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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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.

For the Unemployed Over 50, Fears of Never Working Again  —  VASHON ISLAND, Wash. — Patricia Reid is not in her 70s, an age when many Americans continue to work.  She is not even in her 60s.  She is just 57.  —  But four years after losing her job she cannot, in her darkest moments …

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 …

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.

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.

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.

Corker Booed By Workers At GM Plant Ceremony, Takes Credit For Saving Industry That He Opposed Saving  —  General Motors recently announced that, thanks to federal efforts to keep the American auto industry from going under, it would be able to rehire 483 workers at its Spring Hill …

Graham: W.H. talks just went ‘dead’  —  For much of the early part of the year, Sen. Lindsey Graham and the White House were locked in heated negotiations over legislation that could close the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, move some of the war-on-terror prisoners …

MSNBC finally pays off at 30 Rock  —  NEW YORK—Steve Capus glances at the eight video feeds on the flat-screen monitors in his Rockefeller Plaza office, smiling as he spots Andrea Mitchell in a head scarf, doing a morning live shot for MSNBC.  —  The 46-year-old NBC News president ticks …

Munger Says ‘Thank God’ U.S. Opted for Bailouts Over Handouts  —  Charles Munger, the billionaire vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., defended the U.S. financial-company rescues of 2008 and told students that people in economic distress should “suck it in and cope.”

Why Sarah Palin Is Stronger Than You Think  —  Sarah Palin speaks at Iowa's annual Ronald Reagan dinner on Sept. 17, 2010  —  TO: Coastal Elites, the Media and Establishment Politicians of Both Parties  —  Don't underestimate Sarah Palin.  Yes, she is hyper-polarizing …

Updated: Dem mailer includes West's Social Security number; challenger claims ‘unprecedented new low’  —  CORRECTION: An earlier version of this blog post incorrectly reported that the anti-West mailer was sent by Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Klein's campaign.  The mailer was sent by the Florida Democratic Party.

Have You Left No Sense Of Decency?  —  Let me recommend, once again, Brad DeLong's superb discussion of how it is that people at the 99th percentile, despite making twice what their counterparts made in 1980, feel poorer now than they did then.  On reflection, however (and discussion with Robin) …

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 …