington is returning the favor - no endorsements here.

Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, committed climate-change denier, found himself in just such a position Tuesday morning as the Senate environment committee, on which he is the ranking Republican, took up legislation on global warming.

Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, ranking Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, set out a startling scenario in floor debate Saturday before the House approved the health care bill pushed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.