The Midday Brief: Sept. 12, 2011

Your afternoon reading:

• "Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is backing Rick Perry for president, a major endorsement for the Texas governor as the campaign for the Republican nomination enters the crucial fall stretch of the primary calendar, a source tells CNN." — Jindal to endorse Perry, CNN
  

• "The first step to fixing a problem is honestly admitting there is a problem. America's goal must be to fix Social Security by making it more financially sound and sustainable for the long term. But Americans deserve a frank and honest discussion of the dire financial challenges facing the nearly 80-year-old program." — Rick Perry: I am going to be honest with the American people, USA Today
  

• "The Ron Paul-backing Revolution PAC is out with a web video scorching both Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, asking supporters to donate money to the super PAC so the race doesn’t come down to a choice of 'this pretty boy or that pretty boy.'" — Revolution PAC hits Romneycare, HPV vaccine, Politico

• "Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s humble origins and down home straight talk are central to his political identity, but for years Perry has enjoyed lavish perks and travel — mostly funded by a group of deep-pocketed supporters — that are allowed under his state’s lax ethics and campaign rules." — For Perry, being governor has perks, Politico

• "State Rep. Barbara Mallory Caraway has filed her paperwork to run for Congress against Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson. The Democratic Party primary is March 6." — It's official: Barbara Mallory Caraway to run against Eddie Bernice Johnson for Congress, Trail Blazers

• "After a midday tour of the fire-blasted Tahitian Village neighborhood off Texas 71 in Bastrop, U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said she was struck by the totality of the fire devastation and its randomness.  The neighborhood, she said, 'looked more like it was bombed, not burned.'" — Hutchison: Bastrop neighborhood ‘looked more like it was bombed, not burned,' Postcards

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a past GOP presidential contender, had a warning for Gov. Rick Perry today: His Social Security talk won't help him win Florida." — Huckabee to Perry: Social Security Talk Dangerous

• "Former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert is trying to attract support for his U.S. Senate campaign with a detailed jobs program that combines his business experience with his public policy vision. His seven-second soundbite? 'You just can’t put this in a seven-second soundbite.'" — Forgo the Soundbite? A Noble but Risky Strategy