As you can see by this post, if you follow the money, it's easy to see why Joe Barton "boss hog" on the COPE bill. You could also describe Barton as AT&T's overpaid and way over-rated CEO Ed Whitacre's bully-boy on the Hill and you wouldn't be wrong.

Joe even looks a bit like Boss Hogg, no?

I reckon it's all that money they got in common.