In just a week, Gov. Greg Abbott seems to be taking on all comers.

First, in an interview on Fox News, Abbott blasted the National Football League for, as he put it, trying to make Texas "come to heel" on enacting a so-called bathroom bill that will require Texans to use only the loo that corresponds to the sex on their birth certificate.

Now, he's not saying the measure will pass, and he's not endorsing it, but he thinks the NFL should stop criticizing Senate Bill 6. If they don't, he might just pass a bill requiring NFL players to stand and put their hand over their heart when the Star Spangled Banner is played.

He also wants the House to shape up and put additional funding into pre-K programs in Texas, just weeks after he implored lawmakers in his State of the State speech to either properly fund those programs or not fund them at all. Many lawmakers shrugged off that offer by saying they'd pass on funding them.

And while Abbott was making his opinions known on those issues known, his close ally, Attorney General Ken Paxton, under indictment and facing a May court date on felony securities fraud charges, was facing likely possibility of not one, but two, trials on the pending charges.

As the Paxton legal drama unfolded, the Senate approved an ethics reform bill designed to make officeholders more accountable, the San Antonio offices of state Sen. Carlos Uresti were raided by the FBI and IRS as part of a wide-ranging fraud investigation. State Rep. Dawnna Dukes, D-Austin, is already facing criminal charges from a January indictment for alleged official misconduct.

Hear all about that and everything else going on under the Pink Dome  on this week's Texas Take: The Podcast -- the leading political podcast in the Lone Star State -- where you get the inside scoop about what the Legislature is up to, in simple language every Texan can understand.

Call it the week of the throwdowns.

First came Gov. Greg Abbott, blasting away at Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez and the "liberal Austin city" that he blames for allowing a wrong-headed "sanctuary city" policy to take hold, a policy he wants to ban under a new law wending its way through the Legislature. He also wants to punish violators.

Then, there was Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who went off on opponents of his so-called "bathroom bill" that would allow Texans only to use the loo for the sex listed on their birth certificate. Polls and economic estimates that claim the new law would be a disaster for the Lone Star State are flat wrong, and Patrick insists he will have enough votes to pass it through the Senate this year -- even though by most accounts he has only 15 of the 19 needed.

Next up: President Trump, who suggested (perhaps jokingly) that he might ruin the career of an unnamed Texas senator, after an East Texas sheriff suggested the lawmaker was wanting to make it more difficult for lawmen in Texas to seize assets from criminal defendants until a conviction occurred in a criminal case. The senators who have bills on the subject all pointed fingers at each other as the one Trump was referring to.

And then there was U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, claiming during a Senate speech in Washington that Democrats were the party of the Ku Klux Klan, during the fight over confirming U.S. Jeff Sessions as attorney general. Democrats tried unsuccessfully to block the nomination, and at one point the Republican majority invoked a rule to cut off Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren from an old anti-Sessions letter from Coretta Scott King, the widow of civil rights icon Martin Luther King.

Hear all  about the liberal cities, the bathroom votes, the Klan and all the other throwdowns on this week's Texas Take: The Podcast -- the leading political podcast in the Lone Star State -- where you get the inside scoop about what the Legislature is up to, in simple language every Texan can understand.

The arguing and fighting of Washington has come to Austin.

Gov. Greg Abbott's State of the State speech, where he gently lectured the House and Senate to approve more money for Pre-K and child-protection programs, has some lawmakers rolling their eyes over where the additional money is going to come from, when the budget already faces a significant shortfall.

A Senate hearing on a bill to ban so-called "sanctuary cities" was quickly and repeatedly interrupted by vocal protests from the public gallery, with hundreds of witnesses still waiting to register their opposition, including law enforcement groups that a key constituency of the Republican leadership.

School choice? There's wide disagreement among lawmakers on the controversial issue, even in the Senate where the leadership has tagged it as a must-pass issue.

The bathroom bill? Ditto.

On the Convention of States that Abbott supports to rein in the federal government, even Republicans are not all on board with the concept.

Just three weeks into the legislative session, a lot of disagreement about a lot of issues is building fast.

And back in Washington, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn jumps to the defense of his junior colleague, Ted Cruz, a guy with whom he seldom sees eye to eye.  He defended him from none other than U.S. Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat who most recently yucked it up with former Texas Gov. Rick Perry at a public hearing over, of all things, a couch.

Hear about the couch and sanctuary cities and all the Austin eye-rolling in this week's Texas Take: The Podcast -- the leading political podcast in the Lone Star State -- where you get the inside scoop about what the Legislature is up to, in simple language all Texans can understand.

 A cringeworthy joke it was, for sure, but conservative Texas Republican Rick Perry and liberal Minnesota U.S. Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota nearly brought down the house during Perry's confirmation hearing in Washington.

"Thank you so much for coming into my office. Did you enjoy meeting me?" deadpanned Franken, the former Saturday Night Live comedian. Perry responded: "I hope you are as much fun on that dais as you were on your couch."

"May I rephrase that, sir?" Perry quipped, breaking down in laughter, as did the rest of the audience and normally serious senators. "Well, I think we've found our Saturday Night Live sound bite."

While Washington types were yucking it up over that exchange, Democrats were angrily boycotting President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration -- and Trump was busy asking them to return their tickets so all his supporters could attend the festivities.

Dissent was boiling in Austin, where a split between Senate and House leaders over the proposed budget and the controversial bathroom bill appeared to widen.  Then throw in the indictment on ethics charges of a House member, a Democrat from Austin, and a controversial poll of Texas muslims by a freshmen representative who's concerned about radical Islam.

Texas politicians are rarely boring, and this week was no exception. You really can’t make up stuff this good. Get the inside scoop and behind-the-scenes insights about the legislative session in Austin and the doings in Washington  in this week's Texas Take: The Podcast -- the leading political podcast in the Lone Star State. 

There's no couch in our studio.

As expected, the "Texas Privacy Act" has quickly touched off arguments, triggering a lengthy debate while the House was trying to establish its operating rules.

The Senate was quickly enmeshed in a snit of its own, over whether to restore a rule deleted two years ago that would have given Democrats say in what bills are considered for debate. Not surprisingly, the Republican majority deep-sixed that idea in short order.

In a week when Lt. Gov. Patrick announced he will not run for governor against incumbent Greg Abbott -- and then endorsed Abbott even though Abbott has not said whether he will run for reelection, the focus of most discussion under Austin's pink dome was how the state will make ends meet with a billion-dollar shortfall.

One group of House members thinks that President-elect Donald Trump should help, reimbursing the state for the $2.8 billion that Texas taxpayers have spent in recent years because the federal government was not keeping the border secure.

But the real gem of the week may be this: A move is afoot to designate the cannon as the official state gun, right along with the official state flower and state bird and state fish . Gotta love it. Why would anyone want to shoot a pistol if they could fire a cannon?  Seriously.

Texas politics are never boring. Get the inside scoop and behind-the-scenes insights about the upcoming legislative session in this week's Texas Take: The Podcast -- the leading political podcast in the Lone Star State

And the only one with  Second Amendment ring to its intro.

The "Texas Privacy Law," legislation that was known at various times in the past year as the Transgender Bathroom Bill and the Women's Privacy Act, has finally been filed -- setting up what promises to become one of the most contentions issues of the upcoming legislative session.

Texans will have to use the restroom for the gender on their birth certificate, and violators could face hefty fines enforced by none other than Attorney General Ken Paxton, who would become the state's top cop for toilets in government buildings and schools.

Those who commit crimes in the wrong head could face enhanced penalties. Read that 15 years in prison for some violations.

If that weren't enough to hold the Legislature's attention, state revenues promise to billions of dollars short of what state programs need, a proposal to require burial of fetal remains and other controversies promise to rachet up the debate under the Pink Dome when lawmakers convene next Tuesday for their every-other-year meeting.

Get the bottom line on what's getting ready to happen, and to whom.

Texas politics are never boring. Get the inside scoop and behind-the-scenes insights about the upcoming legislative session  in this week's Texas Take: The Podcast -- the leading political podcast in the Lone Star State.

A reality star picks a reality star, as President-Elect Donald Trump picks former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to serve in his cabinet as the nation's energy czar. Perry's nomination is sparking controversy and discussion.

As Gov. Greg Abbott gears up for the approaching legislative session, he is predicting that the state will have enough money to pay for everything it needs, even though revenues are down and the list of additional expenses keeps ticking upward.

He hopes a Trump Administration will be a boon to the Texas budget, because if Washington steps up to cover border-security expenses and reforms federal healthcare programs, the Legislature could have more cash to spend on its own pressing needs.

And that so-called 'bathroom bill" that Senate leaders want to keep men out of women's restrooms? Abbott seems lukewarm at present, just weeks before the legislative session begins, until her sees exactly what the legislation covers.

A holiday throwdown over whether a Killeen nurse's aide can have a door decoration that features a biblical message from the classic "A Charlie Brown Christmas' goes to court, an annual rite for state leaders who insist government should not be taking the Christ out of Christmas.

Get the bottom line on these and other hot-button issues facing the state.

Texas politics are never boring, and these topics and other behind-the-scenes insights about the upcoming legislative session are explored in this week's Texas Take: The Podcast -- the leading political podcast in the Lone Star State.

Will the Texas bathroom bill flush the state's economy down the toilet? A business group says yes, but supporters say no.

What's next with the state's growing foster-care crisis, which carries a huge price tag to repair, and should the state tell women to call 911 if they feel pressured to get an abortion?

Get the bottom line on these and other hot-button issues facing the state, along with a short summation by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz extolling the virtues of Texas queso over Arkansas cheese dip, a not-to-miss performance.

Texas politics are never boring, and these topics and other behind-the-scenes insights about the upcoming legislative session are explored in this week's Texas Take: The Podcast -- the leading political podcast in the Lone Star State.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is promoting his bathroom-protection bill with a poll he paid for that says a majority of all Texans  -- Republicans, Democrats and everyone else -- agree that the controversial bill is a good idea.

If you thought the upcoming legislative session might go smoothly, think again. A throwdown over property-tax cuts appears to be on the horizon, pitting the state against local taxing entities including cities and school districts.

Abortion will also be back, this time in the form of a bill to require fetal remains to be buried or cremated, in what quickly heated up the debate once again over women's rights. 

Facing a tight state budget, Texas will be hoping for some relief from the federal government in a Donald Trump era on the rising costs of healthcare and border security. But no one yet know whether that relief will come soon enough.

Texas politics are never boring, and these explosive topics and other behind-the-scenes insights about the upcoming legislative session are explored in this week's Texas Take: The Podcast -- the leading political podcast in the Lone Star State, with a much-watched Facebook Live video to boot. Saddle up and watch at Chron.com.

You can't make up stuff this good.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is back in the limelight, promising pitchforks and torches if the new Republican majority in Washington doesn't deliver on its promises to drain the swamp and make American politics work for the people again.

If the Washington establishment is feeling the heat from Donald Trump being president-elect, so could Texas lawmakers who are heading back into their biennial session starting in January. They face a growing list of issues -- including several on which the Senate and House already don't agree, such as school choice and transgender restrooms and fetal tissue.

Add to that list the fact that Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner will be heading to Austin seeing  a deal on pension reform in Texas' largest city, in a session where Democrats already are thinking Trump could end up being good for them if he secures the border so Texas can spend its billion-dollar allocation there on other state programs.

Texas politics are never boring, and these intriguing highlights and other behind-the-scenes insights are explored in this week's Texas Take: The Podcast -- the leading political podcast in the Lone Star State, with a much-watched Facebook Live video to boot. Saddle up and watch at Chron.com.