The Midday Brief: Sept. 10, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

• "A fight is brewing between the most powerful Democratic donor in Texas and the chairman of the Republican Caucus in the state House." — Fight brewing between Democratic donor and Republican lawmaker, Postcards

• "It burns him up, but a pastor in Florida has the right to set fire to a Koran, Gov. Rick Perry said." — Perry: Koran burning distasteful, but a protected right, Trail Blazers

• The Perry campaign has a new attack video up targeting Bill White for his dealings with Houston's Metro.

• "On the heels of Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson's scholarship woes, a second Congressional Black Caucus member was found to have awarded college funding to relatives." — Johnson's fellow caucus member also directed scholarships to family, Trail Blazers

• "Des Moines-based 501(c)4 American Future Fund (AFF) has released an ad attacking U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas) for his ties to House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi." — American Future Fund targets Chet Edwards in new ad, The Texas Independent

• "The four state agencies I proposed to do away with are Agriculture, the Railroad Commission, the Public Utility Commission, and TCEQ." — About that $18 billion hole, BurkaBlog

New in The Texas Tribune:

• The former chairman of the UT System Board of Regents on why demography is destiny, why higher education isn't necessarily the key determinant of the state’s economic future, why Texas doesn't need more tier-one schools and how colleges abuse the financial aid system. — Ex-UT Regent on Demography, Tuition Deregulation