Cost to Attend Cain-Gingrich Debate Is High

$200

The cost for a bleacher seat at the “modified Lincoln-Douglas debate” between Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich — not televised — hosted by the Texas Tea Party Patriots at the Woodlands Resort in Houston. The next step up, the $500 ticket, gets you “prime seating” and a ticket to the “Nite Cap party after the Debate,” … And for really high rollers, $1,000 will get you “the best seating in the house for the debate” and “a professional picture taken with the candidates.” There’s no word if the candidates are getting paid for their appearance, but Dave Weigel, who first broke the story, reports proceeds will go to the Tea Party Patriots group.

Top 1% Almost Tripled Their Income in Past 28 Years

275%

Amount that average inflation-adjusted after-tax income grew for the 1 percent of the population with the highest income from 1979 to 2007, according to the Congressional Budget Office. For others in the top 20 percent of the population, average real after-tax household income grew by 65 percent. By contrast, the budget office said, for the poorest fifth of the population, average real after-tax household income rose 18 percent. And for the three-fifths of people in the middle of the income scale, the growth in such household income was just under 40 percent.

Americans Now Embrace Guns

26%

Of Americans — a record-low — favor a ban on handguns in the U.S. Also, for the first time, Americans are more likely to oppose (53%) than favor (43%) a ban on assault rifles. More broadly, Americans’ support for stricter handgun laws and passage of new gun laws is the lowest Gallup has measured.