Republicans will unveil their new ‘Contract’ on Thursday in Virginia  —  Republicans will unveil their new “Contract with America” in Virginia on Thursday, less than two months before election day.  —  The GOP, which polls show has a strong chance of winning back the House this fall …

White House: New York Times report ‘100 percent wrong’  —  The White House is pushing back hard against a New York Times report that the president's political team is considering a national ad campaign that would cast the GOP as taken over by tea party extremists.  (See: Tea party dominates the narrative)

Carter: ‘Probably superior’ to other ex-presidents  —  Former President Jimmy Carter (right) standing off to the side in a photo with the living presidents (and then-President-elect Obama) in the Oval Office.  —  *** UPDATE 3:59 pm ET *** Former President Carter issued a written statement after his comments aired:

Town Hall Questioner To Obama: “I'm Exhausted Of Defending You”  —  “I'm one of your middle class Americans.  And quite frankly, I'm exhausted.  Exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that I voted for,” a woman told President Obama at a town hall.

Sen. Kaufman: GOP waging ‘holy jihad’ to extend tax cuts  —  Republicans are fighting to extend tax cuts for high earners with the intensity of a “holy jihad,” a Democratic senator charged Monday.  —  Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) said he didn't see any room for compromise with Republicans …

Business Cycle Dating Committee, National Bureau of Economic Research  —  The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research met yesterday by conference call.  At its meeting, the committee determined that a trough in business activity occurred in the U.S. economy in June 2009.

CREW CALLS FOR FEDERAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION INTO CHRISTINE O'DONNELL FOR CAMPAIGN FINANCE FRAUD  —  Washington, D.C. -Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed complaints with the Delaware U.S. Attorney's Office and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) …

52% of Voters Say Their Views Are More Like Palin's Than Obama's  —  Fifty-two percent (52%) of Likely U.S. Voters say their own views are closer to Sarah Palin's than they are to President Obama's, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Generic Ballot Virtually Tied: Democrats 46%, Republicans 45%  —  Republicans losing strength in September compared with August  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup's generic ballot for Congress for the week of Sept. 13-19 shows a 46% Democratic and 45% Republican split in registered voters' preferences for the midterm congressional elections.

Koch Industries Lawyer to White House: How Did You Get Our Tax Information?  —  Lately, the White House and its allies have been drawing attention to the political activities of libertarian billionaires Charles and David Koch.  In an August 9 speech, President Obama singled out Americans for Prosperity …

UK Proposes All Paychecks Go to the State First  —  The UK's tax collection agency is putting forth a proposal that all employers send employee paychecks to the government, after which the government would deduct what it deems as the appropriate tax and pay the employees by bank transfer.

Tea Party Leader Dick Armey: Social Security Is A Corrupt ‘Ponzi Scheme’  —  This past weekend, conservative activists and Tea Party groups gathered in Chicago for the Right Nation 2010 convention.  Among those who attended was former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, the chairman of one of the original Tea Party groups, FreedomWorks.

‘Dancing’ Studio on Red Sarah Palin Alert  —  There will be high security tonight when Sarah Palin shows up to watch daughter Bristol perform on “Dancing with the Stars” ... TMZ has learned.  —  Our spies say security guards at CBS Television City in L.A. — the place where “Dancing” is broadcast — is on “heightened alert.”

On the Cheapness of Life  —  Andrew and Jack Shafer's reminiscence over the legacy of Martin Peretz, and quasi-defense of his bigotry, motivated me to do some of my own reflecting.  To the present business, there is no actual defense of the statement “Muslim life is cheap, particularly to Muslims.”

Dem worries on Stewart rally  —  Jon Stewart's planned “Rally for Sanity” sounded a bit like a joke when he announced — without his permit application approved — that he'd hold it on October 30 in Washington, D.C.  —  But it's suddenly looking quite real: Nearly 100,000 people have written …

Rumsfeld, unvarnished  —  If there was any doubt that Donald Rumsfeld's book would be frank-and-candid narrative of what, in his telling, really happened, here are a few details about what promises to be a tell-all in the tradition of the Washington memoir.  —  First, see above …

Islam's Encounters With America  —  A survey by Elaph, the most respected electronic daily in the Arab world, saw 58% object to the building of the WTC mosque.  —  From his recent travels to the Persian Gulf—sponsored and paid for by the State Department—Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf returned with a none-too-subtle threat.

Another tie at the top  —  This month's look at the 2012 Republican Presidential field shows the same basic four way tie at the top that we see every month- but looking inside the numbers it also shows an unusual potential path to his party's nomination for Mitt Romney.