The Midday Brief: Aug. 29, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "The survey, released Monday, indicates that 27 percent of Republicans nationwide support Perry for their party's nomination, with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who's making his second bid for the White House, at 14 percent." — New CNN Poll: Perry sits atop GOP field, CNN

• "While some wonder whether Gov. Rick Perry's red-hot rise in the polls may cool as quickly as the fortunes of Fred Thompson and Wes Clark before him, others see a more apt comparison to a different late-starting candidate." — Perry comparisons: Thompson, Clark or ... Clinton?, San Antonio Express-News

• "Texas Gov. Rick Perry is standing firm in insisting that Social Security, the federal government’s insurance programs for retirees and disabled, is a Ponzi scheme designed to deceive the young." — Rick Perry sticks to claim that Social Security is a scam, Los Angeles Times

• "If Perry fails to implode and continues to surge in the polls, Romney eventually will have to go on the attack — an assault his advisers say will commence 'at a time of our choosing.' Romney strategists are quick to note that in his book, 'Fed Up!,' Perry writes that 'By any measure, Social Security is a failure' and calls the program 'something we have been forced to accept for more than 70 years now' that was created 'at the expense of respect for the Constitution and limited government.'" — Romney’s plan to beat Perry, The Washington Post
  

• "Today’s New York Times piece on Rick Perry’s states’ rights stance makes much of the fact that Perry has from time to time accepted federal grant money for Texas, despite sometimes ostentatiously turning down such aid, and despite the fact that some conservative governors have sometimes rejected some aid of a type that Perry has sometimes accepted. The Times seems to think it’s hit on major hypocrisy here, but it hasn’t. Perry himself tells us in his book, Fed Up!, that governors like him are in a trap when it comes to accepting federal money." — NYT vs. Perry on States’ Rights, National Review

• "Donald Trump said Monday he spoke with Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry on the phone and the two had 'great conversations.'" — Trump issues Perry praise, CNN

• "Veteran Republican state Rep. Rick Hardcastle said today he will not see re-election in the redrawn District 68." — Hardcastle says he won't seek re-election to Texas House, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "It is not a mirage or a miracle; it is a fact. Nearly half of all net jobs created in the United States since 2009 have been in Texas. Which raises several questions: What jobs do Texans commonly hold right now? How much do those jobs pay? And what jobs is Texas creating?" — Miracle or Mirage, What Kinds of Jobs Has Texas Created?

• "During his welcoming speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars 112th national conference, Gov. Rick Perry announced a new Texas initiative called Housing4TexasHeroes, a $3 million grant program to help veterans buy, build, rehabilitate and rent homes." — Video: Perry Announces Housing4TexasHeroes

• "On policy issues, Gov. Rick Perry and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann have plenty in common. But as Catharine Richert of Minnesota Public Radio News reports, there's a lot of daylight between them on experience and fundraising." — Why Perry Threatens Bachmann