memeorandum: New national debt data: It's growing about $3 million a minute, even during his vacation (Andrew Malcolm/Top of the Ticket)

2:35 PM ET, August 23, 2011

Top Items:

Perry takes the lead in Iowa — Rick Perry is the new leader in Iowa: — The race is pretty close four ways in Iowa but Rick Perry is the new favorite among Republican voters in the state. Among announced candidates he's at 22% to 19% for Mitt Romney, 18% for Michele Bachmann, and 16% for Ron Paul.

Discussion: Firedoglake, GOP 12, Hot Air, Pajamas Media, Daily Kos, National Review, Indecision Forever, Hotline On Call and Wake up America

Paul A. Gigot / Wall Street Journal:

Huntsman's Anti-GOP Strategy — The former Utah governor tries to save his GOP presidential bid by using global warming as a wedge issue. — When Joe Manchin wanted to save his U.S. Senate campaign, the West Virginia Democrat loaded a rifle and put a bullet through a sheet of paper labeled …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Politics, Power Line, Althouse and YID With LID

Lucy Madison / CBS News:
Could a Palin presidential bid rewrite the campaign rulebook?

Discussion: Guardian

SarahPAC:
Setting The Record Straight: Wrong & Misleading

Discussion: CNN, Ballot Box, GOP 12, Don Surber, Erick's blog, Iowa Caucuses, Conservatives4Palin, Politics, Man Are We Screwed and Hot Air

Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:
Fresh Palin Tea Leaves Seem to Predict a Late September Decision

Discussion: The Other McCain, CNN and Erick's blog

The Politico:

Conservative elites pine for 2012 hero — It's a tough time to be a conservative intellectual. — From the Weekly Standard to the Wall Street Journal, on the pages of policy periodicals and opinion sections, the egghead right's longing for a presidential candidate of ideas …

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, AmSpecBlog, The Moderate Voice, TheBlaze.com, Online NewsHour, No More Mister Nice Blog, Booman Tribune, Erick's blog and Balloon Juice

National Review:

Five Reasons Ryan Bowed Out — Sources close to Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin tell National Review Online that the Budget Committee chairman considered a variety of factors this summer as he mulled a late-entry presidential campaign. This afternoon, he closed the door on a 2012 bid, choosing to remain in the House.

Discussion: Man Are We Screwed, Patterico's Pontifications and Hot Air

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:

Rick Perry holds the record on executions — Darren McCollester/GETTY IMAGES - PEMBROKE, NH - AUGUST 18: Republican presidential candidate and Texas Governor Rick Perry speaks to workers at Epoch Homes August 18, 2011 in Pembroke, New Hampshire. Perry has been campaigning since he declared …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Little Green Footballs and Hot Air

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress: Why Rick Perry's War On The 16th Amendment Is The Third Prong Of His War On Seniors

David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
Rick Perry's views on the Constitution get closer scrutiny

Discussion: White House Dossier, Man Are We Screwed and Washington Monthly

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Does Rick Perry still favor repeal of 16th Amendment?

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Politics, TPMDC, Washington Monthly, Indecision Forever, Swampland, Wonkette, Talking Points Memo and The New Republic

Steve Bainbridge / ProfessorBainbridge.com:
If the trial lawyers hate Rick Perry, maybe I should reconsider him

Discussion: PointOfLaw Forum, Ricochet Conversation Feed, Mother Jones and Law Blog

New York Times:

Rebels Invade Qaddafi Compound — TRIPOLI, Libya — Rebel fighters flooded into Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's sprawling compound on Tuesday, overwhelming what remained of its defenses and running pell-mell through the grounds, as the crackle of gunfire and rumble of explosions spread across …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Outside the Beltway, msnbc.com, New York Magazine, FP Passport, Telegraph, Towleroad News #gay, Gothamist and CNN, more at Mediagazer »

Wall Street Journal:
Rebels Overrun Gadhafi Compound

Discussion: New York Times, Danger Room, MarketBeat and americanthinker.com

Bloomberg:
Libyan Rebels Break Into Qaddafi Compound

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Mark Knoller / CBS News:

National debt has increased $4 trillion under Obama — The latest posting by the Treasury Department shows the national debt has now increased $4 trillion on President Obama's watch. — The debt was $10.626 trillion on the day Mr. Obama took office. The latest calculation from Treasury shows the debt has now hit $14.639 trillion.

Discussion: Hit & Run, Hot Air, Wake up America, theblogprof, Washington Monthly, Outside the Beltway, Questions and Observations, Scared Monkeys, Clusterstock, Weasel Zippers, Doug Ross, The Lonely Conservative, Pajamas Media and National Review

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:

New national debt data: It's growing about $3 million a minute, even during his vacation — Swallow all liquids in your mouth before reading any further. — Updated numbers for the national debt are just out: It's now $14,639,000,000,000. — When Barack Obama took the oath of office twice on Jan. 20 …

Discussion: BizzyBlog, Weasel Zippers and Althouse

Joe Nocera / New York Times:

How Democrats Hurt Jobs — The airplane's aft section arrived early Monday morning. That's what they'd been waiting for at the final assembly plant in North Charleston, S.C. They already had the wings, the nose, the tail — all the other major sections of Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner.

Discussion: Ricochet Conversation Feed, Washington Post, The Business Insider and Betsy's Page

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Spending, not entitlements, created huge deficit — It's conventional wisdom in Washington to blame the federal government's dire financial outlook on runaway entitlement spending. Unless we rein in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, the conventional wisdom goes, the federal government is headed for disaster.

Discussion: Campaign 2012, UrbanGrounds and The Lonely Conservative

Henry Blodget / Politics:

Here's Why Bank Of America's Stock Is Collapsing Again — It's deja vu all over again. — The stock of a humongous American bank, Bank of America (BAC), is collapsing. — This is stoking fears that Bank of America will go bust, taking the whole economy down with it. — Why is Bank of America's stock tanking?

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Wire, MarketBeat, FT Alphaville, Modeled Behavior, Deal Journal and naked capitalism

Richard A. Posner / The New Republic:

Let's Be Honest: We're in a Depression, Not a Recession, And There's No End In Sight — This article is a contribution to ‘Is There Anything That Can Be Done? A TNR Symposium On The Economy.’ Click here to read other contributions to the series. — If the notion that we are merely living through …

Hoover Institution:

How Is Warren Buffett Like the Pope? — by Richard A. Epstein (Peter and Kirsten Bedford Senior Fellow and member of the Property Rights, Freedom, and Prosperity Task Force) — They are both dead wrong on economic policy. — The terrible economic news from both Europe and the United States …

Discussion: News Hounds, National Review, Mirror of Justice, MuniLand, The Reality-Based Community and Wonkette

Felix Salmon:

How to get $12 billion of gold to Venezuela — Ever since the news broke last week that Hugo Chávez wanted to transport 211 tons of physical gold from Europe to Caracas, I've been wondering how on earth he possibly intends to do such a thing. — There are 99 tons already being held …

Discussion: Fausta's Blog

Cass Sunstein / Wall Street Journal:

Washington Is Eliminating Red Tape — New reforms will save Americans billions without sacrificing public health or safety. — Early this year, President Obama ordered an unprecedentedly ambitious government-wide review of existing federal regulations, emphasizing that we must “measure …

Discussion: White House.gov Blog, Hit & Run, ThinkProgress, Political Punch and The Politico

Robert Stacy McCain / The Other McCain:

Debbie's Very Bad Day in Iowa — During my Iowa trip, I got lots of photos and videos I wasn't able to upload at the time due to connectivity issues and the very hectic schedule. One of the items that never made it to the blog was an incident at the Iowa State Fair where DNC Chairwoman …

Penny Starr / CNSNews:

HHS: Children Are ‘Sexual Beings’ — (CNSNews.com) - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is offering advice to parents and teens about sex education, including assurances that teens may “experiment” with homosexuality as part of “exploring their own sexuality,” …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, LifeNews.com and Weasel Zippers

Gregory Simmons / ABCNEWS:

Gov. Sanford on Emerging From Seclusion — A scandal-plagued former governor who was once considered a potential presidential contender for 2012 is instead standing on the periphery, reflecting on what might have been and watching as the Republican primary field continues to take shape.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, The Hill, The Note and CNN

Tevi Troy / National Review:

What's Obama Reading? — The reports are in about the books President Obama is looking at on his annual trip to Martha's Vineyard. According to reports from the Los Angeles Times and the AP, Obama purchased five books on his trip to the Vineyard bookseller Bunch of Grapes: Marianna Baer's Frost …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Magazine and William K. Wolfrum Chronicles

Patricia Mazzei / Naked Politics:

Beware the tea party, Jesse Jackson, Frederica Wilson and black Democrats say at jobs meeting — Democratic members of the Congressional Black Caucus are in Miami Tuesday to host a jobs fair, part of their five-city tour to draw attention to high unemployment, particularly in the black community.

Discussion: The Politico, Big Government, americanthinker.com, Chicago Boyz and Washington Post

Kirk Johnson / New York Times:

Rare Strong Earthquake Hits Colorado — DENVER — The largest natural earthquake in Colorado in more than a century struck Monday night in the state's southeast corner, but there had been no reports of damage or injuries. — The quake, with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 and centered …

Discussion: National Review

Max Pizarro / Politicker NJ:

In LD8, Delany derailed by wife's email to Lewis — Former Assemblyman Pat Delany abruptly resigned last month from his post representing the 8th district after his wife sent a racially tinged email to senate challenger Carl Lewis, the former Olympic Gold medalist.

Discussion: New Jersey Online, Wonkette, The Raw Story, iOwnTheWorld.com, Talking Points Memo, TPM LiveWire and Dependable Renegade

Gautham Nagesh / The Hill:

FCC officially kills Fairness Doctrine, wiping it from rules — Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced the elimination of 83 outdated and obsolete agency rules on Monday, including the controversial Fairness Doctrine. — “The elimination of the obsolete …

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation, RedState, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Don Surber, more at Mediagazer »

David Tuller / New York Times:

No Surprise for Bisexual Men: Report Indicates They Exist — In an unusual scientific about-face, researchers at Northwestern University have found evidence that at least some men who identify themselves as bisexual are, in fact, sexually aroused by both women and men.

Discussion: The Raw Story, Gawker, Shakesville, AMERICAblog Gay and Towleroad News #gay