The Midday Brief: Oct. 5, 2011

New in The Texas Tribune:

• "In desperate need of some good news, Gov. Rick Perry released fundraising numbers this morning that show he raised more than $17 million for his presidential bid in the first seven weeks of his campaign." — In Need of Good News, Perry Releases Strong Fundraising Totals
  

• "Following allegations he didn’t move fast enough to rid a racial slur from the land his family leased for hunting, Gov. Rick Perry’s critics are dissecting his history with race, from his early campaign ads to his defense of Confederate symbols. Here’s a look at four issues that have drawn their ire." — Multimedia: Parsing Perry's Past on Race

Your afternoon reading:

• "Ron Paul announced Wednesday that he raised over $8 million in the third quarter — far outpacing the $5 million projection reported earlier this week." — Paul announces $8M third-quarter haul, The Hill

• "Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is warning that the United States could kill journalists in the same manner it targets terrorists." — Ron Paul: US could target journalists for killing, The Associated Press

• "The reason is higher-than-expected sales tax receipts and a similar bonanza of oil and gas money for the Rainy Day Fund, above the comptroller’s estimate. Due to the increased revenue, Ogden said, there will be fewer layoffs as well.  Waxing philsophical, he said that, as much as he didn’t like budgeting with all the deferrals, it was the right thing to do, that the public wanted to see the Legislature exercise some fiscal discipline, and they did." — Ogden: State has $1.8 billion surplus, BurkaBlog

• "Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, wants Attorney General Eric Holder to come back before Congress to clear up, under oath, when he found out about the gun-tracking operation known as Fast and Furious." — Cornyn wants Holder to return to Congress to clear up “Fast and Furious” confusion, Texas on the Potomac