Barton denies he is using opposition research to upend Upton challenge

The Hill ^ | 11-11-10 | Darren Goode

[tulloss]

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) is denying that he has used opposition research in an effort to undermine a rival in the race for the chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Media outlets have reported that Barton helped orchestrate an anonymous analysis of Rep. Fred Upton's (R-Mich.) voting record that conservative activists are using to argue Upton is too moderate to lead the committee.

[tulloss]

Sorry about reposting this article....This time, I'm doing so only to let Freepers know that the Hill apparently censors some comments and not others. Quite a few vitriolic posts from the left...yet last night they apparently deemed the following post unprintable: "Actually, there is no bigger special interest than Big Government. And there's no one better able to make fuel abundant and cheap than Big Energy. And for the record, my only connection to Big Energy is that I use a lot of it." They also censored a second post, though hopefully they can be shamed into publishing it yet.....(if you see a post referencing logical fallacies, you can assume they've been shamed into posting it--though I won't hold my breath.) In a way, I don't even blame these people. Like so many others from today's media, the Hill journalists have been saturated in bias since they entered journalism school...it takes an almost super-human ethos to come out untainted.

[Ann Archy]

He wrote and voted for the END OF OUR LIGHT BULBS!!! That is ALL we need to know!!

[Fred]

Pathetic whining liberal staffers of Upton’s up to no good.

[Ann Archy]

The THOUGHT of having a LIBERAL Republican heading a committee makes me sick.

[darkwing104]

Don't need too. The Bum's record speaks for itself.

[marron]

I don’t want Upton serving on the Energy committee. He has already shown who he is.

I’ve got nothing against the supposed high efficiency lightbulbs. I don’t care if you want to use them in your house; I’ve got them in mine.

And that should be Washington’s position on the subject. Its not their job to make those kinds of decisions. I’m not surprised if a Dem doesn’t know that. I expect a Repub to know it, though.

We need an honest push for energy independence; it is the only way we will turn this economy around. We send half a trillion a year out of the country buying fuel. We need to spend that here, putting our own people to work, and paying into our own tax base.

One of the most important things we need to do is to get EPA under control. They cannot be a law unto themselves. If they lend themselves to some kind of economic central planning through the back door its time to trim their wings.

[rocksblues]

If Upton gets voted to this chairmanship it will show that it’s still politics as usual to the Republicans.

[Dryman]

Barton is a Weasel. Upton looks bad.

As long as neither head the committee we are ok.

[SaraJohnson]

Liberals have been keeping control of the GOP with these kinds of anti-conservative tatics for a long time now. Good to see the other side of the room engage in the game. As Obammy seys - the rinos need to get to the back of the bus. They have had their chance and drove into a ditch.