The Midday Brief: March 23, 2010

“We understand your desire to go home to Texas and spend more time with your family,” said the letter, obtained by POLITICO, which was signed by 20 Republicans from the House delegation. “Quite simply, there is no person more capable, more committed and more caring to stand up with John Cornyn and fight Texas’s fights in the U.S. Senate.” — Texas to Kay Bailey Hutchison: Don’t quit Senate — Politico

“Legal experts say it has little chance of succeeding because, under the Constitution, federal laws trump state laws.” — 13 attorneys general sue over health care overhaul — The Associated Press

"There are things that Kamchana doesn’t remember. This would include the period, six or so years ago, when she arrived in this country from Thailand and was moved from city to city so often she could not keep the names straight, much less spell or pronounce them." — The Lost Girls — Texas Monthly

“Employees at state-run centers who were arrested for felonies such as child rape and murder continued on the payroll to care for the mentally disabled, according to criminal fingerprint checks.” — Workers arrested kept jobs at Texas state schools — The Associated Press

“Mr. President, this is a big … deal,” he said, adding an adjective between big and deal that begins with ‘f.’” — At White House, Biden’s Expletive Caught on Open Mic — The New York Times

New in The Texas Tribune:

"Texas' wind power prowess is well known: Turbines have been popping up in West Texas like weeds, and the state now leads the rest of the country by a wide margin, with three times the amount of wind power installed as the next closest state, Iowa." — Don't Blow It

"When high-ranking officials of the Obama administration travel to Mexico today to discuss that country's role in combating border violence, one key member of the team will be missing: the commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection division of the Homeland Security Department." — Who's in Charge?

“The just-passed federal health care reform bill would prohibit states from dropping kids off the Children's Health Insurance Program and Medicaid until 2019. Texas budget writers used changes in CHIP eligibility to help balance the state's books in 2003.” — No CHIP Shot

 "This morning, President Barack Obama signed the health care reform bill into law. As promised, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott joined 12 other attorneys general in promptly filing a lawsuit challenging the law's constitutionality." — TribBlog: Read Abbott's Health Care Lawsuit