The Midday Brief: November 19, 2009

Your afternoon reading:  

• “The state, despite efforts to tighten background checks, still doesn't know for sure whether Child Protective Services employees are law-abiding and nonviolent.” — State doesn't know whether CPS workers are law-abiding, non-violent  — The Dallas Morning News 

• “The rumors, which have been making the rounds in Democratic circles for weeks, ‘couldn't be more wrong,’ Friedman said.” — Friedman debunking rumors that he might back Shami — PoliTex

• “It's the 25th anniversary of the federal Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, do you know where your U.S. Sentencing Commission is? If you guessed Austin, you're right.” —Doing 25 to Life — Austin Chronicle

• “The number of Texans behind on home loan payments has risen by more than a percentage in the last year.” — Report: Nearly 10% of Texas home loans in arrears — The Dallas Morning News

• “Texas leads the nation in the uninsured, with one out of four Texans—over six million—not having health insurance. Shapleigh, D-El Paso, says that makes Texas ‘ground zero’ in the national health care debate. ” — Shapleigh urges Reid to 'guarantee health care for all Texans' — Rio Grande Guardian

• “Is a loophole in our health insurance system costing the state millions in unnecessary spending or saving people’s lives in the Rio Grande Valley?” — Wealth Care — Texas Monthly (subscription required)  

• “Viewed through a political lens, such a decision is easy to demagogue. Critics rush to ask: Is she really running? Does she think she'll lose? Perhaps she really wants to remain in the Senate?” —MACKOWIAK: Hutchison always puts Texas first — Austin American-Statesman

New in The Texas Tribune:  

• “With 198 legislators on the ballot next year, there ought to be more fear in the air. But only a few are in obvious political trouble.” — Fight Club — The Texas Tribune

• “The State Board of Education — which occupies a uniquely political corner of state government — is starting to feel the heat.” — State (Board) of Agitation — The Texas Tribune

• “He picked up a phone book, flipped through the pages and saw an ad for a company that guaranteed fast loans. That’s when his ‘real horror story’ started.” — Debtors' Treadmill, Part One: Borrowed Time — The Texas Tribune