memeorandum: The Economics of the Gift of Life (Bryan Caplan/EconLog)

1:20 PM ET, August 29, 2010

Top Items:

Alex Sundby / CBS News:

Glenn Beck Rally Attracts Estimated 87,000 — An estimated 87,000 people attended a rally organized by talk-radio host and Fox News commentator Glenn Beck Saturday in Washington, according to a crowd estimate commissioned by CBS News. — The company AirPhotosLive.com based the attendance …

Glenn Thrush / The Politico:

Beck rejects running with Palin — Palin-Beck 2012? — “Not a chance,” Glenn Beck told “Fox News Sunday,” in a segment taped the morning after he wrapped up a Saturday political rally and religious revival meeting at the Lincoln Memorial he claims attracted 300,000 to 650,000 people.

Discussion: Townhall.com, CNN, Washington Monthly and Pajamas Media

New York Times:

A Palin of Our Own — TWO years ago today, Senator John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential nominee, introduced the world to his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. Chosen by Mr. McCain's campaign strategists as a cynical rejoinder to the ill-starred presidential bid of Hillary Clinton …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, TalkLeft, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mediaite, Don Surber and Commentary

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Sarah Palin: 'We like what we're doing'

Discussion: Tammy Bruce, GOP 12 and The Page

Sarah Palin / Facebook:
Restoring Honor — What an honor it was to speak today at the …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Daily Caller, Politics Daily, Mediaite and Riehl World View

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Beck, Palin, Faith, Hope, and Charity

Discussion: Grim's Hall, NPR Topics and Hot Air

Kevin Dolak / ABCNEWS:
Alveda King Speaks at Glenn Beck's DC Rally

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, NewsReal Blog, Scared Monkeys and Towleroad News #gay

Scott Keyes / Think Progress:
Political Rally Or Not? We Report, You Decide

Discussion: The Other McCain, Left Coast Rebel, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Salon, Gateway Pundit, Riehl World View, The Political Carnival, The Sundries Shack and Crooks and Liars

Frances Martel / Mediaite:
Sarah Palin Thanks America's ‘Giants,’ Large And Small, At Restoring Honor Rally

Discussion: RedState, Tammy Bruce, Cubachi, PalinTV, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, TPMDC, Liberal Values and GOP 12

CBS News:

Fire at Tenn. Mosque Building Site Ruled Arson — Construction Equipment at Site of Planned Islamic Center Torched; Vocal Protests Against Mosque Have Been Ongoing — Federal officials are investigating a fire that started overnight at the site of a new Islamic center in a Nashville suburb.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, Gawker, Raw Story, Outside the Beltway, The Mahablog and Suburban Guerrilla

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Anti-mosque sentiment rages far from Ground Zero — One of the most under-reported political stories is the increasingly vehement, nationwide movement — far from Ground Zero — to oppose new mosques and Islamic community centers. These ugly campaigns are found across the country …

Discussion: Runnin' Scared

Frank Rich / New York Times:

The Billionaires Bankrolling the Tea Party — ANOTHER weekend, another grass-roots demonstration starring Real Americans who are mad as hell and want to take back their country from you-know-who. Last Sunday the site was Lower Manhattan, where they jeered the “ground zero mosque.”

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, Latest Open Salon Blog, Prairie Weather, Hit & Run, The Impolitic and The Mahablog

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

MOVEMENTS ARE ABOUT SOMETHING REAL.... I tried to keep up on today's festivities at the Lincoln Memorial, but as the dust settles, I find myself confused. — For a year and a half, we've seen rallies and town-hall shouting and attack ads and Fox News special reports.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Impolitic

Peter S. Goodman / New York Times:

Policy Options Dwindle as Economic Fears Grow — THE American economy is once again tilting toward danger. Despite an aggressive regimen of treatments from the conventional to the exotic — more than $800 billion in federal spending, and trillions of dollars worth of credit from the Federal Reserve …

Discussion: The Big Picture, Daily Kos, Newshoggers.com and Calculated Risk

Laura Tyson / New York Times:
Why We Need a Second Stimulus

Discussion: TalkLeft

Dallas Morning News:

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson violated rules, steered scholarships to relatives — tgillman@dallasnews.com — choppe@dallasnews.com — Longtime Dallas congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson has awarded thousands of dollars in college scholarships to four relatives and a top aide's two children since 2005 …

Discussion: The Hill, National Review, Michelle Malkin and Gateway Pundit

New York Post:

Mosque big owes 224G tax — Tweet — The mosque developers are tax deadbeats. — Sharif El-Gamal, the leading organizer behind the mosque and community center near Ground Zero, owes $224,270.77 in back property tax on the site, city records show. — El-Gamal's company …

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs, Don Surber and JammieWearingFool

James Fanelli / NY Daily News:
Park51 developer Sharif El-Gamal has a history of run-ins with the law

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs, Weasel Zippers and Jihad Watch

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

THERE IS NO SECRET ‘BIG ECONOMIC INITIATIVE,’ BUT THERE COULD BE.... The lead New York Times editorial today begins, “If President Obama has a big economic initiative up his sleeve, as he hinted recently, now would be a good time to let the rest of us in on it.”

Discussion: New York Times

Ali Abunimah / New York Times:

Hamas, the I.R.A. and Us — GEORGE J. MITCHELL, the United States Middle East envoy, tried to counter low expectations for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations by harking back to his experience as a mediator in Northern Ireland. — At an Aug. 20 news conference with Secretary …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and TPMCafe

Silla Brush / The Hill:

Crist again clarifies healthcare stand — Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, running as an independent for the U.S. Senate, sought again to clarify his position on the healthcare overhaul, saying he would have voted against it but does not want a full repeal. — In an interview on CNN, Crist said: “What we need to do is fix it.”

Discussion: CNN

Rasmussen Reports:

Election 2010: South Carolina Senate — South Carolina Senate: DeMint (R) 63%, Greene (D) 19% — Republican incumbent Jim DeMint remains far ahead of surprise Democratic nominee Alvin Greene in the U.S. Senate race in South Carolina. — A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey …

Discussion: Liberty Pundits Blog, Jumping in Pools, HotAirPundit and Moe Lane

Steve Moore / Wall Street Journal:
A Senator and His ‘Disciples’ — The Senate's stalwart opponent …

Discussion: The Hill

Paul Krugman:

Angela And The Fifty Hoovers — Via Mark Thoma, Dean Baker points out that real government consumption of goods and services — that's government buying things, as opposed to cutting taxes or handing out checks — has risen more in “austerity” Germany than in the United States.

Discussion: Marginal Revolution and Vox Popoli

CEPR: David Brooks Takes Advantage of Affirmative Action for Conservatives

Sean J. Miller / Ballot Box:

David Vitter wins Senate primary — NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana Republicans appear to have forgiven Sen. David Vitter's “serious sin.” — NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana Republicans appear to have forgiven Sen. David Vitter's “serious sin.” The first-term Republican brushed aside his primary challengers …

Discussion: The Note