The Midday Brief: Aug. 26, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "Rick Perry has signed a pledge to back a federal constitutional amendment against gay marriage — a reversal from a month ago when the Texas governor said he so supported individual states' rights that he was fine with New York's approval of same-sex marriage." — Perry signs pledge on anti-gay marriage amendment, The Associated Press

• "State Sen. Dan Patrick said Thursday evening he is in all likelihood not running for US Senate and is strongly considering a run for Lieutenant Governor in 2014." — Patrick says he's likely not running for US Senate, PoliTex

• "Don’t buy the hype that the Federal Reserve chairman is shrinking in the face of criticism from Republicans such as Texas Gov. Rick Perry, the presidential candidate who warned a week ago that if Bernanke came to the Lone Star State “we would treat him pretty ugly” over the Fed’s accommodative monetary policy. (Fed-bashing has become a near-consensus Republican cry in Washington and on the campaign trail.)" — Bernanke Returns Fire—With a Lecture, National Journal

• "This much everybody knows: before Kinky Friedman was in favor of Rick Perry, he was against him. But on Thursday, August 25th, the Daily Beast published the 2006 Texas gubernatorial candidate’s 'endorsement' of his former rival, a position that the Kinkster had already telegraphed in interviews with the Des Moines Register, the Dallas Observer and our own Jeff Salamon. Kinky was one of the many vanquished candidates TEXAS MONTHLY talked to for our September piece about Perry's unbeaten election streak, 'The Great Campaigner.' What follows is a fuller excerpt of that conversation." — Kinky ♥ Rick, Texas Monthly

• "They've tried letters, emails, and lobbyists. But this month, a local school superintendent and his administrators found another way of expressing their feelings on funding cuts and standardized testing." — North Texas administrators pine for Perry in comedy song, WFAA

• "The chairman of the state Senate committee that oversees Texas’ prison system, angry over what he perceives as fiscal missteps by top brass, called this morning for the agency’s headquarters to be consolidated in Austin." — Whitmire: Move prison HQ to Austin, Postcards

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "The Texas Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that a $5-per-patron tax on strips clubs did not violate the First Amendment, adding the latest chapter to a four-year legal battle." — High Court Approves "Pole Tax" on Strip Clubs

• "DAY 26 of our month-long series on the effects of new state laws and budget cuts: 23 of the state's 94 parks face reductions in staff or operations." — 31 Days, 31 Ways: Days, Services at State Parks Cut Back