Straus, Coleman, Masset, and Eiland

House Speaker Joe Straus on his first committee assignments: "I tried my best to be fair."

Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, on Straus' effort: "This is the kind of thing you could nitpick all day long, you know?"

Republican consultant Royal Masset, quoted in a Dallas Morning News story on GOP squabbling over federal spending to boost the economy: "People are forgetting that Republicans were the ones who floated the great bailout that started this whole thing. It's not exactly like this is a Democratic plot to make the world safe for socialism."

Rep. Craig Eiland, D-Galveston, quoted in the Galveston County Daily News on a plan to rebuild UT-Medical Branch to survive future hurricanes and flooding: "The only thing that will be left on the first floor would be Starbucks and couches."