The Evening Brief: July 5, 2012

Culled:

• Texas Has The Worst Health Care Services In The Nation, Agency Says (The Associated Press): "A scorecard issued by a federal agency has ranked Texas health care services and delivery as among the worst in the nation. The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality issued the ratings as part of a national review of state health care programs. In nine out of 12 categories Texas rated weak or very weak. The only area where Texas ranked good was in maternal and child health care measures."

• Congressman criticizes DOJ for hiring Democratic group: "U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, today criticized U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder about a decision to hire an organization that he said was too partisan to work with the U.S. Department of Justice on the Texas voter ID case, which is set to go to trial next week in Washington, D.C."

• Ron Paul launches a new crusade for internet freedom (Houston Chronicle): "Rep. Ron Paul, longtime advocate of dismantling the Federal Reserve Bank and the Social Security system, has added a new cause to his list: internet rights. Ron Paul, working with his son, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., has now written an online manifesto called 'The Technology Revolution: A campaign for liberty manifesto.'"

• Domingo Garcia, Marc Veasey to square off in televised District 33 runoff debate: "The two Democrats vying to represent the newly created Congressional District 33 will participate in a televised debate next week, only three weeks out from the much-anticipated July 31 runoff."

New in The Texas Tribune:

• In Official Count, Peña Nieto Remains Ahead of Challengers: "Election officials in Mexico are moving forward with the official count of the ballots cast in Sunday’s presidential election. Early results indicate that Enrique Peña Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or the PRI, remains ahead of his challengers."

• Why STEM Matters: A Virtual Roundtable with Educators, Experts: “STEM,” an acronym for “Science, Technology, Engineering and Math,” is a term that is becoming increasingly common across education circles. It is often followed by the word “crisis.” Why is it so important? We put the question to several key Texans in the field.