The Midday Brief: Aug. 10, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

"The rise of the Tea Party movement raises an interesting question about the place of religious faith in our political debate. For a long time, the Christian right has been in the driver's seat in advancing conservatism. But the Tea Party is more Ayn Rand than the Bible. As one writer recently put it, the Christian side has taken a backseat to the movement's libertarian impulses." — Is the Tea Party movement taking religion out of conservative politics?, Trail Blazers

"An approaching storm has forced BP to temporarily suspend drilling a relief well into its damaged Macondo well, but now there is a chance the relief well will not be needed to plug the well for good, National Incident Commander Thad Allen said today." — BP's relief well delayed by weather, Houston Chronicle

"Thanks to Democratic Internet users, April 2009 remarks on secession and the Texas state school board, Gov. Rick Perry has advanced to Round 2 of 4 in 'The Fringe 16' contest on the Democratic Governors Association’s Fight the Right 2010 website." — Secession, SBOE make Gov. Perry a popular target for Democrats, The Texas Independent

"State Rep. Scott Hochberg, who represents HD137, is generally considered the Legislature’s leading expert on public education and school finance. He’s the Vice Chair of the House Public Education Committee, and he chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education. With so many facets of public education in Texas being in the news lately, I thought I’d take advantage of this opportunity to ask him a bunch of questions about it." — Interview with Rep. Scott Hochberg, Off the Kuff

New in The Texas Tribune:

"Five of the nine members of the state's Commission on Jail Standards, which oversees the 245 county lockups, are elected officials from or employees of the counties whose facilities they regulate. Advocates say that's a conflict of interest, and they're calling for a change in the commission's makeup." — Advocates Worry About Jail Commission Conflicts