The Midday Brief: April 14, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

• "Aspects of Obama's plan for NASA over the next five years appear to favor NASA facilities and contractors in Florida and Colorado — battleground states in presidential elections. Texas remains a reliably Republican state in presidential contests." — Texans in Congress rally to protect Houston's Johnson Space Center — Texas on the Potomac

• “The adding in Texas begins with $13.5 million for the first phase of a pilot training complex for U.S. and NATO jets at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, all the way down to $40,000 for technology and equipment for the Bastrop Police Department.” — Goat research, marksmanship training for military among 'earmarked' Texas projects approved by federal lawmakers  — Texas Watchdog

• “In the end, it wasn't a referendum on lawsuit reform, and it wasn't even a referendum on gay Texans. I believe it was a referendum on civility and basic fair play.” — The curious case of Norma Chavez — Letters from Texas

• “Depending upon your point of view, Harris County is either the leader of the social conservative movement in Texas or is the millstone around the neck of the Republican Party of Texas, slowly choking off the oxygen and turning the state purple.” — Harris County Social Cons Rule the Day — Big Jolly Politics

• "Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is doing a Texas tour later this month, but you may not hear much about it because of contract restrictions." — Palin's Texas tour — Texas Politics

New in The Texas Tribune:

• “The Texas Democratic Party wants you to know that 49 percent of the people who voted in last month's GOP primary voted against Gov. Rick Perry.” — 2010: Reaching Across the Aisle?

• “Even as he plans his exit from one of the world's toughest jobs — mayor of Juárez, Mexico — José Reyes Ferriz still holds out hope that his city will return to its vibrant former incarnation and that thousands who have fled the violence there since 2007 will return as the economy improves.” — José Reyes Ferriz: The TT Interview