Even so, the collider’s powerful coalition of physicists, corporate moguls, and eager pols is charging for the federal coffers as if these were still the fat, happy 1980s. House of Representatives approved $434 million for the collider, $100 million less than SSC backers had requested. In one indication of fiscal uncertainty, the U. With new caps on domestic discretionary outlays, Congress is squeezing nickels like an unemployed steel-worker with two kids and a house payment. Ewing-despite the fact that nearly everywhere the collideristas look these days, they face the nagging Nineties reality of fiscal restraint. Barton and his band of fellow travelers pack more pork-producing clout than a barbecue hosted by J. It is a quest that would make Quixote envious. “It’s not a religion, ” Barton says of his campaign to build the collider in his House district. Barton is nearly rapturous about the “high-tech oasis, ” the research and development wonderland known in less spiritual terms as the Superconducting Super Collider, the biggest atom smasher-in fact, the biggest scientific instrument-ever. The glint in his eye is unmistakably Reaganesque, and his hands move as briskly as a sprightly conductor’s. But for a moment, the earnest and likable Republican transcends the mundane language of a backbencher for a rap from the soul. A weary aide, ostensibly listening in on things from a conspicuous corner of the room, nods off occasionally, adding a touch of ennui to Barton’s presentation. Wearing a maroon tie with three pens tucked neatly in the pocket of a starched blue shirt, the bespectacled Barton is no portrait of a power politician. Joe Barton is captivated by a vision of the promised land. IN THE PRIVACY OF HIS WASHINGTON OFFICE ONE DAY IN MARCH, TEXAS REP.
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