The Midday Brief: Jan 27, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "House Republicans took advantage of their newfound majority status by hauling President Obama's chief regulator to Capitol Hill to defend the administration's actions." — Lawmakers clash over environmental regs, Texas rebellion against EPA, Texas on the Potomac

• "The two are the former Solomon Ortiz seat won by Blake Farenthold and the former Ciro Rodriguez seat won by Francisco 'Quico' Canseco. Obama carried the Rodriguez seat by 51% in 2008 and the Ortiz seat by 53%." — Sabato’s “Crystal Ball” rates two TX GOP seats as vulnerable, BurkaBlog

• "In spite of tough talk from conservatives led by Gov. Rick Perry hinting that Texas might be better off pulling out of Medicaid, for example, the truth is the states are bound up by the federal health care straightjacket, making even little movements nearly impossible." — TX GOP lawmakers push for free-market health care reforms; federal rules place a straightjacket on changes, Texas Watchdog

• "A Dallas County racial discrimination case involving the district attorney’s office ended this week in a win for the county — and a voter fraud allegation left unresolved." — Dallas County racial discrimination complaint against DA leads to voter fraud allegation, The Dallas Morning News

New in The Texas Tribune:

• Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams joined Texas Tribune Editor-in-Chief and CEO Evan Smith for a TribLive event this morning in Austin. Williams made it official that he's running for the U.S. Senate in 2012. He discussed race, the border, global climate change (he doesn't believe humans are a factor) and the Tea Party. — TribBlog: Michael Williams Liveblog

• The state representative and anesthesiologist from Simonton on why he filed the House's first bill to implement a key piece of federal health-care reform and was the first in his party to openly suggest that dropping out of Medicaid wasn't such a great idea after all. — John Zerwas: The TT Interview

• "For mental health and retardation centers like Round Rock's Bluebonnet Trails, state budget cuts will have a direct effect on the number of people they serve — and help keep in school or employed and out of state hospitals and emergency rooms." — Texas Budget Cuts Could Shrink Mental Health Help