Why Perry went there  —  The Texas governor went into Tuesday night's debate looking for a reaction — and he got one.

Reid says government jobs must take priority over private-sector jobs  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday said Congress needs to worry about government jobs more than private-sector jobs, and that this is why Senate Democrats are pushing a bill aimed at shoring up teachers and first responders.

Real World: Occupy Wall Street?  MTV Issues Casting Call for Protesters  —  Is Occupy Wall Street ready to start being real?  Bunim/Murray Productions, the agency casting for MTV's Real World 27, appears to think the show Real World needs some real world drama: an ad appeared …

Student loan debt hits record levels  —  Students and workers seeking retraining are borrowing extraordinary amounts of money through federal loan programs, potentially putting a huge burden on the backs of young people looking for jobs and trying to start careers.

U.S. Capital Now Richer Than Silicon Valley  —  Federal employees whose compensation averages more than $126,000 and the nation's greatest concentration of lawyers helped Washington edge out San Jose as the wealthiest U.S. metropolitan area, government data show.

Animals Loose in Ohio: Town Under Lockdown  —  An Ohio town is under lockdown as dozens of wild animals including bears, wolves and tigers have escaped from a private preserve are and are on the loose after the owner of the preserve has been found dead.  —  Terry Thompson of Zanesville …

9-9-9 in One (Really Long) Graph  —  In my previous post decrying the extreme redistribution of the tax burden from the wealthy to everyone else, I had to use two graphs to tell the story.  I couldn't fit the increase in tax liabilities for the bottom 80% on the same graph that includes …

Occupy Wall St. pepper-spray cop Anthony Bologna loses 10 vacation days for violating NYPD rules  —  NYPD Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna was disciplined Tuesday for pepper-spraying two female protesters in the notorious YouTube video seen around the world.

Protest mob is enjoying rich diet  —  They may sleep in the park, but they eat like kings.  —  Hundreds of grimy protesters laying siege to Wall Street and stuffed into the now-smelly Zuccotti Park dine each night on gourmet meals prepared by a former hotel chef using only the finest organic ingredients.

Washington Post-Pew Research Center Poll  —  This poll was conducted for The Washington Post and the Pew Research Center by telephone October 13 to 16, 2011, among a random national sample of 1,007 adults, including users of both conventional and cellular phones.

President Obama's strategy on jobs is working — even if Americans aren't  —  It's certainly not pretty, but darn if it doesn't appear to be working.  —  President Obama's newfound message discipline on jobs and his two-pronged attack on the GOP are providing the beleaguered president …

The Question That Needs Asking  —  I only caught a little of the GOP debate last night, but I came away with two thoughts: first, the distinct impression that New Gingrich's “it's-so-crazy-it-just-might- work” strategy for this race is looking a little less crazy with every debate.