“In proposing a 5 percent surtax on incomes of more than $1 million a year to pay for job-creation measures sought by President Obama, Senate Democratic leaders on Wednesday escalated efforts to strike a more populist tone and to draw Republicans into a confrontation over how much affluent Americans should pay to help others cope with a struggling economy,” the New York Times says. “The White House, after dismissing a similar proposal late last year, left the door open to backing the plan. ‘We are open to different ways of paying for the very important broadly supported measures in the American Jobs Act that would grow the economy and create jobs,’ said the press secretary, Jay Carney.”

President Obama’s approval rating is 41%/55%, according to a Quinnipiac poll.

“Criticism of the president has long been a staple of politics, but experts say lawmakers are becoming more extreme in their rebukes of the commander in chief,” The Hill writes. “White House scholars say that although every president has suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous barbs, it has not historically been members of Congress hurling them. But more lawmakers are now doing so, and that has diminished the office of the presidency, historians say… H.W. Brands, professor of history at the University of Texas-Austin and the author of books on several presidents, said he is not aware of ‘mockery of the president by elected officials at the frequency that Obama has been getting it.”

“President Obama on Tuesday combined fund-raising and campaigning for his jobs bill in the home state of the Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry and the Congressional district of a House Republican leader, and he did not shy from telling donors that they and Texas’ oil companies should pay more taxes for the nation’s good,” the New York Times says. “At Eastfield College in Mesquite, just east of Dallas, Mr. Obama almost shouted into the microphone, as if he were speaking to the Congressional leadership: ‘The time for gridlock and games is over. The time for action is now.’”

More: “The president, to laughter, said Republicans would resist his plans ‘if I took their party platform and proposed it’ because they say they do not want to give him a victory. ‘Give me a win? Give me a break,’ he said, bringing the enthusiastic and diverse crowd of more than 1,000 to its feet. ‘This is not about giving Democrats or Republicans a win. This is about giving people who are hurting a win. This is about giving small-business owners a win, and entrepreneurs a win, and students a win, and working families a win. This is about giving America a win.’”

“Seeking to borrow elements of the conservative movement’s [Tea Party] minimalist format and to mirror its ability to generate fervor around the issues, thousands of liberal activists gathered in the nation’s capital this week in a bid to launch their own political insurgency,” the Boston Globe writes. “The goal is not to undermine President Obama, they say. Instead, they want to give him the tools to win not only the election next year but also the ongoing ideological battle over what America should stand for in the 21st century. … Birkenstock-wearing students mingled with older professionals clad in sharp suits and ties. Gay and transgender rights advocates sat alongside members of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. Democratic Socialists talked politics with burly union members.”

“In a sharp rebuke of his Republican rivals, President Barack Obama said anyone who wants to be commander in chief must support the entire US military, including gay service members,” the AP writes. “A combative Obama criticized GOP presidential candidates for staying silent when the crowd at a recent debate booed a gay soldier who asked a question of the contenders via videotape. ‘You want to be commander in chief? You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States, even when it’s not politically convenient,’ Obama said during remarks at the annual dinner of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights organization. Referencing the boos at the Sept. 22 Republican debate, he said: ‘We don’t believe in standing silent when that happens.’”

John Harwood says that Obama will likely borrow from George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election playbook. “Circumstances have changed drastically since 2004. America’s economic woes stand to dominate the 2012 dialogue no matter what — probably to Mr. Obama’s detriment. Yet in important electoral battlegrounds, Mr. Obama’s strategists intend to use abortion, gay rights, the environment and successes in the fight against Al Qaeda to counter economic attacks and drive a wedge between Republicans and swing voters. The Democratic shift from defense to offense on those issues stems from evolving public attitudes, intensifying Republican conservatism and the raid that killed Osama bin Laden on Mr. Obama’s orders.”

Channeling what we wrote on Friday, the New York Times notes the president’s growing list of foreign- policy and national-security accomplishments -- which have been overshadowed by the struggling U.S. economy. “Ten years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, economic insecurity has replaced national security as Americans’ chief concern, leaving Mr. Obama with little credit for his record of hunting and killing terrorists — a topic that stirred public passions not long ago.”

“The Obama campaign is likely to beat its $55 million target for combined third-quarter contributions to joint party and presidential committees — but likely to lag its record-breaking second-quarter haul, according to Democrats involved in the effort,” Politico reports. (The debt-ceiling debate wiped out about a month of Obama/DNC fundraising…)

“If, as now expected, the justices agree to review the [health] law’s constitutionality, those deliberations would certainly define the court’s coming term,” AP writes. “Their decision could rank as the court’s most significant since the December 2000 ruling that effectively sealed George W. Bush’s election as president.”

The New York Times: “A missile fired from an American drone aircraft in Yemen on Friday killed Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical American-born cleric who was a leading figure in al Qaeda’s affiliate there, according to an official in Washington.”

“Al-Awlaki would be the most prominent Al Qaeda figure to be killed since Osama bin Laden’s death,” AP writes, adding, “Al-Awlaki, born in New Mexico to Yemeni parents, was believed to be key in turning Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen into what American officials have called the most significant and immediate threat to the Untied States.”

The DNC is going up this weekend with a Spanish-language ad in Denver and Las Vegas, in two critically important states to the president’s reelect. The ad pushes Obama’s jobs plan and is called, “Siempre Dicen No,” or “They always say no,” about Republicans.

“The Obama administration told the United Nations that too few of its 10,307 workers are being cut and average salaries, currently $119,000 a year, have risen ‘dramatically,’” Bloomberg reports.

The White House is still answering questions about the president's somewhat controversial remarks at a Congressional Black Caucus dinner this weekend.

"I'm going to press on for the sake of all those families who are struggling right now," the president said before black lawmakers and guests on Saturday. "I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I am going to press on. I expect all of you to march with me and press on. Take off your bedroom slippers, put on your marching shoes. Shake it off. Stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying.  We are going to press on. We’ve got work to do, CBC."

It was meant to be a rallying cry near the end of his remarks, but the comment has become a flashpoint with lawmakers like Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA). "I'm not sure who the president was addressing," Waters told CBS on Monday. "I found that language a bit curious because the President spoke to the Hispanic caucus and certainly they're pushing him on immigration...He certainly didn't tell them to stop complaining and he would never say that to the gay and lesbian community who really pushed him on "don't ask, don't tell."

However, today, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney pointed out the president has used this language before.

Indeed, he's correct.

Two weeks ago, promoting his jobs plan at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., the President said:

"We’re bigger than the politics we’ve been putting up with. We’re patriots and pioneers and innovators and entrepreneurs. Through individual effort, but also through a commitment to one another, we have built an economy that is the engine and the envy of the world.  We’re not going to stop now. The time for hand-wringing is over. The time for moping around -- we’ve got to kick off our bedroom slippers and put on our marching shoes. We’ve got to get to work."

It was a line that also came near the end of that speech and induced applause in both crowds.

"I think there are individuals in every community who -- who might be unhappy with a political leader," Carney added.

In public, there doesn't seem to be a consensus among black lawmakers about what the president, who still enjoys strong approval ratings among black voters, meant. And based on interviews from MSNBC this week, black leaders had unique interpretations of the president's words.

"In the passion of the  moment, he talked about the complaining that he's hearing around the country inside the party," Chairman of the CBC Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) said. "And he's saying that that's not helpful. Join in. We need all of the members of this coalition working together, so that we can successfully deal with reelection."

And Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD), when asked about her reaction, said, "I was like most of the crowd there, incredibly enthusiastic by the president, the fighting  spirit the president was  showing. I actually went in to talk to a  group of seniors the following  day. And when I said to them, it's  time for us to stop complaining and to press on, they lit up the room just like the room in the Congressional Black Caucus. I think the President is right on message."

In his effort to tout his jobs plan and rally his base, President Obama held a roundtable discussion with Hispanic journalists yesterday, NBC’s Kristen Welker reports. Obama found himself playing defense as he fielded a number of questions about why immigration reform has stalled, and why the unemployment rate in the Hispanic community continues to soar.  The participants included journalists from Yahoo, MSN Latino and AOL Latino/Huffington Post Latino Voices who asked questions from readers which were submitted online.  

Welker adds that Obama blamed Republicans in Congress for the failure to move forward on immigration reform and the DREAM Act, which would provide a path to citizenship for students who are studying in this country: "Unfortunately, over the last several years what you’ve seen is the Republican Party move away from support of comprehensive immigration reform."

But one of the questions submitted online shows wasn’t satisfied with that kind of answer: "Mr. President, I am an undocumented law graduate from New York City. I'm just writing to say that your message that you do not have a dance partner is not a message of hope. A real dancer goes out on the dance floor and picks out his or her dance partner." The president, seemingly irritated, responded: "I just have to continue to say this notion that somehow I can just change the laws unilaterally is just not true. We are doing everything we can administratively. But the fact of the matter is there are laws on the books that I have to enforce."

"The Obama administration cut corners before concluding that climate-change pollution can endanger human health, a key finding underpinning costly new regulations, an internal government watchdog said yesterday," AP writes. "Regulators and the White House disagreed with the finding, and the report did not question the science behind the administration’s conclusions. Still, the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector general is sure to encourage lawyers, global warming doubters, and Republicans taking aim at the agency for what they view as job-killing environmental regulations."

Further making it likely the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the health-care case this term, the Justice Department says it will urge the court to take an appeal of the challenge brought by Florida and 26 other states.

"The Department has consistently and successfully defended this law in several court of appeals, and only the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled it unconstitutional. We believe the question is appropriate for review by the Supreme Court," the Justice Department says in a statement. 

"Throughout history, there have been similar challenges to other landmark legislation such as the Social Security Act, the Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act, and all of those challenges failed. We believe the challenges to Affordable Care Act -- like the one in the 11th Circuit -- will also ultimately fail and that the Supreme Court will uphold the law," it says.

White House adviser Stephanie Cutter writes a lengthy blog post on the White House website, defending the decision, entitled, "Obama Administration Asks Supreme Court to Hear Health Care Lawsuit."

"There has been no shortage of lawsuits regarding the Affordable Care Act," Cutter writes. "Of course, whenever our nation is undertaking fundamental reform, legal challenges like this are nothing new. Just as challenges to the Social Security Act, the Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act all failed, challenges to health reform are failing as well. ... We know the Affordable Care Act is constitutional.  We are confident the Supreme Court will agree."

“The Obama administration has decided not to ask a federal appeals court in Atlanta for further review of a ruling striking down the centerpiece of President Obama’s health-care overhaul,” AP writes. “The decision makes it more likely that the Supreme Court will hear a case on the issue in its term starting next month, and deliver a verdict in the midst of the 2012 presidential-election campaign.”

“A bizarre Bible-thumping heckler called President Obama ‘the Antichrist’ as the Secret Service dragged him out of a presidential fund-raiser Monday,” the New York Daily News writes of Obama’s fundraiser in Los Angeles.

A Roanoke College poll shows Mitt Romney beating the president 45%-37% in Virginia; Rick Perry leads by a slimmer 42%-40% margin. Obama has a 39%-54% approval rating in the state, according to the poll. Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) and Sen. Mark Warner (D) have an identical 67% approval rating.

Obama’s in Denver today, pitching his jobs plan, and Politico takes a look at his fortunes in the state. It quotes former Democratic governor Bill Ritter as saying, “A repeat of 2008 is very unlikely… I’d say he’s looking at a high-wire act here.” (That’s despite the 2010 victory by Sen. Michael Bennet -- at perhaps the peak of the Tea Party enthusiasm.)

The Wall Street Journal’s Seib writes, “Amid those dark political clouds overhead right now, President Barack Obama can console himself with this silver lining: The electoral map remains stacked in favor of him and his Democrats. In a close presidential election—and there is every reason to believe that 2012's will be—that is an important and often overlooked fundamental. It will affect the strategic decisions both parties make as the campaign unfolds. Indeed, the shape of the electoral map already appears to be driving some moves this year, and offers signposts indicating which states will be pivotal next year.”

It's No more Mr. Nice Guy.

Covering his deficit-reduction speech from yesterday, the New York Times says that Obama “entered a new, more combative phase of his presidency, one likely to last until next year’s election as he battles for a second term… Mr. Obama did not just propose but insisted that any long-term debt-reduction plan must not shave future Medicare benefits without also raising taxes on the wealthiest taxpayers and corporations. He uncharacteristically backed up that stand with a veto threat, setting up a politically charged choice for anti-tax Republicans — protect the most affluent or compromise to attack deficits.”

Among centrist Democrats, Politico finds tepid enthusiasm for Obama’s deficit-reduction plan -- but not outright rejection.

The Wall Street Journal: “Republican leaders said that Mr. Obama's inclusion of $1.5 trillion in tax increases in his deficit-reduction plan was a bad idea both politically and economically. ‘Veto threats, a massive tax hike, phantom savings and punting on entitlement reform is not a recipe for economic or job growth, or even meaningful deficit reduction,’ said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.).”

Bloomberg News adds, “President Barack Obama set aside his stance as compromiser-in-chief to champion the populist cause of ‘fairness’ for the middle class in the struggle over how to bring down the nation’s budget deficit.”

The New York Daily News’ headline on Obama: “Enough mister-nice-President!”

Ross Baker, political scientist at Rutgers, told NPR: “At some point he was going to have to put away the olive branch and unsheathe the sword. I guess this is it.”

The Boston Globe’s editorial page lends Obama support: “Republican intransigence has all but obliged Obama to confront what’s really going on: The fundamentals of the economy have changed in ways that further enrich millionaires, and the tax system should respond accordingly.”

The Washington Post says that Obama's call yesterday to tax the rich is a replay of an old Washington debate. “Democrats remember when Franklin D. Roosevelt and Bill Clinton won their fights to make the wealthy pay more. Republicans remember when Ronald Reagan won his battle, seeking economic recovery by having the wealthy pay less.”

“After years of debate and months of final preparations, the military can no longer prevent gays from serving openly in its ranks,” the AP says. “Repeal of a 1993 law that allowed gays to serve only so long as they kept their sexual orientation private took effect Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. EDT.”

The Washington Post adds, “Enlistees who tell military recruiters, or troops discharged under the ban who are eager to reenlist, will be eligible to join up if they are qualified. And the Defense Department says it will have zero tolerance for anti-gay behavior, as it does for religious, racial and gender discrimination.”

The New York Times: “President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor on Thursday to a young former Marine who ignored orders to stay put and fought his way five times into an ambush in an Afghan ravine, helping to rescue three dozen comrades and to recover the remains of four dead American servicemen.”

The White House will not put Social Security on the table in Obama’s upcoming deficit-reduction proposal, the Washington Post reports.

With friends like these… “Leading House Democrats are accusing the Obama administration of ignoring the lingering mortgage crisis and threatening tens-of-millions of Americans with foreclosure in the process,” The Hill writes. “The lawmakers – encouraged by Obama's mention of mortgage-relief in his address to Congress last week – were quickly deflated just days later when their efforts to learn the details of the White House plan proved unsuccessful. ‘The administration has been AWOL on this issue,’ charged Rep. Dennis Cardoza (D-Calif.), ‘and the American people are suffering because of the mismanagement.’ ‘In my entire political career, I've never seen anything this irresponsible,’ he added.” What this is really about is Democrats having their feelings hurt that they couldn’t get the administration official they wanted to talk about the jobs bill.

“President Barack Obama urged enthusiastic college students Wednesday to join him in his fight to get Congress to act on his new jobs bill,” AP writes. “‘Every single one of you can help make this bill a reality,’ the president called out at a hot and noisy rally at North Carolina State University.”

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds: “President Barack Obama's approval rating got a small lift after he unveiled a jobs plan last week, keeping him ahead of all potential Republican rivals in the 2012 election, a Reuters/Ipsos poll said on Wednesday. The percentage of Americans who view Obama's performance favorably edged up to 47 percent in the poll conducted Sept. 8-12.” In the poll, Obama beats Romney 49%-43% among registered voters (51%-39% among all surveyed) and Perry 50%-42%, Bachmann 54%-36%. The president’s approval among independents is just 42% approve, 47% disapprove.

A CNN/Opinion Research poll finds that more people trust the president than Republicans in Congress to handle the economy by a 46%-37% margin. It also finds that by a 65%-29% margin that more Americans would rather see Washington focus on creating jobs than reducing the deficit. A plurality also like the president’s jobs plan outline by a 43%-35% margin, but with 22% undecided the next few weeks and months will be critical for both sides to win over those people. By wide margins, they favor giving more money to states to hire teachers and first responders (74%-25%), for increasing infrastructure spending (64%-36%), cutting the payroll tax for workers (65%-33%) and businesses (58%-40%). But they are more split on increasing aid to the unemployed (52%-47%). But on the key question of whether people feel they are better off than three years ago, almost six-in-10 say no (58%-32%). And nearly three-in-four say they are upset and scared about the direction of the country.

“The CNN poll finds that a plurality of independents generally opposes the American Jobs Act — 39 percent are against it, and 35 percent favor it. More than one fourth of independents has no opinion,” the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent writes. “But guess what — dig deeper into the internals and you find solid majority support among independents for the jobs bill’s actual proposals.”

“A Gallup poll released Wednesday shows that 45 percent of Americans would want their member of Congress to vote for the bill, with 32 percent opposed to the president's plan. 23 percent said they did not know enough about the legislation,” The Hill writes.

A Quinnipiac poll finds President Obama’s approval rating in Virginia at just 40% with 54% disapproving, that’s down 8 points from June. Just 29% of independents approve of his job there.

Good grief. “A man driving a car containing swords, muskets, black powder and a bayonet was arrested Thursday near the Capitol, just hours before President Barack Obama gave a jobs speech to a joint session of Congress,” Roll Call reports.

Yawn. “Some frustrated Democrats in Congress are saying that a primary challenge to President Obama would be a good thing, but others maintain it would only help the GOP,” The Hill writes.

“The company that owns the Olive Garden, Red Lobster and four other popular restaurant chains is following Michelle Obama's lead and pledging to reduce the calories and sodium in its meals and overhaul its kids' menu,” AP writes. “Drew Madsen, president of Darden Restaurants, tells The Associated Press he will make the announcement Thursday at one of its restaurants in a Maryland suburb of Washington. The first lady, who is campaigning to reduce childhood obesity, will be on hand for support.”

“Fifty-three percent of the 1,000 adults surveyed believe the government should give legal recognition to marriages between couples of the same sex, about the same as last year, according to the nationwide telephone poll by the Associated Press and the National Constitution Center. Forty-four percent were opposed,” the Boston Globe writes.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had to slide down an emergency chute at Dulles.

The New York Times: “President Obama took his jobs sales pitch to a high school in this politically crucial swing state on Tuesday, challenging Congress to act swiftly on his $447 billion proposal of tax cuts and stimulus projects to buck up the economy. In a high-octane performance that came with all of the bells and whistles of a campaign event — right down to U2’s ‘City of Blinding Lights’ blaring across the field — Mr. Obama said the $25 billion for education construction and improvements in the plan would achieve two goals at once: modernizing American schools and putting construction workers back on the job.”

“President Obama wants Republicans to okay his jobs bill - but he'll accept a piecemeal approach if that's the best deal he can cut,” the New York Daily News writes.

A new Bloomberg poll shows similar numbers to the latest NBC/WSJ poll with Obama’s approval at 45%-49% with 53% of independents disapproving. His handling of the economy sits at a low of 33%-62%. The direction of the country numbers are an abysmal 20%-72%; 19% of Obama voters says they no longer support him; 30% say they’d like to see another candidate try for the Democratic nomination. His fav/unfav is 50%-47%; John Boehner is 33%-38%; Mitt Romney 42%-38%; Rick Perry 32%-41%; the GOP 37%-53%; the Democratic Party 44%-46%.

A new Field poll in California finds Obama at just a 46% approval in the state.

The Washington Post on Solyndra: "The Obama White House tried to rush federal reviewers for a decision on a nearly half-billion-dollar loan to the solar-panel manufacturer Solyndra so Vice President Biden could announce the approval at a September 2009 groundbreaking for the company’s factory, newly obtained e-mails show."