Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Even as banks streamline programs to renegotiate troubled mortgages, efforts to help Texas homeowners are being hindered by the state's fast-track foreclosure process, according to housing counselors and government officials.

California regulators adopted the nation's first comprehensive plan to slash greenhouse gases Thursday and characterized it as a model for President-elect Barack Obama, who has pledged an aggressive national and international effort to combat global warming.

They will inherit the usual issues -- dirty air, dirty water, brownfields and red tides -- plus an unprecedented one. Obama has promised to cut back U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases -- a proposal that could set off an enormous political fight.

In Texas, 77,000 miles of state and federal highways have been constructed since the Texas Highway Department was created in 1917. Our road and bridge system was once described as the crown jewel of the 50 states. But after a decade of Grover Norquist government, Texas highways are now a mess.

When Barack Obama's transition team let out word that former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle would be his choice to run the Department of Health and Human Services and to quarterback his work on health reform, it signaled that Obama is serious about his campaign promise to make that issue a first-term priority.

Payday lenders basically deal with the working poor. People who can prove they have a job receive a small loan until their next payday. The annual percentage rate can range from 400 percent to 800 percent. That sounds ridiculous. But such loans can actually be cheaper than paying a utility reconnection fee or the penalty on a late rent payment.

Insured patients are sometimes hit with unforeseen charges after emergencies, when they are taken to the closest hospital regardless of whether the facility accepts their insurance. Consumers also may be billed after visiting in-network hospitals if they received treatment from medical providers who work there but don't participate in the same health plans. When that happens, insurers often pay part of the doctors' fees, and the physicians bill patients for the difference.

Branch is suggesting that some of the money designated for textbooks be used to purchase computers or other types of technology hardware so that more students can access lessons electronically. That makes sense. Students today must be prepared for a global community in which information changes very swiftly.

In creating a committee Thursday to explore a run for governor, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison sent her strongest signal yet that she's ready for a showdown against Gov. Rick Perry that would cost millions and sharply divide the Texas GOP.

America's young people may be educationally unprepared to fill the shoes of baby boomers soon to retire from the work force, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education asserted Wednesday.

With a fourth of Texans going without health insurance and a quarter of children living in poverty, Texas is among the worst states in a new ranking of Americans’ overall health.

Gov. Rick Perry's national trumpet blast of self-congratulation regarding Texas' fiscal responsibility would have been impressive had it not come the same day that the U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter to him documenting horrendous conditions in the state's 13 schools (homes, actually) for Texans who are mentally retarded.

Even though Texas is in much better financial shape than most states, budget watchers expect a pretty conservative estimate — meaning a tight budget — given the uncertain economy. Any revenue beyond the estimate generally would not be available for use until the 2012-13 budget.

Texas border institutions, including UTEP and EPCC, are among the most successful in the nation at enrolling and graduating Hispanic students like Rehling, according to an Exelencia in Education study to be released Thursday in Washington, D.C. And if Texas is to meet future needs for an educated work force, the study recommends, more universities should follow the example of border schools.

Texas transportation officials have sent the state's congressional delegation a $6.2 billion list of ready-to-go road projects on the chance a stimulus package is approved, including nearly $677 million for the Houston area.

Missing, for the most part, are long-range projects that experts say would do far more to solve Texas' and America's transportation problems, such as big urban transit expansions, comprehensive passenger rail service that could extend beyond the Northeast, or costly relief for backed-up freight corridors that have clogged highways in states like Texas.

The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday abandoned its push to revise two air-pollution rules in ways that environmentalists had long opposed, abruptly dropping measures that the Bush administration had spent years preparing.

The survey of 1,000 adults was taken Saturday through Monday and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The poll showed that most of those surveyed favored increasing government intervention in the economy, and half blamed lack of regulation for many of the nation's current woes.

More than 1,300 people were killed in Juárez in 2008. Let that sink in. It’s not just hit men and drug smugglers and corrupt policemen; it’s children, teenagers, innocent family members. They have been shot, burned, tortured, beheaded. Go to YouTube, search for “Juárez Sinaloa cartel,” and see for yourself how similar the violence is to what has transpired in Baghdad.

We've just elected a new President and Congress, and here in the Lone Star State, our lawmakers convene in just a few short weeks. The question looms: Will these state and federal leaders take action to address some of our nation's most serious ills? And, what can we do as individuals to take personal responsibility for our health?