Multi-Millionaire Rep. Says He Can't Afford A Tax Hike Because He Only Has $400K A Year After Feeding Family  —  Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) appeared on MSNBC with Chris Jansing this morning to attack President Obama's new deficit reduction plan, which includes some tax increases on the wealthy.

The Tsuris  —  Barack Obama is the best thing Israel has going for it right now.  Why is that so difficult for Netanyahu and his American Jewish allies to understand?  —  The last time Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu shared each other's company, you could say that the encounter did not go well …

An Explanation and Some Reflections  —  I messed up.  I owe everyone an explanation.  —  It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming, and the price changes.

Greta Van Susteren: Tucker Carlson's a ‘pig’ for Palin story  —  Fox News host Greta Van Susteren is calling out Daily Caller owner Tucker Carlson as a “pig” and “purveyor of smut” for prominently posting a story with the headline: “Mike Tyson: Sarah Palin met the ‘womb shifter’.”

Fill In the Blanks  —  Just a few winters ago my wife and I took our daughters to witness the inauguration of a man who had campaigned on hope and embodied possibility.  We are pretty immune to political euphoria, but, circulating among the footsore pilgrims, we could imagine our country …

A Blockbuster Case Yields an Unexpected Result  —  WASHINGTON — People who hate Citizens United, last year's blockbuster campaign finance decision by the Supreme Court, tend to blame it for allowing secret money from corporations and unions to flood the political landscape.

Obama's urgent jobs plan: Right now, ‘right now’ means sometime next month maybe  —  Everybody remembers the urgency of President Obama's attitude toward the awful jobs situation.  —  Back in early August, Obama said the jobs situation was so urgent that he was going to give another speech about it …

Ex-Treasury Restructuring Chief Millstein Starts Own Firm  —  Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) — Jim Millstein, the U.S. Treasury Department's former chief restructuring officer who helped oversee the bailouts of American International Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc., is forming a turnaround advisory firm.

When Ronald Reagan Was President, There Was A Soviet Union And A Cold War  —  Via Spencer Ackerman, Eli Lake reports on Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) acting like a complete fool who thinks the GOP congressional staffers are tiny children: … There's not much to engage with in this argument except …

Thompson files fundraising papers for Senate run  —  MADISON - Former Governor Tommy Thompson has said that his long consideration of a run for U.S. Senate is over, and the process to run for the Senate has begun.  —  “I've filed my corporation documents today, which allows me now to build my organization …

Vote suppression in the US revs up  —  In recent years, the Republican Party has accelerated its efforts to make voting more difficult for Americans.  —  In the 1964 presidential elections, a young political operative named Bill guarded a largely African-American polling place in South Phoenix, Arizona like a bull mastiff.

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day  —  “By the time I feed my family, I have maybe $400,000 left over.”  — Rep. John Fleming (R-LA), in an interview on MSNBC, on why as a small business owner he can't afford a tax increase.

Republican Calls for a More Honest Debate  —  WASHINGTON — Four months after he decided against jumping into the Republican presidential race, Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana says that he has occasionally been frustrated by the discourse in the campaign and that the field could benefit …

Great Stagnation...or Great Relocation?  —  “I was on top of the Westin Hotel being shown the sights of [Shanghai], and I had a sudden crisis as I looked out at the extraordinary skyscrapers the architecture and the art deco.  I thought to myself, well, the mandate of heaven has passed from us and come home.”

The Last Days of the Old Parking Meter  —  Motorists' bane, magnet for thieves, and memorialized in the Beatles' “Lovely Rita,” the diminutive parking meter has led an outsize life.  But its days in New York City are about to expire.  —  The city will remove its last decommissioned single …

Christine O'Donnell: Exhibit A for getting rid of closed primaries  —  Editor's note: John Avlon is a CNN contributor and senior political columnist for Newsweek and The Daily Beast.  He is the co-author of the new book, “Deadline Artists: America's Greatest Newspaper Columns.”