The Evening Brief: Feb. 12, 2013

Culled

•    Ted Nugent: 'I Will Remain Respectful' at Obama Speech (The Wall Street Journal): "Rock star and gun-rights supporter Ted Nugent arrived on Capitol Hill on Tuesday for President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, promising to 'remain respectful.'"

•    Steve Stockman says he won’t interrupt Obama’s speech (Houston Chronicle): "He may use the hashtag #YouLie while tweeting real-time responses to President Obama’s State of the Union speech tonight, but Texas Rep. Steve Stockman says he won’t under any circumstances verbally express his disapproval during the annual address."

•    Nancy Pelosi On Ted Nugent: 'I Don't Think That Highly' Of Congressman Who Invited Him (The Huffington Post): "The decision by Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) decision to invite controversial musician Ted Nugent to be his guest at Tuesday night's State of the Union address has become a bit of a distraction. … Elected to Congress for the second time this past November, Stockman is quickly carving out a niche as a theatrical, conservative firebrand unconcerned about traditions or the colleagues he rankles. One of those colleagues, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), had some sharp words for Stockman during an interview with The Huffington Post on Tuesday. 'I don't think about it at all,' she said of the Nugent invite. 'I am more concerned about Steve Stockman being here than Ted Nugent. Ted Nugent will leave. Steve Stockman will still be here.'"

•    Bill Nelson Scolds Ted Cruz At Hagel Debate (BuzzFeed): "The tenor of the Senate Armed Services Committee degenerated on Tuesday as the committee debated whether to send the nomination of Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense to a vote. After first-term Senator Ted Cruz, new to the committee, raised the question of whether or not Hagel has been taking money from 'radical and extreme groups' and of whether he has ties to Iran, Senator Bill Nelson scolded him."

•    Radio ad wars heat up as progressive group takes on Perry (The Dallas Morning News): "The Democratic group Lone Star Project has taken out its own small California radio ad apologizing for, as they call him, Governor Oops. The ad … attacks Rick Perry during his three-day California trip aimed at rounding up corporations that might relocate to Texas."

•    Stockman's 'Failometer' taken down (Politico): "Rep. Steve Stockman’s (R-Texas) 'Obama Failometer,' a 10-foot long billboard up in the Cannon House Office Building was taken down almost as soon as it went up on Tuesday. Stockman said that 'House officials' ordered the failometer — which calculates how badly the congressman believes the president has 'failed' in terms of creating jobs — to be removed from the hallway outside his office. It is now being displayed in his congressional office."

New in The Texas Tribune

•    Dallas County Urges Texas to Expand Medicaid: "Dallas County officials adopted a resolution on Tuesday morning urging Texas legislators to extend Medicaid benefits to impoverished adults under the Affordable Care Act."

•    Senate Panel Approves CPRIT Reform, "Scope-of-Practice" Bills: "The Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday approved a bill to reform the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas and the 'scope-of-practice' bill that would increase the prescriptive power of advanced practice nurses."

•    Texplainer: What Would Sequestration Mean for Texas?: Hey, Texplainer: All anyone is talking about right now is sequestration and the harm it might do to our government. How would Texas fare?