Yes, yes it is. And that is probably why he kept his seat on Energy and Commerce. If you were a fly on the wall of the closed-door meeting yesterday that resulted in Joe Barton's keeping his cherished ranking member spot on Energy and Commerce, you would have no doubt heard his Big Oil PAC $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ talking.
On Monday, (HuffPo) Ryan Grim recounted this interesting story angle ~ Joe Barton: The Vultures Circle
"K Street is watching closely. If Barton is booted from the top spot this session or next, the Energy and Commerce staff may see heavy turnover. GOP aides both on the Hill and off told HuffPost that under the leadership of David Cavicke, the committee's staff has become difficult to work with and has been unable to rein in the more erratic impulses of Barton. Energy and Commerce, under then-Rep. Billy Tauzin, was once known as one of the most politically effective GOP units, with Ken Johnson leading the communications effort. When Barton took over, he had the well-regarded Bud Albright running the staff. Albright went on to become an undersecretary at the Department of Energy and is now a lobbyist with CenterPoint Energy. Johnson went on to run communications for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).
Exhibit A in the case against Cavicke is Barton's disastrous apology to BP, which was made in prepared remarks, the kind that are generally read and approved by senior staff. The apology to BP came after GOP leadership urged Republicans to be careful in their rhetoric and not give Democrats any video clips they could exploit. They didn't think to add: Don't apologize to BP. "His staff sucks," said one GOP lobbyist. "How you could have a prepared statement apologizing to the most hated CEO on planet earth is mind boggling.""
But Howie Klein really lifts the curtain on why GOP leadership lobbied so hard this week to keep Joe Barton happy ~ downwithtyranny - Joe Barton shares his legalistic bribes from Big Oil with lots of GOP candidates thru the shady Texas Freedom Fund - Joe Barton Sticking His Oily Fingers Into Arkansas Politics
"Our friends at Blue Arkansas have started looking closely at who's been financing Karl Rove protégé, Tim Griffin, in his bid to take over Vic Snyder's congressional seat in central Arkansas. And they found something very interesting, a shady outfit called the Texas Freedom Fund has contributed a grand towards Griffin's campaign. It didn't take much digging for Blue Arkansas to figure out who and what the Texas Freedom Fund is.
If you've been following the news lately, you couldn't possibly have missed thedustup over Congress' most oily member, Joe Barton (R-TX). Turns out he's the sole owner of the Texas Freedom Fund and he uses it to funnel vast sums of cash from Big Oil executives and lobbyists into competitive campaigns around the country, particularly into campaigns where filthy oil money might prove embarrassing to the recipients. Now, keep in mind that Barton has taken more money from Big Oil than any other member of the House-- by far: $1,447,880, so far. And after his performance last week, apologizing to B.P. for being made to clean up their mess in the Gulf, there's every reason to believe that his own personal gusher will keep flowing strongly. As the Ranking Member of the House Energy Committee he is in a position to make sure the Oil Industry's agenda becomes official policy."