Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

Armed with 21st century technology, the time has come for every level of Texas government to fully reveal itself to those footing the bill. Taxpayers deserve, and should demand, more authority in how government spends tax dollars.

If an auto mechanic accidentally breaks your windshield while trying to repair the engine, he would never get away with billing you for fixing his mistake. On Wednesday, Medicare will start applying that logic to American medicine on a broad scale when it stops paying hospitals for the added cost of treating patients who are injured in their care.

The board voted 5-4 to hire Brian Guthrie, a budget and policy aide to Perry. Guthrie, who was one of three finalists for the job, also worked for Perry and the late Bob Bullock when they were in the lieutenant governor's office.

Since 2001, when the Legislature began allowing post-conviction DNA testing, Mr. Lindsey is the 19th person from Dallas County cleared through DNA, the most in the nation.

Despite the fact that Texas licensed more new physicians in 2007 than any other year, it ranks behind other states in the ratio of physicians per 100,000 population. The overall U.S. figure is 242 physicians per 100,000 people; in Texas, the number is 191 doctors for every 100,000 people.

The group worries that social conservatives on the 15-member board will insist that public schools teach the "weaknesses of evolution." The board plans to adopt new science curriculum standards next year.

Despite rising health care costs, the Travis County Healthcare District has consistently increased access to health care for eligible residents. But we face the numbing reality that overall health care needs of our community continue to rise.

More than 90 percent of nursing homes were cited for violations of federal health and safety standards last year, and for-profit homes were more likely to have problems than other types of nursing homes, federal investigators say in a report issued on Monday.

Texas A&M University freshmen whose family income doesn't exceed $60,000 have another incentive to do well in class -- free tuition.

We hope Texas legislators are paying attention, and resist the urge to add federal immigration enforcement to the list of local laws with which local officers already are charged. Likewise, we hope they try not to override local cities' and counties' policies regarding immigration.

Lawyers for eight corporate donors to the Texas Association of Business and for Austin lobbyist Mike Toomey quietly settled lawsuits last month brought by Democratic candidates who had claimed that corporate money was illegally used to defeat them.

Texas Youth Commission ombudsman Will Harrell identified 85 cases of alleged abuse or neglect that — according to the agency's own records — were closed without being investigated by the agency's administrative arm, the Youth Rights Division, or by any law enforcement agency, in violation of procedures.

Health insurance premiums across the country rose modestly this year and are expected to bump up 6.4 percent in 2009, according to two reports released this week. However, more workers are paying higher deductibles for fewer health benefits, the Kaiser Family Foundation survey released Wednesday found.

The Dallas County Community College District added 2,478 students to its roster this fall. The Collin and Tarrant county college districts added 914 and 1,648 respectively.

The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission turned down a proposal by Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, that would have compelled the state's five largest insurers to wait at least 30 days after filing for a rate increase before putting the higher premiums into effect.

A Republican appellate justice who once had political ties to Tom DeLay should remove himself from a case involving DeLay's associates, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle said.

Texas taxpayers spend $237 million a year to keep TYC in business. That amounts to $108,000 for each of the 2,200 kids in lockups, or $55,000 per youth including those on parole. As the number of offenders has dwindled, the number of administrators drawing salaries of $100,000 and more has grown from three to nine over the past 18 months.

As Texas legislators moved last month to try to include immigration enforcement in the responsibilities of local police departments, area officials insisted the differences between communities would make it almost impossible to implement those laws uniformly.

A lifelong gambler, Mr. McCain takes risks, both on and off the craps table. He was throwing dice that night not long after his failed 2000 presidential bid, in which he was skewered by the Republican Party’s evangelical base, opponents of gambling. Mr. McCain was betting at a casino he oversaw as a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and he was doing so with the lobbyist who represents that casino, according to three associates of Mr. McCain.

But Sweden took a different course than the one now being proposed by the United States Treasury. And Swedish officials say there are lessons from their own nightmare that Washington may be missing.