The Midday Brief: Top Texas Headlines for Feb. 18, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "As a group of Wisconsin Democrats camp outside their state in hopes of stalling an anti-public union bill, veterans of such high-stake showdowns see numerous challenges ahead. The media coverage will be suffocating; the urge to cut a deal will be compelling; the lack of sex will be, well, unsettling. Seriously." — Texas Dems To Fleeing Wisconsin Lawmakers: 'Call Your Spouses For Conjugal Visits', The Huffington Post

• "The Texas Attorney General is using a Rockwall County grand jury to investigate allegations of voter fraud in Dallas County, essentially sidestepping Democratic District Attorney Craig Watkins’ office." — Texas Attorney General using Rockwall County grand jury to investigate voter fraud in Dallas County, The Dallas Morning News

• "State law forbids political officeholders from raising money during a legislative session, but there's no such ban on political parties. So the Texas Republican Party is throwing a fundraiser next month featuring the state's big three GOP leaders — Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus and 'many of our statewide elected officials and state legislators.' It's a chance for lobbyists and anybody else with interests before the state to spend some quality time with influential policy makers, who will benefit from the fundraising the next time they seek office." — Big budget crisis? Hey, it's party time in Texas, Trail Blazers

• "The legislative session is rife with hard-line partisan battles, but one issue — protecting animals — has united lawmakers from the far right and left of the political spectrum." — Parties find common ground on animal-rights legislation, The Dallas Morning News

• "U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder cautioned Thursday that it is too soon to say if the killers who gunned down two U.S. federal agents in Mexico were carrying out a hit ordered by underworld leaders — one of the scenarios under investigation." — Was underworld behind attack on ICE agents?, Houston Chronicle

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "Only months ago, Texas lawmakers threatened to drop out of Medicaid. Now, Texas and other financially struggling states are asking Washington for permission to operate the program as they see fit. The feds are unlikely to agree — further fueling the fire behind the state’s anti-Washington, state-sovereignty rhetoric." — Texas Seeks Medicaid Waiver, but Prognosis Is Poor

• "What’s in a name? The Texas Railroad Commission — and the elected officials who run it — may soon find out." — Energy or Railroad: Are the Politics Different?