Obama Aides Weigh Bid to Tie the G.O.P. to the Tea Party  —  WASHINGTON — President Obama's political advisers, looking for ways to help Democrats and alter the course of the midterm elections in the final weeks, are considering a range of ideas, including national advertisements …

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 …

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.

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.

The Angry Rich  —  Anger is sweeping America.  True, this white-hot rage is a minority phenomenon, not something that characterizes most of our fellow citizens.  But the angry minority is angry indeed, consisting of people who feel that things to which they are entitled are being taken away.

DeMint PAC hits the air for O'Donnell  —  The Senate Conservatives Fund is going up on the air on behalf of Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell this week, putting down a marker in a race many Republicans have already appeared to write off.  —  POLITICO has learned South Carolina …

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.

STEVE KING EYES SHUTDOWN, DEMANDS ‘BLOOD OATH’ FROM BOEHNER.... Last week, we expanded our list of Republicans eyeing a government shutdown in the event of a House GOP majority.  The list, however, keeps growing.  —  Roll Call reports today that Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) …

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 …

‘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.”

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 …

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.”

FBI probes were improper, Justice says  —  The FBI improperly opened and extended investigations of some U.S. activist groups and put members of an environmental advocacy organization on a terrorist watch list, even though they were planning nonviolent civil disobedience, the Justice Department said Monday.

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.

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.