Obama ‘believed he had BEATEN Romney’ in Denver debate - after ignoring advice of top aides on preparation  —  President Barack Obama did not take his debate preparation seriously, ignored the advice of senior aides and walked off the stage in Denver believing he had got the better of Mitt Romney …

Romney 49%, Obama 47% Among Likely Voters  —  Registered voter trend suggests Obama is recovering from post-debate drop  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Mitt Romney holds a slight edge over Barack Obama — 49% to 47% — in Gallup's initial “likely voter” estimate, encompassing interviews from Oct. 2-8.

Welch can't take the heat: I quit  —  The former top GE executive says he will no longer write for Fortune following coverage of his jobs conspiracy tweet.  —  FORTUNE — Jack Welch has left our building, metaphorically that is.  —  Welch said he will no longer contribute …

Schumer Speech on Taxes Shakes Up Deficit Talks  —  WASHINGTON — Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York, the Senate's third-ranking Democrat, threw cold water on Tuesday on one emerging approach for striking a bipartisan deficit-reduction deal — an overhaul of the tax code that lowers top income tax rates but raises more revenue.

Mitt Romney's Tax Proposals: Understanding the Debate  —  For months, Mitt Romney had been advocating tax cut proposals that would reduce revenues by about $5 trillion over the next decade, and that were heavily tilted toward the rich.  Yet he did not explain how he would pay for these cuts, just that he somehow would.

AP publishes unflattering pic of Romney bending over  —  This photo of Mitt Romney posing with students of Fairfield Elementary School in Fairfield, Va., was published Monday by the Associated Press.AP  —  It was a news photo that, as Gawker quipped, was “ripe for captioning.”

“Nones” on the Rise  —  One-in-Five Adults Have No Religious Affiliation  —  Executive Summary  —  The number of Americans who do not identify with any religion continues to grow at a rapid pace.  One-fifth of the U.S. public - and a third of adults under 30 - are religiously unaffiliated today …

White House Scientists Struggle to Contain Outbreak of Scrutonium  —  WASHINGTON DC - Engaged a relentless battle against time and fatigue, a select group of message scientists assembled by the White House's Center for Narrative Control say they will take “all steps necessary” …

The CEO Who Built Himself America's Largest House Just Threatened to Fire His Employees if Obama's Elected  —  David Siegel is the founder and CEO of Westgate Resorts, a huge national timeshare company and one of the largest resort developers in the world.  In 2007 he was a billionaire …

Josh Romney: Dad ‘Learned How To Debate An Obstinate Child’  —  Josh Romney, one of Mitt Romney's sons, told a pointed joke Tuesday about President Obama's debate performance, while warming up the crowd for his father at a campaign rally in Van Meter, Iowa.  —  “I don't know if you guys saw …

US Official in Libya Said He Wanted More Security  —  A top State Department security official in Libya told a congressional investigator that he had argued unsuccessfully for more security in the weeks before Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed.

Dem pollster delivers wake-up call to Obama  —  Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg is not known for flinching from delivering bad news to Democratic politicians, and his new diagnosis of Obama's slippage in the polls is no exception.  —  Greenberg told me in an interview that his new research persuaded …

The Hack Gap Rears Its Ugly Head Yet Again  —  The hack gap is a liberal problem of long standing.  Put simply, we liberals don't have enough hacks.  Conservatives outscore us considerably in the number of bloggers/pundits/columnists/ talking heads who are willing to cheerfully say whatever …

Goldman Turns Tables on Obama Campaign  —  When Barack Obama ran for president in 2008, no major U.S. corporation did more to finance his campaign than Goldman Sachs Group Inc.  —  This election, none has done more to help defeat him.  —  Prompted by what they call regulatory attacks …

Stopped-and-Frisked: ‘For Being a F***king Mutt’ [VIDEO]  —  Exclusive audio obtained by The Nation of a stop-and-frisk carried out by the New York Police Department freshly reveals the discriminatory and unprofessional way in which this controversial policy is being implemented on the city's streets.