NEWS BRIEFING

PREPARED FOR THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OFFICE OF PUBLIC AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS – WWW.BULLETINNEWS.COM/VA

TO: THE SECRETARY AND SENIOR STAFF

DATE: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2012 5:30 AM EDT

TODAY’S EDITION

The Secretary In The News Homeless Veterans: Whose Responsibility? ................................ 3 Congressman Spencer Bachus Calls On VA Secretary Eric

Shinseki To Speed Up Veterans Claims Processing........... 3 Refocus At VA. ............................................................................... 3 Delegation Requests Hot Springs Meeting With VA Secretary. ... 3 Shinseki Honored During Patriot Award Dinner. ........................... 3

Iraq/Afghanistan Vets Powered Up: Bionic Foot “Natural” For Iraq Amputee. ................. 3

Women Veterans VA Medical Center Invites Female Veterans To Open House. .... 4

Mental Health As Military Suicides Rise, Focus Is On Private Weapons. ............ 4 Study Will Probe Vet Suicide Risk, Omega-3s. ............................ 4 Learn Signs Of Crisis, How To React. ........................................... 4

Healthcare (National) Winners Named In Blue Button Contests. ..................................... 4 Improved Routine Access To Health Data Ensures Disaster

Preparedness. ...................................................................... 5

Healthcare (Local) Homeless Can Get Help At One-Stop “VA Stand Down”

Wednesday. .......................................................................... 5 Veterans Memorial Car Show Lures 7,000 To Loma Linda. ......... 5 VA Clinic In Adirondacks Hires New Doctor. ................................. 5 Baptist-Memphis, VA Named Among Top-Performing Facilities. . 5 Internist Dawn Wolfgram Joins Medical College Of Wisconsin

Faculty. ................................................................................. 5 $26.8M For VA Hospital Parking Lot. ............................................ 5 Veterans Clinic In Roane County To Close. .................................. 5 Veterans Group Campaigns For Regional VA Hospital. ............... 6

VA News Beau Biden Says Father Studying Hard For Debate. ................... 6 VA Hosts Outreach For Veterans. ................................................. 6 1 In 8 Feds Witnessed Workplace Violence.................................. 6 VA’s Overspending At Conferences Linked To Poor Contract

Execution. ............................................................................. 6 “Stand Down” Event Planned For Homeless Veterans................. 6 Columbus Man Gets Half A Billion Dollar Check By Mistake. ...... 7

State VA News Paramus Veterans’ Memorial Home Receives Federal Funding. 7 Funeral Detail Keeps Honor Foremost, But Funding Has Fallen. 7 Marshfield Town Hall With State Veterans Affairs Secretary

Socos. ................................................................................... 7 Veterans Sought For Future Habitat Housing. .............................. 7

Research Grant To Lay Scientific Foundation Of “Patient Centered

Medical Home.” .................................................................... 7

Congressional VA News Murray, Levin Call For Better Evaluation System For Veterans

With Disabilities. ................................................................... 7

Editorial Roundup The Doctor’s Bag For The New Millennium. ................................. 8 Republican Senator, Vietnam Veteran Endorses President

Obama. ................................................................................. 8 For Our Veterans: Respite Resources Can Help Caregivers. ...... 8 Superb, Compassionate Care At Veterans Hospital. .................... 8 Oklahoma Veterans Centers Warrant More Focus. ...................... 8 Uncle Sam AWOL In New Vietnam Memorial Effort. .................... 8 Letter: Bono Mack Came Through For A Disabled Veteran. ........ 8 Horton Improvements Have Great Value. ..................................... 8

Briefly Noted Redefining Medicine With Apps And iPads. .................................. 8 Apps That Can Alert The Doctor When Trouble Looms. .............. 8 Pentagon’s Plans For 3-D Printers: Mobile Labs, Bomb Sniffers

And Prototype Limbs. ........................................................... 8 Military Wives Strip Down To Support Spouses In “Battling

Bare” Campaign. .................................................................. 8 Thomas J. Sullivan, WWII Veteran, Butcher, Dies At 95. ............. 8 Oregon Guard’s Veterans Assistance Program Gets Another

Year. ..................................................................................... 8 Veterans Cemetery In NLR Filling Up, Slowly Showing Age. ....... 8 Bill Advances To Help War Veterans Get Housing Preference. ... 8 Riders Take To Bikes To Fight Cancer, Aid Homeless Vets. ....... 8 Veterans Organization Wants More Of A Voice In Fort Ord

Future. ................................................................................... 8 Vietnam Vets Look To Help Homeless Colleagues. ..................... 8 Vet Receives Balloon Ride Through Operation Never Forget. ..... 8

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Southern Utah Veterans Home Almost Halfway Completed. ....... 8 Service Dogs Help Veterans Heal From PTSD. ........................... 9 Wounded Warriors Enjoy Skeet Shooting, Dove Hunting. ........... 9 VA Clinic Aiming To Open Next September.................................. 9 Revenue Crunch Threatens W.Va. Veterans Facility. .................. 9 Medal Of Honor Recipients Are The Rock Stars In Hawaii. ......... 9 Foxborough Resident, USMC Veteran Takes First Steps

Toward Paralympic Competition. ......................................... 9 Workshop Opens PTSD Discussion For Vets. .............................. 9 Juan Garcia: No Greater Honor Then Serving Veterans. ............. 9 Organizers Getting Ready For This Year’s “Stand Down” Event

For Local Veterans. .............................................................. 9 Professor: Survey Of WV Veterans Off To A Good Start. ............ 9 VA Home Remains On Schedule To Close In Early November. .. 9 Legislators Question Funding Source Of Second Veterans

Nursing Facility. .................................................................... 9 Veteran Creates Service To Help Soldiers With PTSD. ............... 9 Keeping Mobile Data Secure. ........................................................ 9

National News Obama Designates Cesar Chavez National Monument. .............. 9 National Polls Range From Obama +2 To Romney +4. ............. 10 Analysis: Obama, Romney Have “Vastly Different” Plans For

Medicare, Social Security. .................................................. 13 Report: ACA Will Increase Costs For Mid-Sized Firms. ............. 13 Two Afghan Intel Officers Killed In Car Bombing. ....................... 13 Thiessen: Biden Opposed Raid That Killed Bin Laden. .............. 14 Report: Iraq Supplying Syria With Oil. ......................................... 14 After Acknowledging Weak Performance, Obama Studying

Debate Tape. ...................................................................... 14 Goldman Sachs No Longer Favoring Obama With Donations. .. 14 Conservative Group Says Obama Camp Illegally Soliciting

Foreign Donations. ............................................................. 14 NBC’s Mitchell Criticizes Obama Campaign Over Ad Including

Footage Of Her. .................................................................. 14 Ethics Rules Experts Say Sebelius’ Visit To Ryan’s District Was

Legal. .................................................................................. 15 Romney Will Spend Today And Tomorrow In Ohio. ................... 15 With Polls Showing Race Tightening, Ryan Campaigns In

Michigan.............................................................................. 15 Romney Reworks Stump Speech On Unemployment Rate. ...... 15 Romney Switches To Retail Politics Ahead Of Town Hall

Debate. ............................................................................... 16 Book Details $1.4 Billion Spent On White House Each Year. .... 16 First Lady Says She Rarely Visits West Wing............................. 16 Congress Likely To Have Fewer Moderates Next Year.............. 16 New Super PACs Targeting Handful Of House Races. .............. 16 Clinton To Stump For Several Democratic House, Senate

Hopefuls This Week. .......................................................... 16 Allen, Kaine Trade Barbs During Televised Debate. .................. 17 Rehberg, Tester Clash In Debate. ............................................... 18 WI: PPP Has Baldwin Up 3 Over Thompson. ............................. 18

Democrat Carmona Making Strong Play To Flip Arizona Senate Seat. .................................................................................... 18

Pastors, National Conservatives Trying To Boost Akin. ............. 18 Home Prices Hit Record Highs In Many US Cities. .................... 19 California Governor Approves Early Sale Of Cheaper “Winter

Blend” Gas. ......................................................................... 19 Stocks Declined Monday. ............................................................ 19 Sandra Fluke Campaigning In Support Of Democrats. .............. 19 Unions Seek Constitutional Amendment In Michigan. ................ 19 Supreme Court Reexamines Affirmative Action. ......................... 19 Iowa Judge Faces Removal Over Same-Sex Marriage. ............ 20 DeLay Argues Conviction Was Politically Motivated................... 20 Study: Protestants No Longer In The Majority In US. ................. 20 Jindal, Christie Currently Slated To Head RGA. ......................... 20 Cohen: Conservative Search For “True Obama” Is A “Fool’s

Errand.” ............................................................................... 20 Nocera: Wealthy Donors Buying Presidential Election. .............. 20 Wickham: Romney Still Needs To Explain 47% Comments. ..... 21 Professor: More Teachers Not The Solution. .............................. 21 BlackRock CEO: Financial Industry Must Work To Restore

Market Confidence. ............................................................ 21 Cato Institute Grades Governors On Taxation. ........................... 21 USA Today Lauds CFPB Enforcement Actions. ......................... 21 WSJournal: SEC Priorities Skewed In Not Addressing Credit

Rating Agencies. ................................................................ 22 NYTimes Criticizes Obama, Shinseki For Not Using California

Land To Shelter Homeless Vets. ....................................... 22 NYTimes: Student Borrowers Need More Disclosure. ................ 22 WPost Endorses Trio Of Incumbents In Northern Virginia House

Races. ................................................................................. 22 Romney Blasts Obama Foreign Policy In Virginia Speech. ........ 22 Counterterror Officer: State Dept. Ordered Reduction In Libya

Security Staff. ..................................................................... 24 Tensions Escalate As Syria, Turkey Continue To Exchange

Fire. ..................................................................................... 25 Report: Iran Could Produce Uranium For Nuclear Warhead In

Two To Four Months. ......................................................... 26 Israel Launches Airstrikes After Rocket Attacks From Gaza. ..... 26 Morsi Pardons Egyptian Protesters. ............................................ 27 North Korea Says Continental US Within Its Missile Range. ...... 27 EU Urges Greece To Speed Economic Reform. ........................ 27 IMF To Lower Its Global Growth Forecast. ................................. 27 House Report Calls Chinese Telecom Firms A National Security

Threat. ................................................................................. 27 Election Win Solidifies Chavez’s Hold On Venezuela. ............... 28 Panetta Tells Latin America That Police, Not Military, Should

Enforce Law. ....................................................................... 28

Online Version Visit www.bulletinnews.com/va for searchable archive, interactive story index, and links to complete stories where appropriate.

THE SECRETARY IN THE NEWS

Homeless Veterans: Whose Responsibility?

Obama, Shinseki Criticized For Not Using California Land To Shelter Homeless Vets. The New York Times (10/9, Subscription Publication, 1.23M) editorializes, “Veterans and their advocates in southern California, the epicenter of veterans’ homelessness, are angry that President Obama and the Veterans Affairs Department have not built a single bed for homeless disabled veterans on the 400 acres the government owns in West Los Angeles, property that was deeded to the federal government for that very purpose in 1888. They are right that Mr. Obama and the Veterans Affairs secretary, Eric Shinseki, have nothing to show for their promises to tackle the problem,” but neither did previous administrations dating back to Ronald Reagan. The Times adds, “Some advocates, citing the desperate need, want the department to open a tent city there; it’s not an ideal solution but a quick one, and better than tents under a highway overpass.”

Congressman Spencer Bachus Calls On VA Secretary Eric Shinseki To Speed Up Veterans Claims Processing. Bachus Represents Alabama. A

blog for the Birmingham (AL) News (10/9, Gray, 113K) reports, “Veterans in Alabama sometimes have to wait more than two years to have benefit appeals resolved by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, US Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, wrote in a letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.” Bachus told Shinseki that our “veterans made a commitment to us, and we must keep our commitment to them.” The News points out that in August, Shinseki “said the backlog growth was predictable, noting that 12 conditions for disability benefits had been added to VA’s benefit list since 2009 and post-traumatic stress disorder has been made verifiable for all combat veterans.” Shinseki has also “said the department is committed to ending that backlog by 2015.”

Miller Worried About VA Goal To Eliminate Claims Backlog By 2015. The sixth “News Briefs” item for the Federal Times (10/8, 40K) reported, “For the Veterans Affairs Department to meet its goal of eliminating its benefits claims backlog by 2015, it will have to process 4.7 million claims in the next three years.” That figure is a “significant hurdle, considering VA has been processing about 1 million claims a year and is receiving new claims faster than it can complete those already in the pile.” The chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, US Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL), has said, “Many of us, myself included, are worried as to whether” VA’s claims backlog “goal remains realistic.”

Refocus At VA. Shinseki Urged To Order Stand-Down

For Wilkes-Barre VA Employees. In a letter to the editor of the Scranton (PA) Times Tribune (10/8, 51K), Scranton

resident Don Melvin argued that Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki “should order a stand-down for all employees of the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center to remind them that the VA exists for veterans and not for the employees.” Melvin added, “At the day-long stand-down veterans should be granted the opportunity to testify about the indifferent and often callous treatment they receive.”

Delegation Requests Hot Springs Meeting With VA Secretary. Request Made In Letter About

Proposed Changes To The BHHCS. In continuing coverage, the Hot Springs (SD) Star (10/9, Nettinga) reports, “South Dakota’s Congressional delegation — Senators Tim Johnson and John Thune, with Representative Kristi Noem — fired a strongly worded letter off to US Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, last Tuesday, expressing disappointment at the recent break down in discussions between the Save the VA Committee and officials from the Black Hills Health Care System.” The letter, which was also sent by “Senators Mike Enzi, Representative Cynthia Lummis and Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming as well as Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns and Representative Adrian Smith,” requests a “face-to-face meeting with Shinseki” in Hot Springs. In their letter, the lawmakers “expressed ‘frustration and disappointment’ in how proposed changes to the BHHCS have progressed.”

The KOTA-TV Rapid City, SD (10/9, Tripodi) website notes, “After a set back at a September meeting, ‘Save the VA’ members lost trust in the process” to try and keep VA’s hospital in Hot Springs open. Rich Gross, with the “Save the VA” committee, said, “We believe we have outlined a plan that’s not only good for the community for veterans here, but we believe it’s a model for veterans and rural communities nationwide.” KOTA points out that in response to the aforementioned September meeting, “state leaders from South Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming sent a letter” to Shinseki, requesting that he come to Hot Springs for another meeting. KOTA adds, “A call to Secretary Shinseki’s office on Monday was not returned by news time.”

Shinseki Honored During Patriot Award Dinner. KGMB-TV Honolulu (10/8, 7:55 a.m. HT) broadcast that Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki was given an award on Saturday, during a ceremony held aboard the USS Missouri. Shinseki was honored during the Patriot Award Dinner.

IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN VETS

Powered Up: Bionic Foot “Natural” For Iraq Amputee. Technology Is Called The BiOM. The

Memphis (TN) Commercial Appeal (10/7, Goetz, 113K) noted that Iraq veteran Greg Mirdo is the “second amputee in Tennessee — and among only 300 worldwide — to be fitted”

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with the BiOM, the “first fully microprocessor-controlled or ‘bionic’ foot.” The Commercial Appeal added, “The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have led to a greater population of young amputees who were otherwise healthy and active at a time when research in robotics, biomechanics and other computer technologies were rapidly advancing. The federal government spent millions of dollars on new developments in these areas to help spur the creation of better prostheses for veterans.”

WOMEN VETERANS

VA Medical Center Invites Female Veterans To Open House. Event To Be Held Later This Month. The

Midland (MI) Daily News (10/9, 12K) reports, “The Aleda E. Lutz VA Medical Center will host an open house event for female veterans entitled ‘Sisters in Military Service,’ with presentations, information on VA care and benefits and a light luncheon.” The event is scheduled to take place on “Oct. 23 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the medical center’s auditorium.” The “center’s goal is to reach female veterans who have not had an opportunity to visit the VA or learn about the care and benefits they are eligible to receive.”

MENTAL HEALTH

As Military Suicides Rise, Focus Is On Private Weapons. Focus Comes In Suicide Prevention

Campaign Being Developed By Pentagon. According to the New York Times (10/8, A13, Dao, Subscription Publication, 1.23M), the Pentagon is “developing a suicide prevention campaign that will encourage friends and families of potentially suicidal service members to safely store or voluntarily remove personal firearms from their homes.” In addition, “Congress appears poised to enact legislation that would allow military mental health counselors and commanders to talk to troops about their private firearms” and would amend a 2011 law that prohibited the Defense Department from collecting information from vets about legally owned firearms. The Times noted that US Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), who “sponsored the original 2011 restrictions, said he would support the new amendment ‘if it clears up any confusion.’”

Study Will Probe Vet Suicide Risk, Omega-3s. VA Co-Conducting Study. An AP (10/9, Smith) story appearing in at least four publications reports, “A $10 million study will investigate if a substance found in fish oil can reduce the risk of suicide among military veterans, where the rate is higher than in the population as a whole. The three-year study of omega-3 fatty acids was announced Monday by the Medical University of South Carolina,” the US Veterans Affairs Department, and the National Institutes of Health. Ron

Acierno, a “co-investigator at MUSC and the nearby” Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, “noted that suicide rates among veterans are high both for those who have been deployed to war zones as well as those who have not. He said it’s not really clear why, although the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs devote a lot of resources to help those who may have been scarred by combat.” Similar coverage appears in a Reuters (10/9, McLeod) story carried by at least two news outlets and in reports for the websites for NBC News (10/9, Briggs), WCIV-TV Charleston, SC (10/9), and KPBS-TV San Diego (10/9, Roth).

Learn Signs Of Crisis, How To React. Illiana VA

Giving Suicide Prevention Training To All New Employees. The Danville (IL) Commercial News (10/7, 10K) reported, “All new employees at the Veterans Affairs Illiana Health Care System go through training to recognize the signs of suicidal thoughts in veterans, and to learn how to respond.” The Commercial News continued, “To learn about...signs that someone may be at risk, go to www. VeteransCrisisLine.net/SignsOfCrisis.” The Commercial News added, “Besides the national crisis number, veterans and family members can find help at the Illiana System”

Vets In Illinois Happy That Crisis Line Is Available To Them. WICD-TV Champaign, IL (10/8, 5:01 p.m. CT) broadcast that the US VA is “encouraging those who served to take advantage of their local resources. In Danville, the VA is actively reaching out and reminding veterans of the 24-hour crisis hot-line.” WICD added, “Local vets say they’re happy to have this option.” WICD-TV Champaign, IL (10/9) also covered this story on its website.

Newspaper: Troubled Vets Can Find Help At llliana VA, Through National Crisis Line. In an editorial, the Danville (IL) Commercial News (10/7, 10K) said, “A veteran who admits that he or she is having trouble coping — and maybe even thinking about ending his or her own life — can find help, not judgment, at the Veterans Affairs Illiana Health Care System. Its Suicide Prevention Office, which is just five years old, is dedicated to making sure an at-risk veteran gets the help he or she needs, and then employees follow up as many times as necessary.” The Commercial News went on to say that if people see veterans displaying warning signs that they are in crisis, they can let such vets “know there’s a free, confidential support system available from the Veterans Crisis Line.”

HEALTHCARE (NATIONAL)

Winners Named In Blue Button Contests. VA

Ideas Helped Lead To Two Software Development Challenges. Modern Healthcare (10/9, Conn, Subscription Publication, 71K) reports that software developers KinergyHealth.com and Humetrix “have been named winners

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of a pair of mobile healthcare applications challenges to leverage the use of the federal government’s investment in the Blue Button technology to popularize the interoperability of patient medical records.” Both “software development challenges evolved from ideas shared at a Patient Access Summit (PDF) hosted in June by the White House, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at HHS and the Veterans Affairs Department.”

Improved Routine Access To Health Data Ensures Disaster Preparedness. VA Praised In

Report. FierceGovernmentIT (10/9, Walker) reports, “State health information exchanges can best prepare for emergencies by ensuring that health information is readily accessible during routine care, concludes a report…from the Southeast Regional HIT-HIE Collaboration published in July. But the report finds day-to-day health information sharing is a challenge, as individual state’s efforts and HIE implementation timelines vary considerably.” FierceGovernment IT adds, “Health information sharing success in disaster response corresponds with sharing success during non-emergencies. The Veterans Affairs Department fared exceptionally well during Hurricane Katrina because its use of the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture, or VistA, ensured a mature health record system was already in place, say report authors.”

HEALTHCARE (LOCAL)

Homeless Can Get Help At One-Stop “VA Stand Down” Wednesday. Robley Rex VA Co-

Hosting Tomorrow’s Event. The Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal (10/9, 160K) reports, “Louisville’s homeless population will have access to services, information and assistance in an, all-day one-stop environment at the 2012 Project Homeless Connect/VA Stand Down Wednesday.” The event, which is scheduled to be held “from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Salvation Army (Old Male High School) campus at 911. S. Brook St. in Louisville,” is “being coordinated by the Robley Rex Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Louisville Metro Community Services and Revitalization, the Coalition for the Homeless, the Salvation Army and other community partners.”

Veterans Memorial Car Show Lures 7,000 To Loma Linda. Event Was Held At Pettis Memorial

Veterans Medical Center. The San Bernardino (CA) Sun (10/8, Nolan, 56K) reports, “Veterans and cars were the stars Sunday at the 22nd annual Veterans Memorial Car Show at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans Medical Center.” The Sun adds, “The event, which raises money to go directly to veterans and active military, has raised more than $1.5

million over the years, according to Maureen Schultz, a board member of Volunteers for the Veterans’ Foundation. ‘The foundation helps veterans take care of their needs — whatever they are,’ Schultz said,” adding, “Veterans can slip through the cracks.”

VA Clinic In Adirondacks Hires New Doctor. Facility Is Based In New York. An AP (10/8) run by at least two publications reports that a Veterans Affairs clinic in the Adirondacks in New York is “getting a new doctor after going nearly a year without a full-time physician on staff. The Adirondack (NY) Daily Enterprise reports...that the VA has hired Dr. Thomas Socash to serve as the primary care physician for the Saranac Lake clinic.” According to the AP, Socash will “also see patients at the VA clinic in Westport, on Lake Champlain.”

Baptist-Memphis, VA Named Among Top-Performing Facilities. Honor Comes From The Joint

Commission. The Memphis (TN) Business Journal (10/9, Epley, Subscription Publication) reports, “Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis and the Memphis VA Medical Center have been designated among the safest and highest-quality hospitals in the country, according to The Joint Commission’s ‘Improving America’s Hospitals: The Joint Commission’s Annual Report on Quality and Safety 2012.’” The Business Journal adds, “The Joint Commission, a nonprofit certification and accreditation organization, designates annually the top facilities in the country based on 45 separate accountability measures.”

Internist Dawn Wolfgram Joins Medical College Of Wisconsin Faculty. Wolfgram Sees Patients At

Zablocki VA. Wauwatosa (WI) Now (10/9, Mosey) reports that Dr. Dawn F. Wolfgram “has been appointed assistant professor of medicine (nephrology) at the Medical College of Wisconsin.” Wolfgram “sees patients at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center.”

$26.8M For VA Hospital Parking Lot. Facility Is

Located In Puerto Rico. Caribbean Business (10/9) reports, “The US Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded a $26.8 million contract to design and construct a parking garage at the Veterans’ Hospital in San Juan, as well as a pedestrian bridge linking the new garage and the hospital.” The “construction of this parking garage and pedestrian bridge is part of a nearly $300 million multi-phase renovation and expansion of the VA Hospital, which began in 2009 and is slated to be completed around 2015.”

Veterans Clinic In Roane County To Close. VA

Made Announcement About Tennessee-Based Clinic On Monday. The WATE-TV Knoxville, TN (10/9, Krafcik) website said veterans in Roane County, Tennessee,

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“received notices Monday that their local” Veterans Affairs “clinic will soon be closing.” Officials with VA “told 6 News the contract of the company that provides services will expire at the end of October.” Christopher Alexander, who works for VA, said the agency “felt that in order to provide the high quality of care that our veterans need and deserve, we thought the best way to do that is move forward with a new contract in the future.” But State Sen. Ken Yager “said the Department of Veterans Affairs has been inadequate in overseeing the current contractor and believes it all could have been avoided.” WATE-TV Knoxville, TN (10/8, 5:58 p.m. ET) aired a similar report.

Veterans Group Campaigns For Regional VA Hospital. Facility Would Be Located In Kentucky. The

WYMT-TV Hazard, KY (10/9) website reports, “Many veterans rely on the United States Department of Veterans Affairs for medical care, but officials with a local veterans group say service men and women in Eastern Kentucky have to travel too far to receive that care.” A group “called ‘Citizens for Veterans’ Healthcare’” is “circulating a petition to get the VA to open a hospital inside the fifth congressional district.” WYMT adds, “State lawmakers, including House Speaker Greg Stumbo, have also voiced their support, but ultimately, the decision rests with the Veterans Health Administration.”

VA NEWS

Beau Biden Says Father Studying Hard For Debate. Ryan Counters Beau Biden’s Contention

About Funding For Vets. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (10/9, Walker, 204K) reports, “Beau Biden, the oldest son of Vice President Joe Biden, said Monday that his father was studying hard and preparing for Thursday’s vice presidential debate with Paul Ryan, the Republican vice presidential nominee.” Biden, who is Delaware’s attorney general, “was in Milwaukee to tout the Obama’s administration’s support for veterans” and say that the “Romney-Ryan ticket wants to cut the VA budget by $11 billion.” But in a statement, the Ryan said, “Let me make one thing very clear, in the House budget that we drafted and that we passed, we fully met and exceeded the President’s request for veterans funding by $270 million.” Similar coverage appears in a blog on the FOX News (10/9, Lin) website.

Beau Biden: Ryan Budget Proposal Would Cut VA Budget. The Foxborough Patch (10/9, Ryan) reports, “Republican congressional candidate Sean Bielat has military experience, but the son of US Vice President Joe Biden told an audience in South Attleboro last week that Bielat’s Democratic opponent Joe Kennedy III was the best person to represent veterans in Washington. After spending the day in New Hampshire campaigning for his father and President Barack Obama, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden

came to the American Legion Post 312 in South Attleboro last Thursday for the nighttime event called ‘Veterans for Joe Kennedy.’” During the appearance, Biden “claimed a federal budget proposed earlier this year by vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan would cut the US Department of Veterans Affairs’ annual budget by $11 billion, 85 percent of which goes to medical care.”

VA Hosts Outreach For Veterans. Event To Be

Held In Nevada Tomorrow. The Reno (NV) Gazette-Journal (10/9, 42K) reports that the US Veterans Affairs Department “will host an outreach event and barbecue for local veterans and their families from 2-6:30 p.m., Wednesday at the Western Nevada College Carson City campus, 2201 West College Parkway.” The VA’s Mobile Vet Center will be at the event, “which will focus on the VA’s education assistance and benefits consultation.”

1 In 8 Feds Witnessed Workplace Violence. Survey: VA Employees Witnessed More Workplace Violence Than Did Employees At Other Agencies. In continuing coverage, the Federal Times (10/8, Medici, 40K) reports that Veterans Affairs “leads all agencies in workplace violence, with 23 percent of employees saying they witnessed at least one act of violence at work over a two-year period, according to the newly released results of a Merit Systems Protection Board survey.” Josephine Schuda, a VA spokeswoman, “said the department will not tolerate any kind of aggression. Its facilities are required to have procedures in place to prevent and respond to workplace violence.” Schuda added, “VA leaders consider all employee concerns as legitimate and take action to investigate the report and intercede to resolve the issue.”

VA’s Overspending At Conferences Linked To Poor Contract Execution. Report Led To

Sepulveda’s Resignation. In continuing coverage, the Washington Business Journal (10/9, Subscription Publication) “FedBiz Daily” blog reports, “A Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general’s report found that one of the many problems with two lavish training conferences in Orlando, Fla., in 2011 was a failure to adhere to contracting procedures.” The “report on the $6.1 million pair of employee gatherings, which led to the resignation of VA Chief Human Capital Officer John Sepulveda, focused mostly on overspending, wrongful acceptance of gifts by employees and unnecessary advance trips to plan the conferences.” The syndicated “Veteran’s Corner” column, appearing in the Weatherford (TX) Democrat (10/9, Vines, 6K), has similar coverage.

“Stand Down” Event Planned For Homeless Veterans. VA Co-Hosting Event In Nebraska On

Thursday. The KLKN-TV Lincoln, NE (10/9) website reports,

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“Homeless Veterans and people facing the threat of homelessness will have the chance to find help Oct. 11 at the annual US Department of Veterans Affairs Stand Down and Project Connect event in Lincoln, Neb.” The event is scheduled to be held “from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Pershing Center, 226 Centennial Mall South, Lincoln.”

Columbus Man Gets Half A Billion Dollar Check By Mistake. Fort Benning Officials Say VA Is

Handling Matter. The WTVM-TV Columbus, GA (10/9) website reports that 22-year-old Allen Smith alerted Veterans Affairs after he received a $690,000,000 VA dependency check. WTVM added, “We left several messages Friday for the regional VA office in Atlanta but got no calls back.” Several people at the VA office at Fort Benning “declined to comment on the matter but did say that Atlanta was handling the issue.”

STATE VA NEWS

Paramus Veterans’ Memorial Home Receives Federal Funding. Money Comes From VA. The

Bergen (NJ) Record (10/9, 160K) reports, “The Paramus Veterans’ Memorial Home has received more than $1.1 million in federal funding, which will be used for repairs on both of the facility’s two buildings, Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez announced” recently. The Record adds, “The money comes from the US Department of Veterans Affairs, according to a release from the two senators.”

Funeral Detail Keeps Honor Foremost, But Funding Has Fallen. Oklahoma Coordinator For

Guard’s Funeral Honors Program Worried About Situation. The Tulsa (OK) World (10/7, Wofford, 105K) reported, “Federal budget cuts are straining honor guard programs across the nation, reducing the number of full-time soldiers in Oklahoma who perform the service, coordinate the funeral details and maintain the skills of soldiers to the highest standards. The funding for full-time soldiers to perform those services has been cut nearly in half in the last two years, while the number of services the Guard works has increased consistently, said Staff Sgt. Marvin Barbee, state coordinator for the Guard’s Military Funeral Honors Program.” Barbee “said he expects that additional funds could come through later in the fiscal year, as they did in the spring, but it’s not something he can count on.”

Marshfield Town Hall With State Veterans Affairs Secretary Socos. Event Will Be Held Next

Week. The Marshfield (WI) News Herald (10/9, 11K) reports, “Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary John Scocos will speak at a town hall style meeting from 2 p.m. to

3:15 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Marshfield Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 700 S. Central Ave.” The event, which “will feature issues related to veterans and a question and answer session,” is “sponsored by state Representative Scott Suder, R-Abbotsford, and Senator Terry Moulton, R-Chippewa Falls.”

Veterans Sought For Future Habitat Housing. California VA Funding Project. The KHTS-AM San Diego (10/9, Rock) website reports, “The ribbon has been cut and the speeches made – and now, veterans can apply to get one of the 87 homes planned for the first-ever Habitat for Heroes veteran village in Santa Clarita and a smaller village of 13 homes in Sylmar.” Recently, “officials from Washington, Sacramento and City Hall gathered at an open field on Centre Pointe Parkway where the village will be built to laud the work of volunteers in coming up with the plan to build the community and support local service members. In an unprecedented collaboration, the California Department of Veteran Affairs announced that it has set aside more than $21 million for this project, part of Habitat for Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valley’s efforts to help local veterans.”

RESEARCH

Grant To Lay Scientific Foundation Of “Patient Centered Medical Home.” Research Project Will

Focus On Veterans Health Administration. The WWJ-TV Detroit (10/8, Roush) website reports, “The patient-centered medical home model is an emerging team-based approach for primary health care.” Kai Yang, “Ph.D., professor of industrial and systems engineering in the College of Engineering at Wayne State University, has received a collaborative research grant from the National Science Foundation for the project, ‘An Allocation Model with Dynamic Updates for Balanced Workload Distribution on Patient-Centered Medical Homes.’” The project “will focus on the Veterans Health Administration, the largest health care system in the United States.”

CONGRESSIONAL VA NEWS

Murray, Levin Call For Better Evaluation System For Veterans With Disabilities. Lawmakers Concerned About IDES. In its “Floor Action” blog, The Hill (10/9, Cox, 21K) reports that US Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Carl Levin (D-MI) have “asked the Veterans Affairs’ Department and Defense Department to work together to improve the ‘broken’ disability evaluation process. In a letter the lawmakers sent late last week, they also called on the departments to establish a timeline for completing a review of the Integrated Disability Evaluation

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System (IDES).” The request from the lawmakers “came after the Government Accountability Office released a report in which it found problems with the system.”

EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

The Doctor’s Bag For The New Millennium. A

post to “Well” blog for the New York Times (10/9, 1.23M) by Abraham Verghese.

Republican Senator, Vietnam Veteran Endorses President Obama. An opinion piece for the

Huffington Post (10/9, 500K) by Larry Pressler, a former US senator from South Dakota.

For Our Veterans: Respite Resources Can Help Caregivers. In a new question and answer column for the

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (10/8, 192K), VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System Director Terry Gerigk Wolf praised VA’s telephone-based Dementia Caregiver Support Program, its Home Based Primary Care Program, and its Homemaker/Home Health Aide Program.

Superb, Compassionate Care At Veterans Hospital. In a letter to the editor of the Indianapolis Star

(10/9, 190K), the wife of a veteran praises the “men and women at Roudebush Veterans Affairs Medical Center.”

Oklahoma Veterans Centers Warrant More Focus. An editorial for the Oklahoma City-based

Oklahoman (10/8, 139K).

Uncle Sam AWOL In New Vietnam Memorial Effort. The “Washington Secrets” column for the

Washington Examiner (10/9, Bedard, 93K).

Letter: Bono Mack Came Through For A Disabled Veteran. A letter to the editor of the Palm

Springs (CA) Desert Sun (10/8, 34K) from Gayle Huntling, who says her father is a Korean War veteran.

Horton Improvements Have Great Value. An

editorial in the Suffolk (VA) News Herald (10/9, 4K).

BRIEFLY NOTED

Redefining Medicine With Apps And iPads. The

New York Times (10/9, D1, Hafner, Subscription Publication, 1.23M) reports that the history of medicine has “never before…been driven to this degree by digital technology.” Dr. Paul A. Heineken, “66, a primary care physician, is a revered figure at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. He is part of a generation that shared longstanding assumptions about the

way medicine is practiced: Physicians are the unambiguous source of medical knowledge; notes and orders are written in paper records while standing at the nurses’ station; and X-rays are film placed on light boxes and viewed over a radiologist’s shoulder.”

Apps That Can Alert The Doctor When Trouble Looms. A post to the New York Times (10/9, Richtel,

1.23M) “Well” blog.

Pentagon’s Plans For 3-D Printers: Mobile Labs, Bomb Sniffers And Prototype Limbs. The

“Danger Room” blog for Wired (10/9, Beckhusen, 798K).

Military Wives Strip Down To Support Spouses In “Battling Bare” Campaign. The New York Daily

News (10/9, Duerson, 601K).

Thomas J. Sullivan, WWII Veteran, Butcher, Dies At 95. Newsday (10/8, Oliveira, 412K).

Oregon Guard’s Veterans Assistance Program Gets Another Year. The Portland-based Oregonian

(10/9, Francis, 250K).

Veterans Cemetery In NLR Filling Up, Slowly Showing Age. The Little Rock-based Arkansas

Democrat Gazette (10/9, Schlesing, 191K).

Bill Advances To Help War Veterans Get Housing Preference. The New Jersey-based Press Of

Atlantic City (10/9, McKelvey, 66K).

Riders Take To Bikes To Fight Cancer, Aid Homeless Vets. The Lafayette (IN) Journal And Courier

(10/8, Mack, 28K).

Veterans Organization Wants More Of A Voice In Fort Ord Future. The Santa Cruz (CA) Sentinel (10/9,

Hennessey, 23K).

Vietnam Vets Look To Help Homeless Colleagues. The Battle Creek (MI) Enquirer (10/3, Deal,

16K).

Vet Receives Balloon Ride Through Operation Never Forget. The Battle Creek (MI) Enquirer (10/8,

Christenson, 16K).

Southern Utah Veterans Home Almost Halfway Completed. The St. George (UT) Spectrum (10/8, Sadlier,

16K).

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Service Dogs Help Veterans Heal From PTSD. The Martinsburg (WV) Journal (10/9, Molenda, 15K).

Wounded Warriors Enjoy Skeet Shooting, Dove Hunting. The Aiken (SC) Standard (10/7, 14K).

VA Clinic Aiming To Open Next September. The

Marshfield (MO) Mail (10/9, Cullinan, 5K).

Revenue Crunch Threatens W.Va. Veterans Facility. The AP (10/9, Messina).

Medal Of Honor Recipients Are The Rock Stars In Hawaii. Stars And Stripes (10/9, Slavin).

Foxborough Resident, USMC Veteran Takes First Steps Toward Paralympic Competition. The Foxborough (MA) Patch (10/9, Smith).

Workshop Opens PTSD Discussion For Vets. The San Diego State University Daily Aztec (10/9, Nelson).

Juan Garcia: No Greater Honor Then Serving Veterans. The Fatherhood Channel (10/9) blog.

Organizers Getting Ready For This Year’s “Stand Down” Event For Local Veterans. The

WLFI-TV Indianapolis (10/8, Campbell) website.

Professor: Survey Of WV Veterans Off To A Good Start. The same story appears on the websites for

WOWK-TV Charleston, WV (10/9) and WVNS-TV Bluefield, WV (10/9).

VA Home Remains On Schedule To Close In Early November. The KARK-TV Little Rock, AR (10/9)

website.

Legislators Question Funding Source Of Second Veterans Nursing Facility. The WOWK-TV

Charleston, WV (10/9, Burdette) website.

Veteran Creates Service To Help Soldiers With PTSD. The KSAZ-TV Phoenix (10/9, Hook) website.

Keeping Mobile Data Secure. GovInfoSecurity (10/8,

McGee).

NATIONAL NEWS

Obama Designates Cesar Chavez National Monument. In the only official stop during a two-day

campaign swing through California, President Obama on

Monday visited the grave of Cesar Chavez and announced a new national monument to the civil rights and United Farm Workers leader. The designation of the monument, made without legislative approval using the President’s authority under the Antiquities Act, was universally portrayed on cable and print media as a gesture designed to energize his Latino supporters.

For example, CNBC’s (10/8) John Harwood reported that President Obama “was on the west coast today courting Latinos, and he gave some remarks about the state of the economy and how it affects Latinos.” President Obama was shown saying, “No matter who you are or what you look like or where you come from, this is the place where you can make it if you try. Today we have more work to do to fulfill that promise. The recession we’re fighting our way back from is still taking a toll.”

On Fox News’ Special Report (10/8), Ed Henry reported that “under a majestic backdrop in California,” the President “held an official event designating the Caesar Chavez National Monument that may help rally Hispanic voters.”

The San Jose Mercury News (10/9, Richman, 535K) calls the move “a significant gesture toward the Latino voters he needs to win re-election.” The Mercury News notes that Obama announced the new monument while placing a single red rose on the grave of the labor leader “whose motto ‘Si se puede,’ — or ‘Yes we can’ — was the unifying slogan of Obama’s first campaign.”

The Fresno (CA) Bee (10/9, Ellis, 111K) reports, “Farmworkers were bused in from as far away as Imperial Valley to the south and Santa Rosa to the north. Children from Kern County schools were bused in. Thousands more from the Los Angeles area, the state’s High Desert country, and the San Joaquin Valley — Fresno included — made the trek to La Paz, Chavez’s home in this tiny hamlet. ... Based on a sustained chant of “four more years” long before Obama took the stage to speak, their political leanings were evident as well.” The Bee adds, “Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Chavez’s son Paul and United Farm Workers President Arturo Rodriguez all spoke before Obama, with Rodriguez introducing the president to raucous applause and more chants of ‘four more years.’”

The Los Angeles Times (10/8, Memoli, 629K) reports that Obama’s message “was not without political significance, as he honored the legacy of a civil rights and labor leader whose ‘si se puede’ credo was an inspiration for his own historic campaign four years ago. ... Even without the banners reading ‘Forward,’ his 2012 reelection slogan, and Marine band anthems replacing the usual campaign soundtrack, the electoral significance was clear.”

USA Today (10/9, Madhani, 1.78M) says Obama gave “Hispanic voters a subtle nudge less than a month before Election Day.” The event “was technically official White House business, but it also helped magnify Obama’s

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outreach efforts to the Hispanic community. It is an important voting bloc whose turnout could be crucial to his chances in the battleground states of Colorado, Florida, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina and Virginia.” USA Today notes that while Obama “didn’t expressly ask for votes, others who spoke at the ceremony reminded voters that Obama has appointed two Latinos to Cabinet positions — Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar — as well as the first Latina Supreme Court justice, Sonia Sotomayor. And they brought up the president’s decision to defer deportation of young illegal immigrants who join the military or attend college.”

The Christian Science Monitor (10/8, Paulson, 47K) says that with the announcement, Obama “courted a key demographic in California: Hispanic voters.” While the decision to designate the monument is historic, “it also clearly has political motivations. Currently, polls show that Obama has the support of about 70 percent of Latino voters – a wide lead that could help propel him to victory. Hispanics are a growing demographic that both Obama and Mr. Romney have eagerly sought. But while the numbers for Obama are encouraging, it’s unclear how enthusiastically many of those voters support him or whether they’ll get to the polls on Election Day.”

In its report on Obama’s announcement, AFP (10/9) notes that Obama is “campaigning to win re-election in a November 6 vote that could hinge in large part on Latino support.” AFP points out that in 2008, Obama “was brought to power by a strong mobilization of minorities, including 66 percent of Hispanic voters, and polls show the community continues to support Obama.”

Reuters (10/9, Felsenthal) also notes that the monument designation could help to mobilize Latino voters who could sway the race for Obama in key states like Florida and Nevada.

The Washington Times (10/8, Crabtree, 76K) notes that Republicans “criticized the president’s decision to spend taxpayer dollars designating the Chavez monument, calling it a desperate political ploy to reach out to Latino voters. Republicans quickly condemned the way the Obama administration acquired the Chavez property, accusing the president of circumventing Congress and acting unilaterally at a time when there are millions of dollars in backlogged maintenance for existing parks.”

The AP (10/9, Wozniacka) does not mention the political implications of the announcement in its coverage. The AP notes that the monument “will be the fourth national monument designated by Obama using the Antiquities Act. He previously designated Virginia’s Fort Monroe, California’s Fort Ord and Colorado’s Chimney Rock as national monuments.”

3,000 People Uninvited From Event. The Huffington Post (10/9, 500K) reports that up to 3,000 people were uninvited from the event at the last minute. The number

people who wanted to attend the event “overwhelmed organizers at the Cesar Chavez Foundation and the United Farm Workers union. ... Event organizers from the Cesar Chavez Foundation and UFW realized they had a problem Friday morning, less than 48 hours after posting the signup form on their websites. ... From late Saturday to Sunday, the organizations sent emails to thousands who had re-registered for the event. They then followed up with dozens of volunteers calling late into the night Sunday to speak with the disinvited.”

Obama Expected To Raise $9.5 Million In California. The President is making six stops during his two day swing through California and is expected to raise nearly $9.5 million for his campaign. Politico (10/8, Slack, 25K) reports, “On Monday in San Francisco, he begins with a $40,000 per head closed-door roundtable discussion with 25 expected guests, according to a campaign official. Then he heads to the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, where he’ll deliver remarks at a $20,000 per head dinner followed by a concert featuring performances by John Legend and Michael Franti. Total haul for the day: at least $4.2 million. On Sunday, he hit a similar slate of events in Los Angeles with a total haul expected to top $5.25 million. A star-studded concert at the Nokia Theater for 6,000 people featured Stevie Wonder, Jon Bov Jovi, Katy Perry, Jennifer Hudson and Earth, Wind & Fire. That followed an intimate $25,000 per head dinner attended by George Clooney, Seth Macfarlane and Harvey Weinstein.”

Obama Taking Longtime Friends On Campaign Swing. The Wall Street Journal (10/9, Nicholas, Lee, Subscription Publication, 2.08M), in an article on top Democrats’ mostly anonymous advice for the President ahead of his next debate, notes that the President is currently traveling with longtime friends Marty Nesbitt and Mike Ramos aboard Air Force One. The Journal notes that Nesbitts and his wife and family are friends of the First Family’s, and Ramos has known the President since they went to high school together in Hawaii.

National Polls Range From Obama +2 To Romney +4. The RealClearPolitics average of recent

polling on the presidential race between President Obama and Mitt Romney shows the President ahead 47.9% to 47.4%. RCP’s electoral map shows the Obama/Biden ticket leading in states totaling 251 electoral votes, Romney/Ryan 181, and 106 too close to call.

A Pew Research poll of 1,112 “likely voters” (10/4-10/7) finds Romney ahead 49%-45%. Before last week’s debate, Pew showed Obama leading 51%-43%.

A Politico/Battleground survey of 1,000 “likely voters” (10/1-10/4) shows the President leading 49%-48%.

Rasmussen’s survey of 1,500 “likely voters” (10/5-10/7) has Obama and Romney tied at 48%.

Gallup’s tracking poll of 1,387 “registered voters” (10/4-10/6) shows the candidates tied at 47%.

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The following polls were not included in the RCP average:

The Washington Times (10/9, Dinan, 76K) reports, “Powered by his widely-acclaimed debate performance last week, Mitt Romney has closed a 9 percentage-point gap and is once again tied with President Obama in the latest The Washington Times/Zogby Poll conducted by Zogby Analytics, released Monday.” Romney “led in the poll 45.1 percent to 44.5 percent when he was stacked up against Mr. Obama alone,” but “adding in third-party candidates...gave Mr. Obama a slight edge, 45.5 percent to 45 percent.” The Times adds that “likely voters who watched Wednesday’s debate overwhelmingly scored it a win for Mr. Romney, 65 percent to 14 percent for Mr. Obama, and among independents it was even worse for the president — only 8 percent said he triumphed.”

An Ipsos/Reuters poll of 1,490 “likely voters” (10/3-10/7) gives the President a two-point edge, 49%-47%.

A UPI/CVoter survey of 1,049 “likely voters” (9/30-10/6), meanwhile, has Obama ahead 48%-47%.

Media Focusing Overwhelmingly On Pew Poll Showing Romney Ahead By Four. The Pew poll released Monday received extensive media coverage, including mentions on all three network newscasts. The poll was described last night and this morning as unequivocally positive news for the Romney campaign, and Romney’s debate performance is getting credit for the shift in the polls. Outside of a few references to Friday’s jobs numbers, almost no other campaign development of the last week gets mentioned as potentially having buoyed Romney further or hurt the President in the polls.

Brian Williams, in the lead story for NBC Nightly News (10/8, lead story, 3:20, Williams, 8.37M), reported, “If you were among the over 60 million of us who watched the presidential debate, then you know we saw two things that night — really, an energized Mitt Romney, and lackluster President Obama — and tonight it appears what happened that night has the numbers...trending towards Romney, at least right now.”

Scott Pelley, on the CBS Evening News (10/8, story 4, 3:05, Pelley, 6.1M), said that on Monday, “Mitt Romney found himself in an unfamiliar place — the lead. ... In a Pew Research Center poll last month Romney trailed President Obama by eight points, 51% to 43%, but a Pew poll taken after the presidential debate last week shows him ahead now by four points, 49% to 45%. That’s outside the margin of error.”

Dianne Sawyer, at the opening of ABC World News (10/8, lead story, 2:40, Sawyer, 8.2M), said, “As we come on the air, the evidence is pouring in, that presidential debate last week was a game changer, at least for now. Here’s the newest poll: for the first time Governor Mitt Romney pulling ahead, leading President Obama among likely voters.”

Mark Blumenthal, in the Huffington Post (10/8, 500K), notes that Gallup released a poll on Monday showing President Obama ahead by 5%, while Pew had Romney in the lead 49%-45%, but, according to Blumenthal, “for the three days immediately following Wednesday’s debate...Gallup showed Romney and Obama tied,” which means “both found an even race between Obama and Romney in interviews conducted primarily over the three days following Wednesday’s debate.”

Making the same case as Blumenthal, Amanda Paulson, in the Christian Science Monitor (10/8, 47K), writes, “Perhaps the best news for Mr. Romney came with Monday’s Gallup tracking-poll release. While the poll still shows President Obama having an edge of three percentage points among registered voters, the result is dramatically different when Gallup isolates the pre- and post-debate interviews.”

USA Today (10/9, Moore, 1.78M), in an article titled, “Debate Performance Helps Romney; Improved Jobs Report Fuels Obama,” notes the results from Pew, but adds, “Other polling indicates Romney’s boost may be temporary after Friday’s jobs report.” USA Today reports that Gallup’s Jeffrey Jones said, “The debate appears to have affected voters to some degree, given the narrowing of the race in the three days after the debate. Romney definitely improved in Friday and Saturday polling among registered voters, but Obama did better Saturday and Sunday nights.”

However, in a far blunter assessment of the post-debate campaign landscape, Obama supporter Andrew Sullivan, in his blog for the Daily Beast (10/9), says the Pew poll represents a “simply unprecedented reversal for a candidate in October.” Sullivan adds, “And we are told that when Obama left the stage that night, he was feeling good. That’s terrifying.”

Chris Cillizza, in a piece for the Washington Post (10/8, Cillizza, 552K) titled, “8 Takeaways From The New Pew Poll,” says the Pew poll “has the potential to rapidly re-orient conventional wisdom about the challenger’s chances of winning.” Cillizza adds that the Pew poll “suggests two thirds of all registered voters in their sample said Romney won the debate while just 20 percent said Obama had,” and “among independents who watched the debate, 78 percent (!) said Romney won.” According to Cillizza, “Everything else in the poll, which suggests movement across the board to the Republican, is born of the fact that people don’t think Romney just won the debate but that he absolutely swamped Obama.”

The Wall Street Journal (10/8, Nelson, 2.08M) presents the new Pew numbers as evidence that voters’ estimation of Romney improved markedly as a result of last Wednesday’s debate. Similarly, AFP (10/9) says “the latest national polls are...an early measure of the damage done by Obama’s lackluster performance against a more aggressive and energetic Romney.”

National Journal (10/9, Shepard, Subscription Publication, 12K) also attributes Romney’s improvement in

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the Pew poll entirely to his debate performance, noting that Romney is “more highly regarded on most personal traits and issues than he was prior to the debate, and his supporters are now more enthusiastic and engaged in the campaign than they were last month.” National Journal adds, “The poll also shows significant increases in the number of voters who identify as Republicans and the number of Republicans who report that they are likely to vote.”

Marjorie Connelly, in a post for the New York Times’s (10/8, Connelly, 1.23M) “The Caucus” blog, noted that Romney’s favorable rating among registered voters “reached 50 percent for the first time in a Pew poll, up five points since September,” while the President’s favorability rating “dropped to 49 percent from 55 percent,” and his “14-point advantage as the candidate who is more honest and truthful candidate narrowed to five points.”

Offering a more cautious take on the new Pew numbers than most other analysts, Alexander Burns, in Politico (10/9, Burns, 25K), wrote, “We’ve warned on a number of occasions against putting too much stock in surveys showing huge swings in a 2012 race that’s been mostly stable,” and, according to Burns, the new Pew poll “falls into that category.” However, Burns adds that a “national, prime-time debate is also one of the few occasions when you could plausibly see a major shift in the fundamentals of the campaign, and even if you’re inclined to take the magnitude of change here with a grain of salt, the trend in the scattered national polling since the debate has tended to show real improvement for Romney.”

Pew Poll: Romney Erased Obama’s 18-Point Advantage Among Women Voters. The Los Angeles Times (10/9, West, 629K), in an article about the new Pew poll, reports that Romney’s “overall personal image improved, with the percentage of voters holding a favorable opinion of the Republican nominee up 5 points since last month,” and he also “wiped out Obama’s advantage among women voters. Last month, Obama led by 18 points among women, 56% to 38%; now they are even, 47% to 47%. And Romney’s image improvement among voters under 30 (he now is viewed favorably by 42% of that group, compared with 32% in September) was his biggest improvement of any age demographic.”

Gerald Seib, in his column for the Wall Street Journal (10/8, Seib, Subscription Publication, 2.08M), notes that in the most recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, the President was ahead 57%-35% among 18 to 34-year-old voters.

Pew Sample: 36% GOP, 31% Democratic And 30% Independent. Bloomberg News (10/9, Salant, Bykowicz, 1M), in an article on the Pew poll, noted that among the 1,112 likely voters, “36 percent identified as Republican, 31 percent as Democratic and 30 percent as independent,” while Pew’s “September poll was 39 percent Democratic and 29 percent Republican.”

Neil Munro, in the Daily Caller (10/8), said the share of respondents who identified themselves as Republican in the new Pew poll is “higher...than pollsters usually assume, which may have slanted the results in Romney’s favor.”

The Hill (10/9, Strauss, 21K) says that “when Obama opened up a lead in polls ahead of the debate, some conservatives argued that mainstream surveys skewed in Obama’s favor because of sample sizes that base 2012 turnout projections on the 2008 election, when Democrats — and Hispanics, blacks and young voters in particular — turned out in record numbers.”

In Zogby Poll: Romney Pulls Ahead On The Economy, National Security. The Washington Times (10/9, Dinan, 76K) also reports that the Zogby poll released Monday “gave Mr. Romney a 48 percent to 45 percent advantage on national security and a 50 percent to 44 percent advantage on jobs and the economy.” The Times says Romney “also made up ground on all three of the other issues surveyed, though Mr. Obama maintained a 50 percent to 44 percent lead on foreign affairs and a 48 percent to 41 percent lead on immigration policy. The two men were virtually tied, however, on energy policy, 46 percent to 46 percent — a huge change from before the debate, when the president led 51 percent to 40 percent.”

Early Voting Tallies Favor Romney In Florida And North Carolina, Obama In Iowa. The AP (10/9, Ohlemacher) reports that the Romney campaign is “working hard to chip away at President Obama’s advantage among early voters, and there are signs the effort is paying off in North Carolina and Florida.” The AP goes on to report that “among the 29,400 voters who have cast absentee ballots in North Carolina, 54 percent are registered Republicans and 28 percent are Democrats,” while in Florida, of the 14,500 votes cast 53% were from Republicans and 32% from Democrats. However, in Iowa, “about 60 percent of the 127,100 voters who have cast absentee ballots so far were registered Democrats,” and 22% are Republicans.

Obama Was Facing Enthusiasm Gap Even Before Debate. Early Monday morning, Politico (10/9, Hohmann, 25K) reported that a new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Tracking Poll found President Obama “has a worsening enthusiasm problem” despite the fact that “most of the poll’s calls were made before Romney’s strong performance at the first presidential debate in Denver.” According to Politico, “Only 73 percent who support Obama say they are ‘extremely likely’ to vote, compared to 86 percent who back Romney. Likewise, 84 percent of Republicans say they are extremely likely to vote, compared to 76 percent of Democrats.”

On NBC Nightly News (10/8, story 2, 1:30, Williams, 8.37M), Chuck Todd said, “This is the dangerous things the Obama folks have to worry about: there is greater enthusiasm among likely Republican voters than likely Democratic voters. This has been a problem for the Democrats for six months,

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and you’re seeing it in a bigger way more...since the last debate.”

Military Times Poll Finds Romney Ahead 66%-26% Among Service Members. The Military Times (10/9, Tilghman, 245K) reports that its poll of “3,100 active and reserve troops” who are “subscribers to the Military Times newspapers” found “that about 66 percent of those surveyed support Romney, compared with about 26 percent who say they will vote to re-elect President Obama.” The Military Times adds, “When asked about the most important issue guiding their vote this year, about 66 percent of respondents cited either ‘the economy’ or ‘the character of the candidate.’ Less than 16 percent of troops surveyed cited ‘national security.’”

Obama Up By Just 3 In Two Michigan Polls. An EPIC-MRA poll of 600 likely Michigan voters taken October 4-6 shows Obama leading Romney 48%-45%. A similar poll a month ago showed Obama up 47%-37%. The Detroit Free Press (10/9, Egan, 219K) quotes EPIC-MRA pollster Bernie Porn as saying, “Romney has come back like gangbusters. Whether or not it’s long-lasting, only time will tell, but probably the remaining debates will be key.”

Meanwhile, a Foster McCollum White Baydoun (D) survey of 1,122 likely Michigan voters taken October 5 shows Obama leading Romney 49%-46%. The poll was conducted for FOX 2 Detroit.

Poll Shows Romney Down Only 2 In Pennsylvania. A new Susquehanna Polling & Research poll of 725 likely Pennsylvania voters taken October 4-6 shows Obama leading Romney 47%-45%. Polls in the two weeks prior to the debate showed Obama leads between 7 and 9 points.

Obama Up 2 In Iowa. A Rasmussen Reports poll of 500 likely Iowa voters taken October 7 shows Obama leading Romney 49%-47%.

RCP Average Has Obama Job Approval At 49.7%. The RealClearPolitics (10/6) average of recent polling on President Obama’s job approval has the President’s approval rating at 49.7%, and his disapproval at 47.8%. Approval is up 0.6% since yesterday; disapproval is down 0.3%.

The latest Rasmussen Reports (10/9) daily tracking poll of 1,500 “adults” (10/5-10/7) shows the President with a 51% approval rating and 44% disapproval. Rasmussen’s (10/9) automated survey of 1,500 “likely voters” (10/5-10/7) finds Obama’s approval at 51%, with 49% disapproving of his performance.

A Politico/Battleground survey of 1,000 “likely voters” (10/1-10/4) shows the President’s approval at 50%, and his disapproval at 48%.

Not included in the RCP average, a UPI/CVoter survey of 1,196 “likely voters” (9/30-10/6) has Obama’s job approval at 49%, with 47% disapproving.

Analysis: Wave Election Unlikely This Year. The Washington Post (10/9, Tumulty, 552K) reports, “In the past six years, there have been three national elections, each of

them producing a wave, in which races up and down the ballot moved in generally the same direction,” but “this year...the better analogy in many states may be a breeze.” The Post notes that “just four weeks before Election Day, fewer than 10 states are in play for the presidential contest, which allows for separate dynamics to take hold in House, Senate and gubernatorial races elsewhere.” Meanwhile, “Many of the most competitive House races are taking place in what Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) calls ‘orphan districts,’ places that the presidential campaigns are all but ignoring, and where there is not even a hotly contested Senate race.”

Analysis: Obama, Romney Have “Vastly Different” Plans For Medicare, Social Security. McClatchy (10/9, Pugh) examines the “vastly different approaches” offered by President Obama and Mitt Romney to put Medicare and Social Security “on sound financial footing.” McClatchy provides details of both candidates’ plans for the two programs and notes, “A September poll by Kaiser found that Obama leads Romney by 20 points – 52 percent to 32 percent – on the question of who ‘do you trust to do a better job determining the future of the Medicare program.’ ... On the question of who’s more trustworthy ‘to reduce Medicare spending wisely,’ Obama leads Romney 54 percent to 40 percent. But among seniors, 38 percent feel Medicare will be ‘worse off’ under Obamacare compared to 31 percent who say it will be ‘better off.’”

Report: ACA Will Increase Costs For Mid-Sized Firms. A new analysis from the Urban Institute says that

while the Affordable Care Act will not “erode employer based health insurance,” it will “raise some companies’ costs by nearly 10 percent,” The Hill (10/9, Baker, 21K) reports in its “Healthwatch” blog. According to the Urban Institute paper, “Mid-sized businesses — firms that have between 101 and 1,000 employees — would have seen a 9.5 percent jump in their total healthcare costs if the Affordable Care Act had been fully in place this year.” Small businesses “would have seen their costs fall by 1.4 percent. Firms with more than 1,000 workers would have seen a 4.3 percent increase.” The Hill notes that the report “confirms one central criticism of the healthcare law — that it will increase employers’ costs — while also undercutting charges that the law will lead employers to quit offering healthcare coverage.”

Two Afghan Intel Officers Killed In Car Bombing. Two Afghan intelligence officers were killed and

at least 15 people wounded when a car bomb hidden in a parked minibus exploded near a government building in southern Afghanistan. The AP (10/9, Khan) reports, “The bomb targeted a field office of the Afghan intelligence agency, known as the National Directorate of Security, in the city of

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Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, said Ahmed Zarak, a spokesman for the provincial government. The two officers who were killed were guarding the compound, which the NDS uses as a base for operations inside Laskgar Gah, the provincial capital, he said.”

Thiessen: Biden Opposed Raid That Killed Bin Laden. In his column for the Washington Post (10/8, 552K)

Marc A. Thiessen writes that while Vice President Biden “has become cheerleader in chief for the operation that killed Osama bin Laden, while claiming that Mitt Romney would not have ordered the mission,” Biden “opposed the mission that killed Osama bin Laden.” Biden “counseled Obama not to do what he did. Alone among the president’s advisers, Biden opposed every option under consideration for killing of Osama bin Laden. ... Yet today it is Biden...who is painting Romney as unfit for office because he allegedly would have opposed it.” Thiessen adds, “Let’s see if in Thursday’s vice presidential debate, Biden dares to repeat his now famous line, ‘GM is alive, and Bin Laden is dead.’ If he does, Ryan can simply answer, ‘Bin Laden wouldn’t be dead if you had your way, Joe.’”

Report: Iraq Supplying Syria With Oil. The

Financial Times (10/9, Saigol, Peel, Subscription Publication, 448K) reports that Iraq is supplying Syria with oil as part of a one-year deal reached in June. According to documents obtained by the Times, the state-owned Syria Trading Oil Company agreed to pay cash for the fuel valued at $14 million.

After Acknowledging Weak Performance, Obama Studying Debate Tape. On ABC World

News (10/8, lead story, 2:40, Sawyer, 8.2M), Jake Tapper reported that the Obama campaign’s “official line is that the President’s debate performance did not change the fundamentals of the race, but behind the scenes with that new [Pew] poll, some top Democrats are getting nervous.” Tapper went on to report that the President “seemed to have initially thought all went well that night...but quickly after leaving the stage the President talked to aides and realized he had not brought his ‘A’ game. ‘This is on me,’ he later told top advisers, and since then he’s been studying the video of that night with the goal of a more energetic and crisp performance.”

Gallup: 71% Of Independents, 49% Of Democrats Think Romney Won Debate. Politico (10/9, Robillard, 25K) reports that “almost three-quarters of Americans who watched the debate believe Mitt Romney won, a record high in Gallup’s polling. ... Only 20 percent of Americans who watched think Obama won, compared to 72 percent for Romney. Among independents, 71 percent believe Romney won,” and a “near-majority of Democrats who saw the faceoff

— 49 percent — also said that the Republican nominee bested Obama.”

McGurn Praises Lehrer’s Performance As Debate Moderator. In his column for the Wall Street Journal (10/9, Mcgurn, Subscription Publication, 2.08M) William McGurn praises Jim Lehrer’s performance as moderator of last week’s presidential debate. McGurn says Lehrer’s handling of the debate was welcome change from the view of many in the press corps that their job extends beyond reporting the news to deciding what should or should not be reported. McGurn notes the Commission on Presidential Debates’ defense of Lehrer and says the moderators of the remaining debate should follow his lead.

Goldman Sachs No Longer Favoring Obama With Donations. The Wall Street Journal (10/9,

Rappaport, Mullins, Subscription Publication, 2.08M) reports that while employees of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. contributed over $1M to Barack Obama during his 2008 run for president, they’ve donated only $136K to the President’s reelection campaign and no money to the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action. Goldman employees, meanwhile, have donated $900K to Mitt Romney’s campaign and another $900K to the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future. Behind the shift away from donating heavily to Obama by the Goldman employees, says the Journal, is the employees’ unhappiness with Democrats’ regulatory moves, such as the Volcker Rule, and Democrats’ criticism of the financial industry.

Conservative Group Says Obama Camp Illegally Soliciting Foreign Donations. The Daily

Caller (10/8, Boyle) reported that President Barack Obama’s “campaign has been soliciting foreigners for donations, an explosive report from the conservative Government Accountability Institute (GAI) shows. Those foreign donors are allegedly visiting the Obama campaign’s donation solicitation Web pages through a social media website the campaign controls, and through an outside website that serves mostly Internet users from outside the” US. “About 20 percent of visitors to the ‘my.barackobama.com’ social media website ‘originated from foreign locations,’ the report found. That Web address is owned and controlled by the Obama re-election campaign.” GAI says in the report, “At no point during the [website’s] subscription process is a visitor asked whether he or she can legally donate to a U.S. Election.’”

NBC’s Mitchell Criticizes Obama Campaign Over Ad Including Footage Of Her. In a blog entry

at Politico (10/9, Byers, 25K), Dylan Byers reported that Andrea Mitchell of NBC News on Monday “publicly shamed” President’s Obama’s “campaign...for using NBC News footage to attack Mitt Romney.” Byers noted, “NBC News

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sent a letter to Obama campaign manager Jim Messina last week asking the campaign to stop using network footage in a new 30-second spot, released shortly after Wednesday’s debate, in which Andrea Mitchell is shown on air citing an independent analysis that Mitt Romney’s tax plan would cost $4.8 trillion over 10 years.” Yesterday on MSNBC, Mitchell said “that the Obama campaign omitted portions of the clip in which she ‘pointed out exaggerations and/or misstatements’ made by President Barack Obama.” Mitchell is quoted as saying, in part, that in their ad, “the Obama campaign uses only a short clip from a Truth Squad report that in fact pointed out exaggerations and/or misstatements that both candidates had made during the debate.”

Ethics Rules Experts Say Sebelius’ Visit To Ryan’s District Was Legal. Politico (10/9, Nather,

Cheney, 25K) reports, “When HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius visited Paul Ryan’s district Sunday on behalf of President Barack Obama’s reelection bid, she was careful to follow the rules: The campaign paid for the trip, not the government, and campaign officials said she was just there as a supporter, not as HHS secretary.” Politico adds that “experts on government ethics rules say” Sebelius’ visit was legal. The HHS Secretary “got in trouble just last month for violating the Hatch Act, which bans federal employees from participating in partisan political activities. In a February speech, she stepped over the line by making a pitch for a North Carolina gubernatorial candidate during an official speech, according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.” Of Sebelius’ Wisconsin visit, Washington University in St. Louis law professor Kathleen Clark is quoted as saying, “It doesn’t violate the Hatch Act to engage in partisan politics if no federal funds were used in those activities.”

Romney Will Spend Today And Tomorrow In Ohio. The New York Times (10/9, Zeleny, Rutenberg,

Subscription Publication, 1.23M) reports that the President and Romney “are both visiting Ohio on Tuesday, the final day of voter registration here, but Mr. Romney is sticking around for one of his most intensive bursts of campaigning yet.” According to the Times, the Obama campaign “has overwhelmed Mr. Romney until now in television advertising,” but Romney “has now increased his advertising in smaller markets across the state, including Youngstown, Zanesville and Lima. He is scheduled to travel the state on Tuesday and Wednesday with Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey at his side.”

Romney Campaign Reportedly Moving Pennsylvania Staff To Ohio. The Daily Caller (10/9, Re), citing anonymous sources, reports that the Romney campaign is “diverting substantial resources from Pennsylvania to Ohio,” and “field staff for the campaign were told about the decision during a conference call late Monday.” The Daily Caller adds that “a Romney official denied...that the

campaign was moving out of Pennsylvania entirely, but confirmed that some of the state’s staff were headed to Ohio.”

With Polls Showing Race Tightening, Ryan Campaigns In Michigan. Rep. Paul Ryan campaigned

in Michigan Monday. A front page story in the Detroit Free Press (10/9, A1, Gray, Zaniewski, 219K) reports that Ryan visited the state “to raise money and GOP hopes of a victory. He played to a hometown crowd at a big-ticket fund-raiser in Pontiac by trumpeting a healthy auto industry. Later, Ryan received a rock star’s welcome at Oakland University, where he was introduced by Kid Rock, and supporters cheered his messages of job growth and strengthened national security.” Ryan “touted his and Romney’s economic policies, saying the pair would focus on restoring lost manufacturing jobs and helping unemployed people gain the skills they need to find work.”

A front page story in the Detroit News (10/9, A1, Shepardson, Schultz, 128K) reports that Ryan’s swing through Michigan “comes as two new polls released on Monday showed Obama’s double-digit lead in the state had been cut to 3 percentage points. Coupled with a strong debate performance Wednesday, Republican leaders believe they have momentum.”

GOP Efforts To Downplay Ryan’s Skills Haven’t Lowered Debate Expectations. Republican efforts to lower expectations about Rep. Paul Ryan ahead of this week’s debate with Vice President Joe Biden haven’t “quite filtered down to some rank-and-file Republicans in Ohio, whose expectations for the Wisconsin congressman are sky-high,” the Washington Post (10/8, Helderman, 552K) reports. In interviews in the state,, Republican voters “said they expect Ryan to downright demolish the vice president Thursday.” Those expectations were fed in part by Biden’s “reputation as a gaffe machine” and by the Ryan campaign’s efforts to sell the congressman “as the party’s intellectual future, raising expectations about his abilities.”

Ryan’s Approach On Economic Policy Heavily Influenced By Jack Kemp. The Los Angeles Times (10/9, Mascaro, Bureau, 629K) reports that Mitt Romney’s running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, “who first worked in Congress as a college intern, has been cultivated over his 20-year career in Washington by some of the city’s most influential GOP figures. His approach to economics embodies a political genealogy that stretches from Ronald Reagan to the tea party. Among his most lasting influences was the supply-side economics guru Jack Kemp, who helped orchestrate Reagan’s first tax cuts.” Noting that Ryan worked as “a speechwriter for Kemp shortly after interning on Capitol Hill in the early 1990s,” the Times adds that “Ryan shares Kemp’s unwavering belief that lower taxes would spur the economy.”

Romney Reworks Stump Speech On Unemployment Rate. Mitt Romney has reworked his

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stump speech to reflect that the unemployment rate has dropped below 8 percent. Politico (10/9, Hohmann, 25K) reports that since the tater of his campaign, Romney “has counted up the number of ‘straight months with unemployment above 8 percent.’ But he dropped the line Friday after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the rate fell to 7.8 percent in September and revised upward the number of jobs created in the two prior months.” During an appearance at a shipyard in Virginia, Romney said, “We’ve seen the slowest recovery from a recession in history. ... As a matter of fact, I just read that if you look back 60 years, and you look at all the months we had with unemployment above 8 percent before President Obama, there were 39 months in all 60 years with unemployment above 8 percent. With this president, there’ve been 43 months under one president alone.”

Romney Switches To Retail Politics Ahead Of Town Hall Debate. A Huffington Post (10/9, Stein,

500K) story notes that while Mitt Romney has heretofore held “confined and controlled campaign stops,” he “has suddenly become a candidate eager to mix it up with voters in impromptu settings.” GOP sources cite two factors as being responsible for the change. First, “the momentum that the Romney campaign feels coming off a strong debate performance on Wednesday night, resulting in the type of adoring crowds needed to provide a soft landing for a candidate who is often stiff and awkward in such settings.” Second “is a plan to get Romney better prepared for the next presidential debate, which will put him and President Barack Obama in a town hall format.”

Book Details $1.4 Billion Spent On White House Each Year. The Daily Caller (10/8, Pappas)

reports that a book by author John F. Groom, titled “The 1.4 Billion Dollar Man: Costs of the Obama White House,” explains how researchers arrived at the estimate that “taxpayers spend about $1.4 billion paying for the staffing, housing, transportation and entertaining of President Barack Obama’s White House.” Groom writes, “One of the most important things to note about the $1.4 billion figure is that it specifically does NOT include the cost of running the White House’s policy operations – the $1.4 billion is money that is directly related to the president and his family.” The book provides a breakdown of the costs which include, among other things, $450,000 for the President’s salary and allowance, $14,658,000 for White House building operating expenses, and $6,057,000 for the White House grounds.

First Lady Says She Rarely Visits West Wing. In an interview with ABC News, First Lady Michele Obama said she “stays out of the way of most of her husband’s work, trusting the president’s advisers to counsel him on policy issues,” Politico (10/9, Epstein, 25K) reports. In the interview,

Mrs. Obama said, “I rarely step foot in the West Wing. In fact people are shocked when they see me there,” adding, “I rarely walk in that office because the truth is he’s got so many wonderful advisers. ... So I don’t even have the kind of expertise and the time in to be able to provide the kind of advice and guidance that he’s already getting.” Mrs. Obama added that she and the President “strive to keep work out of their family life.”

Congress Likely To Have Fewer Moderates Next Year. The New York Times (10/8, Steinhauer,

Subscription Publication, 1.23M) notes that “there will be many fewer moderate politicians” in Congress next year. A “potent combination of Congressional redistricting, retirements of fed-up lawmakers and campaign spending by special interests is pushing out moderate members of both parties, leaving a shrinking corps of consensus builders.” In theory, the loss of moderates “means it will be even harder next year for Congress — which failed to put together even mundane measures like farm and highway legislation without a massive fight this session — to pass bills. But Congress is facing so many potentially calamitous tax and budget issues that another theory is brewing: a combination of Democrats, once adverse to changes to entitlements, and senior Republicans may form some sort of new deal-making consensus through sheer necessity to avoid large tax increases and massive military cuts.”

New Super PACs Targeting Handful Of House Races. The New York Times (10/9, A1, Confessore,

McGinty, Subscription Publication, 1.23M) reports on its front page that “a new and potentially potent kind of super PAC is proliferating in the closing weeks of the campaign and taking aim at House races.” The groups “are picking a few Congressional races in which advertising is cheaper or the airwaves less cluttered and transforming them with a barrage of outside money, swamping incumbents and challengers alike. In Utah and Georgia, a group known as Center Forward, headed by a retired Democratic lawmaker turned Beltway lobbyist, has spent $1 million attacking” a pair of GOP hopefuls. “In Florida, the Treasure Coast Jobs Coalition has spent nearly $1 million” targeting Patrick Murphy (D), who is battling FL22 Rep. Allen West (R) in the redrawn FL18 CD.

Clinton To Stump For Several Democratic House, Senate Hopefuls This Week. Roll Call

(10/9, Trygstad, Subscription Publication, 19K) reported on its website that former President Bill Clinton, who has been stumping for President Obama, is “also finding time in the final push before Election Day for some downballot Democrats.” Today, “Clinton will endorse four” California House “candidates on the campus of the University of California, Davis,” including “Reps. John Garamendi and

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Jerry McNerney.” Later Tuesday, “Clinton will be in Las Vegas for an Obama rally,” where he’ll be joined “by Rep. Shelley Berkley (D), who is challenging Sen. Dean Heller (R).” On Wednesday, Clinton will attend “a rally at Arizona State University in Tempe with Senate candidate Richard Carmona (D),” who’s “running against Rep. Jeff Flake (R) for the seat of retiring Sen. Jon Kyl (R).” On Friday, Clinton will visit “Sioux City, Iowa, for a rally with former Iowa first lady Christie Vilsack (D), who is challenging Rep. Steve King (R).”

On its website, Politico (10/9, Burns, 25K) reported that Clinton on Friday also will visit Indianapolis, IN, “home to the Joe Donnelly vs. Richard Mourdock Senate race.”

Allen, Kaine Trade Barbs During Televised Debate. Last night in Richmond, George Allen (R) and Tim

Kaine (D) — who are vying to succeed retiring Sen. Jim Webb (D) — faced off in a televised debate. The AP (10/9, Lewis) says that during the debate, the two candidates “drew sharper contrasts...between themselves...on the issues of entitlements seniors have paid all their lives, with Allen backing higher retirement age and Kaine promising to protect Social Security ‘to my last breath.’” Although “there were no game-changing moments, the debate,” which was co-sponsored by the AARP and the League of Women Voters, “provided a clearer window into the priorities and personalities” of Allen and Kaine, as the candidates fielded “questions about Medicare and Social Security,” as well as “taxation and women’s issues of pay inequality and access to abortion services.”

The Washington Post (10/9, Haines, 552K) similarly says, “While the face-off did not cover much new ground and the candidates avoided any obvious gaffes, both men aimed to present a clear choice to voters during the debate. Allen attempted to portray Kaine as distracted during his tenure as governor, focused on his role as” DNC chief “during his final year in office.” Kaine, meanwhile, argued “that he is the candidate who can bring compromise to Washington and pledged to help end the gridlock in Congress — something he said Allen did not do during his term in the Senate.” Kaine also “sought to cast Allen as a bully, twice mentioning the Republican’s old vow to ‘knock Democrats’ soft teeth down their whiny throats.’”

The Washington Times (10/9, Sherfinski, 76K) reports that, targeting Kaine over his decision to head the DNC, Allen said, “How does a governor decide to take on a second job that sends him all over the country giving partisan speeches while over 100,000 jobs are lost in Virginia? If Tim had been listening to the people of Virginia, who were really facing tough times, he might not have proposed raising taxes on working people, working women, seniors and small-business owners, as well as people earning as little as $17,000 a year.” Kaine, however, “said that his final year might have been his best one in office, listing accomplishments such as banning

smoking in restaurants and preserving open space in the state.”

Under the headline “Allen Struggles On Abortion Questions,” Politico (10/9, Catanese, 25K) reports, “When asked about proposals in the GOP-led General Assembly’s this year to require an ultrasound before women could get an abortion and to codify that life begins at conception — so-called ‘personhood’ legislation — Allen punted and pivoted. ‘Some of those issues are state issues on informed consent,’ Allen replied, before shifting to contraceptive access, which was not brought up in the question. ‘I would never prohibit contraceptives. I think women ought to be able to have access and should be able to have access to contraceptives.’” Noting that Allen also “said a ‘personhood’ bill would help punish a woman’s attacker who kills or injures an unborn child.” Politico adds, “While the answer wasn’t a gaffe, it was a glaring moment during the” debate “that encapsulated Allen’s difficulty in making inroads with females.”

The Richmond (VA) Times-Dispatch (10/9, Hester, 120K) says, “The two clashed on a host of topics, most notably fiscal issues, with Kaine hitting early and often on Allen’s record in the U.S. Senate. ‘When George Allen went into the Senate…we actually had a surplus,’ Kaine said. ‘But he broke both sides of the balance sheet. He dramatically slashed taxes, and he jacked up spending $16,000 of debt every second that he served for six years.’” Allen, meanwhile, “countered by attacking Kaine’s support for Obama-administration policies that he suggested were the true cause for the nation’s economic malaise, noting that when he left the Senate, the unemployment rate was 4.4 percent and the budget deficit was $160 billion. ‘Now it’s $1.1 trillion — seven times higher,’ Allen said.”

The Washington Examiner (10/9, Contorno, 93K) reports, “Kaine, who has pulled ahead in recent polls following months of deadlock, clearly felt momentum coming off a jobs report Friday that showed the nation’s unemployment rate had fallen to the lowest point in four years. While Allen continued to blast the economic recovery, Kaine found an opportunity to capitalize on it. ‘I really believe that there are some signs that economy is starting to move forward,’ Kaine said. ‘But I think Congress is the ankle weight.’”

On its website, The Hill (10/9, Joseph, 21K) reported, “Both candidates hewed closely to scripts they’ve followed for more than a year of campaigning, and were clearly frustrated time and again by the way each characterized the other’s record and views.” The Hill added, “Neither scored a clear knockout blow in a debate that is unlikely to change many voters’ minds.”

Kaine Declines To Say Whether He’d Back Reid For Majority Leader. In a blog entry on the website of the Weekly Standard (10/9, Warren, 83K), Michael Warren reported, “Speaking to reporters following” last night’s debate,

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Kaine “was asked if he would vote for Harry Reid, currently the majority leader, for the Democrats’ top position in the U.S. Senate. Kaine refused to answer the question.” Said Kaine, “It’s too early to talk about leadership questions. That’s not the kind of thing you talk about when you’re a candidate who still has to win a race. I’m not going to be thinking about things after the race. I still have a lot of hard work to do over the next 28 days.”

PPP Has Kaine Up Big Over Allen. A Public Policy Polling (10/9) (D) survey of 725 likely Virginia voters taken October 4-6 shows former Gov. Tim Kaine (D) leading former Sen. George Allen (R) 51%-44%.

Rehberg, Tester Clash In Debate. The AP (10/9,

Gouras) reports that during a debate last night Montana State University-Billings, Sen. Jon Tester (D) and Rep. Denny Rehberg (R) “exchanged sharp words,” with the GOP challenger often seeking “to tie Tester to President Barack Obama, who Rehberg argued has brought failed policies on health care, business regulation, taxes and other issues.” Tester, in turn, “defended the government’s stimulus efforts as successful and the federal health care law as a necessary start, but he also maintained his independence on many fronts.” Tester is quoted as saying, “The point is, congressman, you are running against me. You aren’t running against President Obama. ... He can try to morph me into President Obama because that is who he wants to run against.”

The Billings (MT) Gazette (10/9, Johnson, 38K) reports, “Tester cited issues in which he had disagreed with Obama, such as the senator’s support of the Keystone XL pipeline and legislation to remove wolves from the endangered species list.” Rehberg fired “back at Tester, saying: ‘I don’t need to morph you into Barack Obama. You did it to yourself.’” The Gazette notes that Tester targeted “Rehberg’s 15 expense-paid trips to foreign countries where he had ‘eaten in castles’ and boats and drunk in ‘gin bars.’” Tester also labeled Rehberg “a paid lobbyist.”

On its website, The Hill (10/9, Joseph, 21K) reported that “Rehberg repeatedly attacked Tester for voting with national Democrats on a range of issues in the GOP-leaning state and often referred to ‘Senator Tester and Barack Obama’ in one breath, while Tester defended his votes before pivoting to more personal attacks against the congressman.” The Hill added, “Tester came off as the smoother debater, making his points quickly and with biting humor, while Rehberg flailed his hands wildly, rushed through responses and stuttered at times. But both landed punches throughout the night.”

Rehberg Narrowly Tops Tester In Q3 Money Race. Politico (10/9, Kim, 25K) reports that “Rehberg collected $2.4 million in the third quarter of 2012,” narrowly topping Tester in the Q3 money race. Rehberg, who “raised $1.1 million” during the second quarter, “has $1.7 million cash on hand, his

campaign said Monday. Tester’s campaign announced last week that the first-term Democratic senator raised $2.3 million in the third quarter and has $1.3 million cash on hand.” Politico notes, “Rehberg’s third-quarter fundraising numbers were his largest so far, his campaign said.”

DSCC Ad Hits Rehberg On Lawsuit Against Billings Fire Department. The Hill (10/8, Jaffe, 21K) reported on its website that the DSCC is airing an ad targeting Rehberg that “features five Montana firefighters” discussing the GOP lawmaker’s “past history with the local fire department in Billings, Mont. Rehberg sued the city after a wildfire devastated his land, and though he eventually lost the suit, it cost the city thousands. The firefighters explain that fires are dangerous and unpredictable. ‘So I couldn’t believe it when Congressman Dennis Rehberg blamed the fire department for damage to his property,’ says firefighter Dan Cotrell.”

WI: PPP Has Baldwin Up 3 Over Thompson. A

Public Policy Polling (D) survey of 979 likely Wisconsin voters taken October 4-6 shows Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D) leading former Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) 49%-46%.

Democrat Carmona Making Strong Play To Flip Arizona Senate Seat. In a report on ex-US Surgeon

General Richard Carmona’s (D) battle against Rep. Jeff Flake (R) in the race to succeed retiring Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl (R), Politico (10/9, Wong, 25K) says that Carmona “has come out of nowhere to contend for a seat that was practically etched in the GOP column. Polls show him in a dead heat” with his foe, Rep. Flake. Noting that “Arizona has seen 160,000 new Hispanics, who lean Democratic, added to its voter rolls since 2008,” Politico says that Carmona “is harnessing his up-by-his-bootstraps biography: A poor kid from Harlem and high school dropout who became a decorated Vietnam War veteran, SWAT team leader and the nation’s 17th U.S. surgeon general. He is capitalizing on Arizona’s changing demographics and tapping into anger over the state’s anti-immigrant policies.”

Pastors, National Conservatives Trying To Boost Akin. In a report on the race between Rep. Todd

Akin (R) and Missouri Sen. Clare McCaskill (D), the Washington Post (10/8, Hamburger, 552K) says that “Akin’s political revival has become a cause celebre for” a “group of clerics and other conservatives, who have launched a carefully orchestrated effort to lift the GOP candidate back into contention for a seat that could help decide control of the Senate. ‘People are drawn to Akin’s cause because they see it as the opening battle for the soul of the Republican Party,’ said strategist David Lane, who has spent months in the state organizing pastors to fight for Akin.” Noting that Akin’s candidacy was damaged by his widely-reported “legitimate rape” comments, the Post added that the GOP candidate’s bid is being boosted by Missouri pastors, as well as national

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conservatives such as Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, and Sen. Jim DeMint.

Home Prices Hit Record Highs In Many US Cities. New data show that home prices in a number of US

cities are at all time highs. USA Today (10/9, Schmit, 1.78M) reports, “More than 100 metropolitan areas hit their peak home prices in July and a few did in June, according to data through July from mortgage tracker Lender Processing Services. Those areas include Pittsburgh and Anchorage. Another 50 areas are within 2% of their previous peaks, LPS’ home price index shows. Examples: Austin; Denver and Boulder, Colo.; Indianapolis; and Portland, Maine.”

California Governor Approves Early Sale Of Cheaper “Winter Blend” Gas. NBC Nightly News

(10/8, story 8, 0:30, Williams, 8.37M) reported that “California drivers may finally be getting a break. After setting another record, the average price for a gallon of regular hit $4.67 per gallon today. The California Governor Jerry Brown has given the go-ahead to refiners to process a less expensive and less clean burning blend of fuel known as the winter blend in the trade, three weeks earlier than they planned. That should bring prices down about 15 cents a gallon.”

ABC World News (10/8, story 7, 0:30, Sawyer, 8.2M) reported that Brown’s move “should bring those record high prices back down to earth later this week.”

The CBS Evening News (10/8, story 6, 2:10, Whitaker, 6.1M) reported that “history shows prices rarely fall as fast as they go up. They should be back where they were before the spike in about a month.”

Feinstein, Boxer Call For Investigation Into Gas Price Spike. The Los Angeles Times (10/9, White, 629K) reports that California’s gasoline prices set another record Monday after jumping 50 cents a gallon in one week. Experts “attributed the increase to an oil pipeline problem and a slew of maintenance procedures and refinery mishaps.” However, Sen. Feinstein called on the FTC “to investigate the leap in prices.” Sen. Boxer also “urged the Justice Department to look into the circumstances of the price leap.” Meanwhile, California Atty. Gen. Harris said her office “will vigilantly monitor our gas and oil markets to ferret out any collusive or unlawful activity by oil and gas companies, refineries, traders and others.”

Stocks Declined Monday. The Wall Street Journal

(10/8, Jarzemsky, Subscription Publication, 2.08M) attributes a decline in stock markets Monday to poor earnings forecasts, European debt and China’s sluggish economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 26.50 points to 13583. The S&P 500 slid 5.05 points to end the day at 1455.88. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 23.84 points to close at 3112.35.

Sandra Fluke Campaigning In Support Of Democrats. The Washington Post (10/9, Fahrenthold,

552K) reports on Sandra Fluke’s accidental path to fame. She has since become “a walking, talking symbol of the nation’s polarized politics, caricatured either as an oversexed whiner or as a noble casualty of the ‘war on women.’” She is now campaigning hard for Democrats. She “joined a bus tour for President Obama in the Midwest last week” and has upcoming engagements in California, Upstate New York, and Ohio.

Unions Seek Constitutional Amendment In Michigan. The Washington Times (10/9, Billups, 76K)

reports that “labor unions in Michigan have gone on the attack with a proposed first-in-the-nation amendment to the state constitution that would enshrine a right to collective bargaining...and invalidate any past or future laws to the contrary.” Opponents say Proposal 2 “it will hurt competitiveness and take a big bite out of the state’s ability to control spending.” Supporters have raised $8 million while opponents have raised $624,000. Out-of-state groups may have spent up to $40 million. Gov. Snyder has said he supports collective bargaining but opposes Proposal 2. Polls put supporters ahead by 5-points “making it a tight contest on a state ballot that also features a competitive presidential race and four other measures.”

Supreme Court Reexamines Affirmative Action. The New York Times (10/9, Liptak, Subscription Publication, 1.23M) reports on the case brought before by Abigail Fisher, who says the University of Texas at Austin did not admit her because she is white. The University says “that it must be free to assemble a varied student body” and that “the Supreme Court endorsed that view by a 5-to-4 vote in 2003 in Grutter v. Bollinger.” However, that opinion was written by Justice O’Connor, since been replaced by Justice Alito, opening “the way for a ruling cutting back on such race-conscious admissions policies, or eliminating them.” Among the questions raised by the case is whether affirmative action is necessary given the University’s “Top Ten” program that automatically admits top performing students from all Texas high schools and has “produced substantial racial and ethnic diversity.”

USA Today (10/9, Wolf, Marklein, 1.78M) reports that “the court has taken a turn to the right since its last ruling upholding affirmative action in 2003” and that “five justices are on record opposing the practice.” Both sides have addressed their arguments to Justice Kennedy, who will likely cast the deciding vote. Fisher’s lawyers contend that the University seeks “racial balancing,” something Kennedy clearly doesn’t sanction. While “the school’s lawyers point out that in using race as one factor, the university isn’t resorting to quotas or numerical targets.” Meanwhile, Justice

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Sotomayor has called herself a “product of affirmative action” and Justice Kagan “has recused herself from the case because of her previous involvement as solicitor general.”

Lane: More Compromise Needed On Affirmative Action. In a column in the Washington Post (10/9, 552K) Charles Lane writes that “even before Barack Obama’s election as president in 2008, racial peace was the dominant trend.” Lane believes this peace was built on “a post-civil rights ‘Compromise of 1977,’ encompassing such policies as race-conscious university admissions and the Voting Rights Act, which helped build a black middle class and boost minority representation in government from the White House on down.” However, the Supreme Court is set to upset this compromise as it reexamines racial preference in college admissions and the Voting Rights Act. He writes that these policies have met with mixed success and failure and that more practicality and compromise are needed to move forward.

Iowa Judge Faces Removal Over Same-Sex Marriage. The Washington Post (10/9, Turque, 552K)

reports on the campaign to remove Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins because of his vote to overturn the state’s ban on same-sex marriage. Rick Santorum and Bobby Jindal have toured the state in support of removing Wiggins. This campaign has already “unseated three...jurists who ruled that the state’s [DOMA] violated the equal-protection clause of Iowa’s constitution.” This “deepened concerns about the injection of money and politics” into the judiciary including in Florida where a group “is seeking to oust three judges...who refused to allow a ballot measure opposing a key provision in President Obama’s health-care plan.” A recent poll found 49 percent of likely voters in favor of keeping Wiggins on the bench compared with 32 percent in favor of retaining the three judges in 2010.

Bruni: Maine Referendum Provides Validation To Gay Residents. In his column for the New York Times (10/9, Bruni, Subscription Publication, 1.23M) Frank Bruni notes that if polls are correct, Maine voters are set to pass a referendum for same sex marriage. Bruni examines the referendum from the perspective of Chuck Bennett, an 80-year-old Maine resident who is gay. Bruni notes that for Bennett, “the marriage focus of the Maine referendum is almost beside the real point, which is validation.”

DeLay Argues Conviction Was Politically Motivated. The Wall Street Journal (10/9, Gold,

Subscription Publication, 2.08M) reports that Tom Delay will argue his appeal Thursday before three Texas judges, two of whom are Republicans. Delay was convicted of money laundering and conspiracy for transferring $190,000 in corporate money to Republicans running for the Texas Legislature in 2002. Delay argues that a district attorney targeted him in a politically motivated prosecution and that

the state money-laundering law doesn’t apply to his actions. Legal experts say Delay has a reasonable chance at overturning the conviction especially because the judges are elected. The Journal notes that the Citizens United decision was announced a few month’s after Delay’s conviction. Delay’s attorney says that sending him to prison under such changed circumstances does not make sense.

Study: Protestants No Longer In The Majority In US. A new study from the Pew Forum on Religion &

Public Life has found that Americans who call themselves Protestant are no longer in the majority. USA Today (10/9, Grossman, 1.78M) reports that Protestants are “down to 48%, from 53% in 2007.” The study notes that these people “didn’t switch to a new religious brand; they just let go of any faith affiliation or label.” According to the study, “one in five Americans (19.3%) claim no religious identity. This group, called ‘Nones,’ is now the nation’s second-largest category after Catholics, and outnumbers the top Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptists. The shift is a significant cultural, religious and even political change.”

Jindal, Christie Currently Slated To Head RGA. Politico (10/8, Burns, 25K) reported on its website, “Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal will take over the Republican Governors Association next year, followed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in 2014, an RGA official confirmed to POLITICO. ... Under the current plan...Jindal’s vice chairman in 2013 will be Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. In 2014 — assuming Christie runs for and wins reelection next year — Jindal will then take the vice chairman job. The lineup will allow three of the GOP’s superstar governors to take a turn at the RGA helm but avoid any of the three holding a top post during a year when he’s running for reelection.”

Cohen: Conservative Search For “True Obama” Is A “Fool’s Errand.” In his column for the

Washington Post (10/9, Cohen, 552K) Richard Cohen notes that when the Daily Caller last week “came up with a tape of President Obama speaking in the spring of 2007 to an audience of black ministers about matters of concern to black ministers and their black congregants,” conservatives “announced with considerable urgency that they had discovered ‘the real Barack Obama.’” Cohen calls conservative efforts to fund the “True Obama” a “quixotic quest, a fool’s errand, that induces a kind of delirium in the president’s critics.” Cohen adds, “This need to turn a political foe into the frightening ‘other’ is a reaction against modernity — the permanent platform of the Republican Party. ... Liberals long ago realized they had idealized Obama. Only conservatives still hope he is a different man.”

Nocera: Wealthy Donors Buying Presidential Election. In a column in the New York Times (10/9,

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Subscription Publication, 1.23M) Joe Nocere writes the growth in presidential campaign spending from $35 million by each candidate in 1976 to more than $1 billion in this election. Noting that “they seem to spend more time fund-raising than pressing the flesh with voters” and that “Obama has held six fund-raisers in a single day. Twice.” He also writes on the rise of the super PACs and 501(c)4s “which are essentially a form of campaign money-laundering, allowing wealthy people to contribute millions toward supposedly ‘independent’ spending on campaign advertising, polling and other expensive campaign goodies.” Nocere writes that the sums on money being spent “has the potential to influence not just Congressional and Senate candidates but the presidential candidates as well” noting that Romney will not take a position on Israel differ from Sheldon Adelson.

Wickham: Romney Still Needs To Explain 47% Comments. In his column in USA Today (10/9, 1.78M)

DeWayne Wickham writes that “Mitt Romney’s biggest Etch A Sketch moment came not during his debate with President Obama but on his victory lap on Fox News a day later.” When Sean Hannity pointed out that the President “hadn’t raised the 47% issue, Hannity asked Romney what he would have said had the president brought it up.” Romney answered, in part, “In this case, I said something that was just completely wrong.” Wickham is unsatisfied with this response and believes that “Romney ought to be made to explain in great detail how something that seemed so right for him to say in the confines of a private fundraiser with his wealthy buddies is completely wrong now that it has been leaked to voters.”

Professor: More Teachers Not The Solution. In

an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (10/9, Subscription Publication, 2.08M) Jay Greene, professor of education reform at the University of Arkansas, writes that both President Obama and Mitt Romney agree that the country needs more teachers. However, Greene believes that states should shrink the teacher work force because more teachers will not improve student achievement and will bankrupt state and local governments. Romney supports vouchers and decentralized control over schools and Greene hopes that will keep schools from hiring more teachers. Meanwhile, Obama favors a Solyndra-like solution, where the Federal government picks one reform strategy that involves hiring an army of teachers.

BlackRock CEO: Financial Industry Must Work To Restore Market Confidence. BlackRock

Chairman and CEO Laurence D. Fink in a Wall Street Journal (10/9, Fink, Subscription Publication, 2.08M) op-ed writes that a crisis of confidence in the markets has left many individual investors on the sidelines, and urges the financial sector to work with the government, and not against it, to restore confidence. He argues that the industry’s recent opposition to

the SEC’s money market proposals runs against such an aim, and claims that investment firms have a responsibility to be transparent about their products. Stressing that the industry must do its part to draw investors back to the market, Fink adds that it cannot alone instill confidence, arguing that Washington needs to resolve the fiscal cliff and address wider tax uncertainty as well.

Cato Institute Grades Governors On Taxation. In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (10/9, Subscription Publication, 2.08M) Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute, writes on Cato’s Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors. Four governors received “A” grades: Brownback of Kansas; Scott of Florida; LePage of Maine; and Corbett of Pennsylvania. These governors were all praised for slashing individual and corporate taxes. Edwards also praises Michigan’s Gov. Snyder for replacing a Business Tax with a less costly corporate income tax. The report gave “F” grades to governors Quinn of Illinois, Malloy of Connecticut, Dayton of Minnesota, Abercrombie of Hawaii, and Gregoire of Washington for spending and tax hikes. Edwards writes that reform is necessary because the state and local business taxes are double the already too-high Federal corporate income tax.

USA Today Lauds CFPB Enforcement Actions. Under the headline “Consumer Protection Agency Proves Its Worth,” USA Today (10/9, 1.78M) editorializes that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s recent “string of recent settlements with credit card issuers...illustrate why the bureau was needed — and why it remains a favorite target of bankers and their allies in Congress, who continue trying to defang it.” The agency settled most recently with American Express for $85 million in customer refunds over misleading marketing, and USA Today says before the CFPB “such deception wouldn’t have gotten a peep out of Washington regulators.” Now industry allies in Congress are hitting back, but USA Today argues it’s “tough to see any legitimate reason to take such an effective new cop off the beat.”

Luetkemeyer: CFPB Hurting Credit Access. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) argues in a USA Today (10/9, Luetkemeyer, 1.78M) “Opposing View” op-ed that in an already tight credit environment, “the [CFPB] and the Obama administration continue to attack financial institutions, further limiting a consumer’s ability to access credit.” While the agency’s goals are “laudable,” he argues that does not translate into execution, and says we “must guard against a bureaucracy more focused on scoring political points than solving the underlying problems of our financial system.” Luetkemeyer concludes the agency “is part of the problem, not the solution, when it comes to creating an environment in which our small businesses can succeed and consumers are actually protected.”

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WSJournal: SEC Priorities Skewed In Not Addressing Credit Rating Agencies. The Wall

Street Journal (10/9, Subscription Publication, 2.08M) editorializes that the SEC has left a major risk to the financial system in place by failing to act on a Dodd-Frank mandate that would stop regulators from endorsing the views of ratings agencies in Federal rules. The Journal says the provision is, in its view, the best part of the reform law, yet the agency has failed to introduce changes more than a year after a statutory deadline. Stressing a recent speech by Commissioner Daniel Gallagher on the issue, the Journal quotes him saying that acting on the measure would confront “one of the core problems underlying the financial crisis.” Until that happens, the Journal argues President Obama should stop saying his Administration has stabilized the system.

NYTimes Criticizes Obama, Shinseki For Not Using California Land To Shelter Homeless Vets. The New York Times (10/9, Subscription Publication,

1.23M) editorializes, “Veterans and their advocates in southern California, the epicenter of veterans’ homelessness, are angry that President Obama and the Veterans Affairs Department have not built a single bed for homeless disabled veterans on the 400 acres the government owns in West Los Angeles, property that was deeded to the federal government for that very purpose in 1888. They are right that Mr. Obama and the Veterans Affairs secretary, Eric Shinseki, have nothing to show for their promises to tackle the problem,” but neither did previous administrations dating back to Ronald Reagan. The Times adds, “Some advocates, citing the desperate need, want the department to open a tent city there; it’s not an ideal solution but a quick one, and better than tents under a highway overpass.”

NYTimes: Student Borrowers Need More Disclosure. The New York Times (10/9, Subscription

Publication, 1.23M) editorializes that in order to “root out colleges that saddle students with crippling debt” the Federal government “will have the power to cut off federal student aid to colleges whose graduates have default rates of 30 percent or higher for three consecutive years or 40 percent in a single year.” In response, “schools are urging students to enter “default management” programs” instead of income-based repayment plans that are far better because “struggling borrowers are allowed to pay an affordable amount based on earnings and family size.” The Times says Federal officials should require schools “to provide borrowers with all the options, including the income-based relief program” and “could also automatically enroll qualified borrowers in income-based repayment before they miss nine months of payments and default.”

WPost Endorses Trio Of Incumbents In Northern Virginia House Races. In an editorial, the

Washington Post (10/9, 552K) offers its endorsements in a trio of Northern Virginia US House races, backing VA8 Rep. James Moran (D), VA10 Rep. Frank Wolf (R), and VA11 Rep. Gerald Connolly (D). The Post says, “Although the three have displayed varying strengths, and each has shortcomings, they are preferable to the well-intentioned amateurs running against them.”

Romney Blasts Obama Foreign Policy In Virginia Speech. Mitt Romney’s speech on foreign

policy Monday at the Virginia Military Institute generated generally negative reviews from news outlets, with much of the coverage echoing criticism made earlier in the day Monday by the Obama campaign. McClatchy (10/9, Wise, Landay) says, “Many of the remarks in [Romney’s] critique didn’t pass the truth test.” USA Today (10/9, Korte, 1.78M) reports that “in the litany of specifics he offered, it was unclear how a Romney administration would change course.” Peter Alexander, in the lead story for NBC Nightly News (10/8, lead story, 3:20, Williams, 8.37M), also said Romney “offer[ed] few new policy details.” Meanwhile, the New York Times (10/9, Gabriel, 1.23M) notes Romney “conspicuously left one name unmentioned: George W. Bush, the architect of much of the unilateralist policy in the region, a version of which Mr. Romney embraced.”

The story was covered by all three network newscasts last night. Peter Alexander, on NBC Nightly News (10/8, lead story, 3:20, Williams, 8.37M), reported, “Looking to capitalize on his momentum, Romney today tried to frame himself as a steady Commander-in-Chief in what his campaign feels is a major foreign policy speech, accusing President Obama of weak leadership,” and “calling for a change of course, but offering few new policy details.” Romney was shown saying, “I know that President Obama hopes for a safer, freer and more prosperous Middle East, allied with us. I share this hope but hope is not a strategy.”

The Wall Street Journal (10/8, Murray, Subscription Publication, 2.08M) quotes Romney as saying, “It is time to change course in the Middle East. ... The President has failed to offer the tangible support that our partners want and need.”

Jan Crawford, on the CBS Evening News (10/8, story 4, 3:05, Pelley, 6.1M), said, “The overarching theme of Romney’s speech today is that the President has no foreign policy strategy, that he’s remained passive and reactive.” Crawford added, “In Israel, Romney said the relationship between President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had suffered great strains. which has emboldened mutual adversaries such as Iran. He said the President stood silent when Iranians marched against their regime and wasn’t quick enough to impose sanctions, something Romney has advocated for five years.”

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On ABC World News (10/8, story 2, 2:30,, Sawyer, 8.2M), David Muir reported that Romney argued that “hope is not a strategy,” and “offer[ed] his own view of a greater American role around the world.” Romney: “Our friends and allies across the globe don’t want less American leadership, they want more.” Muir went on to say that “perhaps the biggest distinction” was on Syria, with Romney “arguing the US should partner with other countries to help arm the rebels to defeat President Bashar Assad.” Muir said the Obama campaign is “arguing tonight voters should know that Romney’s timeline for Afghanistan is the same” as the President’s, “that Romney wants to get more deeply involved in Syria than the President, and on Iraq they point out Romney argued today the full withdrawal of troops from Iraq was a mistake.”

USA Today (10/9, Korte, 1.78M) says Romney “attacked” the President “for being too passive on the world stage and ceding American leadership to others.” However, according to USA Today, “in the litany of specifics he offered, it was unclear how a Romney administration would change course.” USA Today reports that Romney gave “the same deadline Obama has given” for the removal of US troops from Afghanistan, and “while his saber rattled loudest at Iran...Romney said he would continue and escalate the Obama administration’s economic sanctions.”

Similarly, McClatchy (10/9, Wise, Landay) says, “Many of the remarks in [Romney’s] critique didn’t pass the truth test, and despite his tough tone, the foreign-policy positions he outlined hewed close to those already held by” the President.

Josh Gerstein, in a piece for Politico (10/9, Gerstein, 25K) titled, “Romney Foreign Policy Speech Called Vague,” said that what was “billed as a major foreign policy address didn’t have much new in it and left some analysts unimpressed. The speech, they said, was much like Romney’s previous swings at laying out a foreign policy: couched in broad ideology and big ambitions and lacking the specifics for how he’d bring any of them about.”

On the CBS Evening News (10/8, story 5, 2:25, Pelley, 6.1M), Nancy Cordes also reported that the Obama campaign “harshly criticized Romney’s speech today before he even delivered it, saying that he failed the Commander-in-Chief test,” and “pointed out Romney’s embrace of a Middle East peace plan for two separate states for Israel and Palestine was at odds with what he told donors in that secretly taped Florida fundraiser.” Cordes added, “Obama campaign officials described Romney’s speech as an attempt at a foreign policy reboot after embarrassing missteps overseas this summer.”

The Daily Caller (10/8) notes that Romney “declared that ‘there will be no flexibility with Vladimir Putin’ in his administration, alluding to President Obama’s conversation with outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev over a hot mic in March,” in which the President “told Medvedev that he

would have more ‘flexibility’ after the 2012 presidential election.”

In the lead segment for Fox News’ Special Report (10/9), Brett Baier said Romney argued that the President’s “global vision puts American national security at risk.” Carl Cameron went on to report that “in measured tones,” Romney “launched his toughest critique yet of Obama foreign policy.” Romney was shown saying, “America’s security and cause of freedom cannot afford four more years like the last four years.”

Roll Call (10/9, Livingston, Subscription Publication, 19K) also says Romney’s “critique was far less bellicose than his previous forays into foreign policy and was delivered in a statesman-like tone and with a formal, presidential backdrop...as opposed to a campaign atmosphere.”

Peter Grier, in the Christian Science Monitor (10/8, 47K), writes, “There were no accusations that Obama had ‘sympathized’ with rioters in the Middle East – a charge the GOP nominee has made in the past.”

Larry Kudlow, on CNBC’s The Kudlow Report (10/8), said Romney was “accusing President Obama of a lack of leadership on the global stage.” According to CNBC’s John Harwood, Romney “didn’t lay out much of a policy contrast with President Obama” because “they’re in similar places, but he did cast a contrast in terms of himself as a man of action and President Obama who is…more passive.”

The Washington Times (10/9, Mclaughlin, Taylor, 76K) says Romney was “putting some meat on the foreign policy bones his advisers have been outlining for months,” and notes that he “vowed...to ‘recommit’ the United States to a two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians, to put ‘clear conditions’ on U.S. assistance to Egypt and to ensure Syrian opponents get access to needed weapons.”

Dana Milbank, in his column for the Washington Post (10/9, 552K), writes, “While [Romney’s] domestic policies are moderating, his foreign policy is moving to more of a neocon hard line.” Milbank goes on to note that “after Romney dismissed Afghanistan last year as unworthy of American involvement because it’s a ‘war of independence,’ Sen. Lindsey Graham scolded the candidate, saying he sounded like Jimmy Carter. But after Romney employed his Afghanistan tough talk on Monday, Graham issued a new statement saying that Romney would ‘return America to our traditional leadership role in the world.’”

Chris Matthews, on MSNBC’s Hardball (10/9), paraphrased Romney’s message as: “We should have stayed longer in Iraq, open-ended conflict in Afghanistan, arm the rebels in Syria regardless of the fact we know little about them, and onto Iran and…a ‘red line’ that almost guarantees conflict.”

However, The Hill (10/9, Pecquet, Sink, 21K) reports that “while Democrats dismissed his address...as devoid of details and substance, several foreign policy experts gave him good reviews and argued he largely accomplished his

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goal of setting himself up as a viable alternative to Obama on the international stage. ‘Finally, Romney has a distinct — and I would say somewhat compelling — foreign policy message,’ said Shadi Hamid, the director of research at the Brookings Institution’s Doha Center.”

The Financial Times (10/9, Kirchgaessner, Dyer, Subscription Publication, 448K) quotes Romney as saying, “Our friends and allies across the globe do not want less American leadership. They want more — more of our moral support, more of our security co-operation, more of our trade, and more of our assistance in building free societies and thriving economies.”

WPost, NYTimes, WSJournal: Despite Rhetoric, Romney’s Foreign Policy Has Much In Common With Obama’s. The Washington Post (10/9, 552K), on its editorial page, says, “After repeatedly fumbling on foreign policy during his campaign, Mitt Romney delivered Monday a coherent and forceful critique of President Obama’s handling of the upheavals in the Middle East.” The Post continues, “As we have argued frequently, the president has been too cautious and slow in supporting secular liberals in Egypt against Islamists and the military.” However, according to the Post, “It was hard to detect what tangible new steps the challenger would take.”

The New York Times (10/9, Subscription Publication, 1.23M), in an editorial, says, “Romney’s stated policies in Monday’s speech, just as they have been in the past, are either pretty much like Mr. Obama’s or, when there are hints of differences, would pull the United States in wrong and even dangerous directions. His analysis of the roots of various international crises is either naïve, or deliberately misleading.” The Times concludes by urging the President to “respond, forcefully, to Mr. Romney on these issues, even before their next debate on Oct. 16, which will include issues of foreign affairs.”

The Wall Street Journal (10/9, Subscription Publication, 2.08M), in an editorial, praises Romney’s speech in general, and agrees with his criticisms of the Obama Administration, but also contends that Romney offered policies that too closely aligned with Obama’s.

Eugene Robinson, in a column for the Washington Post (10/9, 552K), titled, “Romney Channels Obama On Foreign Policy,” makes a similar argument, writing, “I wasn’t surprised that Romney’s highly touted Major Policy Speech on foreign affairs Monday offered few specifics. But even in its generalities, Romney’s tour d’horizon sounded very much like a speech Obama might have given recounting his overseas initiatives over the past four years.”

Mathews: Romney And His Family Have No History Of Military Service. Chris Matthews, on MSNBC’s Hardball (10/9), said that when it come to Romney’s foreign policy, “everything is go to war, go to war,” but he cannot “name one member in [Romney’s] family history…who has ever put on a military uniform.” According to Matthews, Romney’s family

has “no intention of participating in all these wars in any way.” Matthews also noted that as a student at Stanford, Romney “was one of the guys out there protesting the protests against the [Vietnam] war, and yet,” according to Matthews, Romney “never thought for a second, ‘hey, wait a minute, this means I should fight the war.’”

Analysis: Romney’s Trade Deal Criticism Relies On “Narrow Distinction.” Bloomberg News (10/9, Goldman, 1M), in an article titled, “Romney Relies On Narrow Distinction To Score Obama On Trade Deal,” reported that in his speech Monday, Romney “relied on a narrow distinction to fault President Barack Obama for not signing any ‘new’ agreements since taking office.” Bloomberg notes that on Oct. 21, 2011, the President “signed into law free-trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama.” However, “while he signed the legislation to ratify the accords, which had been stalled in Congress for four years, it was President George W. Bush who initiated the deals and signed the agreements with the U.S. trading partners.”

Counterterror Officer: State Dept. Ordered Reduction In Libya Security Staff. In an interview

with the CBS Evening News (10/8, story 2, 2:35, Pelley, 6.1M), Army Green Beret Lt. Col. Andrew Wood, who arrived in Libya last February “to lead an elite 16-man counterterrorism team,” said Amb. Chris Stevens “was constantly concerned about the threats to not just himself, but the entire staff there.” According to Wood, “just shortly after [he] arrived, there was pressure to reduce the number of security people there” from “headquarters at State Department.” CBS said “Wood says, in his opinion, some of the security teams would have been in Benghazi on September 11 to help the State Department bodyguards if they’ve been allowed to remain in Libya.”

In a second segment, the CBS Evening News (10/8, story 3, 1:20, Pelley, 6.1M) reported, “The State Department claims the withdrawal of a security support team from Libya had no impact whatsoever on the total number of fully trained American security personnel in Libya overall or in Benghazi specifically. A quick reaction force was on stand-by to deploy if needed and they did arrive in Benghazi on the night of the attack, though not until hours after the assault began. Government sources also point out Lt. Col. Wood was stationed in Tripoli, he wasn’t part of the assessment of security in Benghazi.”

Noting Woods’ interview, the AP (10/9, Margasak) reports that the US Embassy in Tripoli “requested — and received — a four-month extension of a 16-member security team.” Wood claimed Ambassador Stevens “had wanted the team to stay even longer — past the end of its extended deployment in August,” but a “senior State Department official confirmed to The Associated Press that the initial extension request was granted, but said that despite Wood’s comments, a request for an extension past August was never

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made.” The official also “said that after the team remained through August, it was replaced by an equal number of personnel with the same skill sets.”

Romney Criticizes Obama’s Handling Of The Benghazi Terrorist Attack. The New York Times (10/9, Gabriel, 1.23M), in an article titled, “Romney Says White House Botched Response To Benghazi Attack,” reports that “after weeks of refraining from dipping back into the sensitive topic of the attack that killed the American ambassador in Libya, Mitt Romney on Monday offered harsh criticism of the administration for being slow to label the assault terrorism and faulted its overall handling of the attack. The assault on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi ‘cannot be blamed on a reprehensible video insulting Islam, despite the administration’s attempts to convince us of that for so long,’ Mr. Romney said. ‘No, as the administration has finally conceded, these attacks were the deliberate work of terrorists who use violence to impose their dark ideology on others.’”

Carl Cameron, on Fox News’ Special Report (10/9), said Romney “ripped the Administration initial and false insistence that the attack on the consulate in Libya was a riot by a mob angry about an anti-Islam movie.”

Politico (10/9, Hohmann, 25K) says Romney “linked the attacks in Benghazi — including the killing of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens — to a broader critique of Obama’s foreign policy as naïve and weak.”

Asked, on NBC Nightly News (10/8, story 3, 1:30, Williams, 8.37M), “What was the chief take away from [Romney’s] speech,” Andrea Mitchell replied, “In fact, it was all Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi — and that is really the reason the Romney campaign is attacking the White House on foreign policy; they think that the White House is now vulnerable about security lapses in Benghazi and intelligence warnings that al-Qaeda affiliates were active among those Libyan militias.” Mitchell added that “the President’s top counter-terrorism official John Brennan is en route to Libya to make his own assessment tomorrow, so you can tell the White House is taking it very seriously.”

Asked, on CNBC’s The Kudlow Report (10/9), if the White House orchestrated a “coverup” of the true nature of the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, former assistant secretary of state Richard Williamson, a senior Romney foreign policy adviser, said September 11 “was a disgraceful day, and evidence of a failed middle east policy.” Williamson continued, “On Benghazi itself, Gov. Romney’s been very clear. The President of the United States owes the American people candor and transparency on what’s happened. That clearly has been a test which has been failed. … We had a stonewalling for days and days.”

USA Today (10/9, Korte, 1.78M) reports that Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt “called Romney’s response to Ambassador Chris Stevens’ death as ‘unseemly,’” adding, “The American people don’t want a commander in chief who jumps at the chance to politicize a national tragedy.”

Joshua Hersh, in the Huffington Post (10/8, 500K), says Romney “sought to characterize the recent attacks as evidence that al Qaeda remains strong, a relevant force in a broader contest of values from which the United States has largely withdrawn. ‘The attacks on America last month should not be seen as random acts,’ Romney said. ‘They are expressions of a larger struggle that is playing out across the broader Middle East, a region that is now in the midst of the most profound upheaval in a century.’”

According to the Los Angeles Times (10/9, Reston, 629K) says, “The influence of Al Qaeda is a new point of emphasis for Romney, and a clear pivot from the economy, after many months in which foreign policy has been an afterthought for his campaign.” According to the Times, Romney “has seized on the unrest in Libya, Egypt, Syria and Iran to make the case that the president has been too passive in helping advocates of Democracy gain a foothold around the world.”

Brennan To Visit Tripoli As White House Mulls Jurisdiction In Benghazi Case. The Washington Post (10/9, Birnbaum, Whitlock, 552K) reports today, White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan “is scheduled to visit Tripoli to meet with senior Libyan officials and give a high-level kick to the investigation” into the Benghazi attack. His visit comes as the Post says the Administration is “confronting a legal and policy dilemma that could reshape how it pursues terrorism suspects around the world” — should the case be handled in US or Libyan courts or should it “embrace a military option by ordering a drone strike — or sending more prisoners to Guantanamo Bay?” The White House “is not ruling out any option, an administration official said,” noting that the FBI’s involvement “should not be taken as evidence that the administration plans to prosecute any suspects in US courts.”

Former Gadhafi Stronghold Shelled. Reuters (10/9, Shuaib) reports Libyan forces shelled the former Gadhafi stronghold of Bani Walid yesterday, killing three people including a child. According to McClatchy (10/9, Frykberg), “thousands of Libyan security force members and hundreds of militiamen have massed around...Bani Walid in a show of force that underscores how tense and fragile the country’s security situation remains.” The “faceoff,” it says, is fallout from the death late last month of a militiaman who helped capture Gadhafi. Libyan government forces “began laying siege to Bani Walid a week ago, demanding that Gadhafi loyalists implicated in the death of Omran Shaban be turned over.”

Tensions Escalate As Syria, Turkey Continue To Exchange Fire. The New York Times (10/9,

Gladstone, Subscription Publication, 1.23M) reports Syria “escalated tensions with Turkey on Monday, accusing its neighbor and former friend of imperialist delusions reminiscent of Ottoman dynastic rule, as Syrian Army

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gunners exchanged artillery blasts with their Turkish counterparts across the border for the sixth consecutive day.” One day after Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu suggested Syrian Vice President Faruq Al-Sharra take over control in Damascus, Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi “accused the Turkish government of behaving” like “the Ottoman Sultanate.” Zoubi said Davutoglu’s statements reflected “obvious political and diplomatic confusion and blundering.”

AFP (10/9) quotes Zoubi as saying, “We’re not in the days of the Ottoman Empire any more. I advise the Turkish government to give up (power) in favour of personalities who are acceptable to the Turkish people.”

The AP (10/9, Mroue, Fraser) reports as the two nations continued to exchange artillery fire, Turkish President Abdullah Gul “called on the international community to do more to try to end Syria’s nearly 19-month-old conflict,” and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “warned that the escalating conflict on the Syrian-Turkish border is ‘extremely dangerous.’”

Another AP (10/9, Kennedy) report says the cross-border attacks “look increasingly like they could be an intentional escalation meant to send a clear message to Ankara and beyond, that the crisis is simply too explosive to risk foreign military intervention.”

Opposition Mulls Role For Syrian VP During Transition. The AP (10/9, Mroue) reports the leader of the Syrian National Council, Abdulbaset Sieda, said Monday in an interview that the group “will meet next week in Qatar and will discuss, among other things, the possibility of Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa serving as interim leader” if President Bashar Al-Assad steps down. “We are with any solution that stops the killings in Syria and respect the ambitions of the Syrian people in what guarantees that there will be no return to dictatorship and tyranny in Syria,” Sieda said. When asked about al-Sharaa, Sieda said, “We have no information that he participated in the killings or gave orders but he belongs to the political leadership.”

Noting Sieda’s comments to the AP, the New York Times (10/9, Gladstone, Subscription Publication, 1.23M) reports that in what appeared to be part of an effort by the council “to make itself more relevant to a future political solution,” Sieda “was said by the news organization Al Arabiya to have visited Bab al-Hawa, a rebel-held border town, on Monday. If true, the trip would be his first into Syria since he became the group’s leader in June.”

Small But Growing Number Of Syrian Expats Assisting Rebels. The New York Times (10/9, Goodman, Subscription Publication, 1.23M) reports that there has been “a small, though noticeable, number” of Syrian ex-patriots “who have made the journey to join the Free Syrian Army. Experts estimate they number roughly a hundred and come from the United States, Britain, France and Canada.” The Times says that while their presence “is not enough to shift

the tide of the battle...they add another element of determination and complexity to a bloody landscape where loyalties and ambitions are often unclear.”

Report: Iran Could Produce Uranium For Nuclear Warhead In Two To Four Months. The

AP (10/9, Jahn) reports Iran “could produce enough weapons-grade uranium to arm a nuclear bomb within two to four months but would still face serious ‘engineering challenges’ — and much longer delays — before it succeeds in making the other components needed for a functioning warhead,” a report by the Institute for Science and International Security said Monday. The report “did not make a judgment on whether Iran plans to turn its enrichment capabilities toward weapons making,” but “drew a clear distinction between Tehran’s ability to make the fissile core of a warhead...and the warhead itself.” It also said that “any attempt to ‘break out’ into weapons-grade uranium enrichment would be quickly detected by the United States and the IAEA.”

Iran Accuses Israel Of Cyberattack On Oil Facilities. The Wall Street Journal (10/9, Faucon, Mitnick, Subscription Publication, 2.08M) reports Iran yesterday accused Israel of launching cyberattacks on its oil facilities. Mohammad Reza Golshani, head of information technology at the state-owned Iranian Offshore Oil Co., told the Mehr news agency that there has been “a new cyberattack on the information system of offshore facilities in the past few weeks,” but it was repelled. He added that “an examination of the attacks showed they had been planned by the Zionist regime and several other countries.”

The AP (10/9) reports Golshani said “was routed through China, and affected only the communications systems of the network,” which “was back to normal operations.”

Iran Implements New Procedures For Currency Trading. The New York Times (10/9, Erdbrink, Subscription Publication, 1.23M) reports Iranian police “moved to arrest unlicensed currency dealers and increase patrols in the center” of Tehran on Monday “to prevent unofficial trading from disrupting new government-imposed rates of exchange for the national currency, the rial.” Seeking to stabilize the value of the currency, Iran now allows “only those traders licensed by Iran’s Central Bank” to buy and sell the rial for foreign currency. But according to the Times, the “new restriction on unofficial trading also had an adverse effect, causing lines of customers who wanted to sell their rials at the better rate in anticipation that it would eventually weaken again.”

Israel Launches Airstrikes After Rocket Attacks From Gaza. The New York Times (10/9, Kershner,

Akram, Subscription Publication, 1.23M) reports, “Gaza militants fired a barrage of rockets and mortar shells into

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Israeli territory on Monday, causing no casualties but some property damage, after an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza on Sunday killed one Palestinian and wounded at least nine others.” In response, Israeli warplanes struck “a number of rocket-launching squads...belonging to Hamas.”

The AP (10/9, Barzak) calls yesterday’s fighting “the most serious flare-up in months.”

Morsi Pardons Egyptian Protesters. The AP (10/9,

El Deeb) reports Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on Monday issued a decree “pardoning all those charged with or convicted of acts ‘in support of the revolution’ since the beginning” of the revolution that to Hosni Mubarak’s ouster from power. The move, according to the AP, “could potentially benefit more than 1,000 protesters currently on trial.”

North Korea Says Continental US Within Its Missile Range. The AP (10/9) reports North Korea said

today that “South Korea, Japan, Guam and the US mainland are within range of its missiles.” The statement from “an unidentified spokesman” at the National Defense Commission came in response to South Korea’s recent announcement that the US agreed to let it have longer-range missiles. The AP notes that it is “unusual for North Korea to say its missiles are capable of striking the US.”

AFP (10/9) quotes the spokesman as saying, “We are not concealing the fact that (North Korea’s) revolutionary military, including strategic rocket forces, has placed not only South Korean enemy forces and US forces in the Korean peninsula but also Japan, Guam and even the US mainland within its target range.”

EU Urges Greece To Speed Economic Reform. The New York Times (10/9, Kanter, Subscription Publication, 1.23M) reports that a meeting of EU finance ministers yesterday told Greece “to accelerate the pace of economic reform in exchange for further financing from a stalled bailout package.” Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters “that 89 so-called ‘prior actions’ like overhauling labor and pension laws that were agreed to with Greece in March needed to be implemented, ‘at the latest,’ by Oct. 18,” when EU leaders meet next.

The AP (10/9, Melvin, Dilorenzo) reports Juncker “praised Greek officials and their willingness to do what is necessary for the country and its economy,” but he and IMF chief Christine Lagarde “emphasized that it was still necessary for Greece to fully implement all the measures it had agreed to in March.”

Merkel Will Not Offer More Money During Athens Visit. Noting German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s unpopularity in Athens, the Financial Times (10/9, Peel, Subscription Publication, 448K) says her official visit to Athens on Tuesday is more about symbolism than substance. Greek Prime Minister, who is seeking Merkel’s blessing, is

expecting the Chancellor to voice her opposition to Greece’s exit from the euro. The Times notes that while Merkel will repeat her endorsement of the structural reforms required of Greece in its adjustment program, and offer sympathy for the problems of Greek workers and pensioners, she will make no promises of more money.

IMF To Lower Its Global Growth Forecast. At the

start of a major summit meeting with the World Bank in Tuesday, the IMF will report that its is cutting its global growth forecasts. The New York Times (10/9, Lowrey, Subscription Publication, 1.23M) reports, “The fund foresees global growth of 3.3 percent in 2012 and 3.6 percent in 2013, down from the outlook in July, which forecast growth of 3.5 percent this year and 3.9 percent next year.” The IMF said the risks of a growth slowdown are “‘alarmingly high,’ primarily because of policy uncertainty in the United States and Europe. New estimates suggest a 15 percent chance of recession in the United States next year, 25 percent in Japan and ‘above’ 80 percent in the euro area.”

The Wall Street Journal (10/8, Reddy, Davis, Subscription Publication, 2.08M) notes that the IMF said the global economy risks falling back into recession and added that combating a world wide decline would be more complex than in 2009. the Journal also reports that the US was the one nation for which the IMF upgraded its growth forecast, predicting the US would grow 2.2% this year, an estimate that is one point higher than the fund’s previous projection.

The Financial Times (10/9, Jones, Subscription Publication, 448K) says the IMF forecast gives ammunition to opponents of austerity programs in Europe, saying governments had misjudged the damage to growth done by higher taxes and spending cuts.

Emerging Economies Slow, Cooling Hopes Of Global Growth. Hopes that developing countries like China, India, and Brazil would serve as “engines for global growth” in the years following the 2009 economic downturn, are dimming as those nations struggle “to sustain their dramatic expansion.” The Washington Post (10/9, Schneider, 552K) reports that those countries “are slowing alongside — and in part because of — developed economies such as the United States and Europe. In turn, the slowdown in the major economies of Asia and Latin America could undercut recovery efforts in the United States, which has been banking on exports to countries such as China to boost anemic job growth at home.”

House Report Calls Chinese Telecom Firms A National Security Threat. A report issued Monday by

the House Intelligence Committee recommended that US Companies be barred from carrying out mergers and acquisitions involving Huawei Technologies and ZTE Inc., two Chinese telecommunications firms because the firms equipment “could be used for spying in the United States,”

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the New York Times (10/9, Schmidt, Bradsher, Hauser, Subscription Publication, 1.23M) reports. The report, which is the result a yearlong investigation, said the US government should not use equipment from the companies and “American companies should find alternative suppliers as well.” the report described the firms “as a ‘national security threat’ to the United States, saying that the committee had obtained internal documents from former employees of Huawei that show it supplies services to a ‘cyberwarfare’ unit in the People’s Liberation Army. The committee said that the United States government should go through the federal Committee on Foreign Investment to carry out its recommendations to block any business or other transactions involving the Chinese companies.”

The AP (10/9, Pennington) reports that Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers told a press conference, “China is known to be the major perpetrator of cyber-espionage, and Huawei and ZTE failed to alleviate serious concerns throughout this important investigation. American businesses should use other vendors.” Rogers “said the Chinese companies could not be trusted with access to computer networks that support everything from power grids to finance systems.” rogers added that the firms “are clearly tied to the Chinese government,” and allowing them to “provide network equipment and services in America risks confidential consumer information and undermines core national security interests.”

The Wall Street Journal (10/8, Osawa, Subscription Publication, 2.08M) notes that Huawei denied the allegations, saying in a statement, “Unfortunately, the Committee’s report not only ignored our proven track record of network security in the United States and globally, but also paid no attention to the large amount of facts that we have provided.” The statement continued, “We have to suspect that the only purpose of such a report is to impede competition and obstruct Chinese ICT companies from entering the US market.”

Election Win Solidifies Chavez’s Hold On Venezuela. In the wake of his victory in Venezuela’s

presidential election, many Venezuelans who oppose President Hugo Chavez believe that only a decline in the President’s health or a marked drop in oil prices would remove him from office. NBC Nightly News (10/8, story 7, 0:25, Williams, 8.37M) reported that Chavez won “an unprecedented third term...even as he battles cancer. Chavez has won over many of his people by using Venezuela’s oil profits to help the poor and with free homes and other things in that society. Many in this country worry his victory could mean even higher gas prices.” The Wall Street Journal (10/8, De Córdoba, Muñoz, Subscription Publication, 2.08M) reports that Chavez’s nine point win over opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, enables him to continue his Socialist revolution including deeper government involvement in the

economy, to strengthen alliances with China and Iran, and to remain a prominent voice against US interests.

White House Congratulates Venezuelans. The Weekly Standard (10/9, Halper, 83K) notes on its website that the White House congratulated Venezuelans on the election Monday. White House spokesman Jay Carney said, “The Venezuelan National Elections Commission has declared that President Hugo Chavez won reelection, I believe roughly 54 to 45 percent, with 90 percent reporting. We congratulate the Venezuelan people on the high level of participation, as well as on what was a relatively peaceful election process. I would note the challenger has conceded the race.”

WSJournal: Chavez Can’t Live Forever. In an editorial, the Wall Street Journal (10/9, Subscription Publication, 2.08M) criticizes the outcome of the election, noting it guarantees more economic and other hardships for Venezuelans. Noting Chávez’s control over Venezuela’s media and election monitors, the Journal says the dictator cannot live forever and Venezuelans must be prepared to reclaim their democracy when he dies.

Panetta Tells Latin America That Police, Not Military, Should Enforce Law. During a speech to a

conference of defense ministers from the Americas Monday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Latin American nations must “use their police and not their military forces to enforce the law,” the AP (10/9, Baldor) reports. Panetta said the US “realizes that it’s sometimes difficult to decide if a threat requires the use of the military or law enforcement. ‘In some cases, countries have turned to their defense forces to support civilian authorities,’ Mr. Panetta said in remarks prepared for delivery. ‘To be clear, the use of the military to perform civil law enforcement cannot be a long-term solution.’” The AP notes that the Defense Secretary’s comments “were aimed at a number of Latin American countries that turn to their militaries to fight crime or help restore order, particularly for counterdrug operations or other instances to quell violent criminal cartels.”

Copyright 2012 by Bulletin News, LLC. Reproduction without permission prohibited. Editorial content is drawn from thousands of newspapers, national magazines, national and local television programs, and radio broadcasts. BulletinNews creates custom news briefings for government and corporate leaders and also publishes the White House Bulletin, Frontrunner and Washington Morning Update.