The Midday Brief: June 17, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

"The first Republican to speak [as BP chief executive Tony Hayward testified on Capitol Hill], Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), turned the heat on the White House, calling the BP escrow fund for cleanup a 'shakedown' and a '$20 billion slush fund.'" — 'Shakedown' remark causes uproar, Politico

"Cecile Richards, daughter of Texas' last Democratic governor, is making a fund-raising appeal for the man who wants to be its next one." — Cecile Richards fund-raising pitch: 'Bill White will make us proud', Texas on the Potomac

"Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will endorse seven Texas candidates today in what could be a sign that he’s building up a Texas network for another run at the White House." — Huckabee walks onto Texas playing field, First Reading

"More than two dozen Houston-area legislators put in writing their support Thursday for the University of Houston to gain admission to the Big 12 Conference." — Houston-area lawmakers make push for UH to join Big 12, Houston Chronicle

New in The Texas Tribune:

"In 2000, higher education in Texas languished compared to other states, and a plan was adopted to “close the gaps” by 2015. A decade later, the commissioner of higher education tells the Tribune that bold steps still need to be taken. But can we afford to take them?" — Raymund Paredes: The TT Interview

"More than 250,000 Texas homes, mostly in rural areas, don’t have access to high-speed internet, according to a new broadband services map commissioned by the Texas Department of Agriculture and released by Connected Texas. But federal stimulus money could extend the information highway to the most remote parts of the state." — Wilderness Wireless