Some of the best #MuckReads we read this week. Want to receive these by email?  Sign up to get this briefing delivered to your inbox every weekend.

Liquid Assets, ProPublica

As the scramble to solve the water crisis in the West continues, this hedge fund manager thinks he has a solution: capitalism. But opponents worry that selling water to the highest bidder could price out the poor.

Amid federal gridlock, lobbying rises in the states, Center for Public Integrity

With Congress in a virtual gridlock, companies and special interests groups are increasingly turning their attention to states. In fact, they've beefed up their state-level efforts so much that lobbyists now outnumber state lawmakers 6-to-1, according to an analysis of lobbyist registration data from 2010 to 2014.

How Safe is Your Child?, New York Daily News

An investigation of New York's 11,513 licensed day care centers found rampant overcrowding putting children in serious danger. And while state suspensions of day care licenses have nearly tripled since 2011, it's almost impossible for parents to track complaints or violations reported about the facilities taking care of their children.

TSA official responsible for security lapses earned big bonuses, Reveal

A Transportation Security Administration official received his $183,000 salary and nearly $100,000 in performance bonuses, despite an abysmal TSA performance in covert security tests conducted by the Department of Homeland Security, this Reveal News investigation found.

The Executive Pay Cap That Backfired, ProPublica

Wealth and inequality have been major political issues during the presidential campaign. Among the myriad possible solutions to the problem, one stands out: reforming the federal tax code. But legislating through the tax code has been tried before. Allan Sloan explains how that reform went wrong.

The Trafficked, The Globe and Mail

In Canada, aboriginal people make up just 4 percent of the population, but they account for nearly half of the victims of trafficking, according to this Globe and Mail investigation. This is an in-depth look at how indigenous women and girls in Canada became the, "population most vulnerable to exploitation."