SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:23 P.M. ET:

PERRY ROMPS – A new poll more than confirms Rick Perry's status as GOP frontrunner.  A CNN poll has Perry at 32%, Mitt Romney at 18%, and Michele Bachmann at 12%.  At the same time, Perry's frontrunner status has gotten him some additional scrutiny, even by Republicans.  The Politico ran a piece called "Is Perry Dumb?"  Others are demanding more detailed answers and prescriptions from Perry.  The poll results are seen less as an endorsement of Perry than as a verdict on Mitt Romney's failure to ignite the GOP base.

GOP JOBS PLAN – The Republicans rolled out a modest jobs plan today, calling for decreased regulations and reduced taxes for small businesses.  I have no idea why anyone would roll out a plan at the end of August.  The plan won't get much attention, and is too narrowly focused to be called a national strategy.  I suppose it was rushed out to preempt President Obama's jobs plan, to be announced next week, unless a golf game intervenes.  The Republicans would do better by waiting, drawing up a truly comprehensive program, and presenting it to the American people in a big way, as Newt presented the Contract with America in the early 1990s. 

EXITING HOME SALES DECLINE – Sales of existing homes fell in July for the first time in three months.  Even lower prices and borrowing costs couldn't prevent the decline.  We are still coming out the housing bubble, with no end to the declines in sight.  We are constantly told by the administration that there is a recovery underway, just as America was told by Herbert Hoover that prosperity was just around the corner.  But the "recovery" seems to have touched very few people.   Many Americans are trapped in homes that are "underwater," meaning that more is owed on the mortgage than the home is worth.  Not a good time.

IT'S ABOUT TIME – The state of New Mexico is looking into its program of providing financial incentives to moviemakers to shoot in the state.  Many states and localities have such incentives, but questions are increasingly being raised as to how much these programs actually benefit the people of the area.  New Mexico, under severe economic strain already, paid $102-million to moviemakers in the last year.  The state's governor, Susanna Martinez, is often mentioned as a possible vice presidential possibility on the Republican ticket.  Maybe she can figure these programs out, and explain Hollywood accounting.  If she can, she should be president.  In fact, if she can, she should be queen.

August 29, 2011