memeorandum: When the parts are more popular than the whole (Steve Benen/Washington Monthly)

12:20 AM ET, September 18, 2011

Top Items:

Jackie Calmes / New York Times:

Obama Tax Plan Would Ask More of Millionaires — WASHINGTON — President Obama on Monday will call for a new minimum tax rate for individuals making more than $1 million a year to ensure that they pay at least the same percentage of their earnings as middle-income taxpayers, according to administration officials.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, TalkLeft, Politics, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Business Insider, Eschaton and National Review

CBS News:

House GOP rejects Obama jobs proposals — WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders say they are rejecting President Barack Obama's jobs proposals to rebuild schools and blighted neighborhoods, and help keep state and local employees on the job. — In a memo to GOP lawmakers that was also issued publicly …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Moderate Voice, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Balloon Juice and Don Surber

Jennifer Steinhauer / New York Times:

House G.O.P. Leaders Find Some Things to Like About Obama's Jobs Plan — WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders rejected some main elements of President Obama's jobs plan on Friday but told their rank-and-file members that they would support other components.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Balloon Juice and The Hill

Associated Press:

Kara Kennedy, senator's daughter, dies of heart attack — WASHINGTON — Kara Kennedy, the oldest child of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, died at a Washington-area health club, her brother said Saturday. She was 51. — Patrick Kennedy, a former congressman from Rhode Island, said his sister died Friday.

Discussion: CNN, Scared Monkeys, Los Angeles Times, LA Observed and TalkLeft

Kirk Semple / New York Times:

Eleanor Mondale, Daughter of Former Vice President, Dies at 51 — Eleanor Mondale Poling, a former television and radio personality and the daughter of former Vice President Walter F. Mondale, died early Saturday at her home in Prior Lake, Minn. She was 51.

CBS News:

Kara Kennedy, daughter of Teddy, dies — Kara Kennedy accepts the Medal of Freedom on behalf of her father, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House August 12, 2009 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, msnbc.com and American Power

Mark Steyn / National Review:

‘Pass This Jobs Bill!’ — The president has taken to the campaign trail to promote his “American Jobs Act.” That's a good name for it: an act. “Pass this bill now!” he declared 24 times at a stop in Raleigh, N.C., and another 18 in Columbus, Ohio, and the act is sufficiently effective that …

John Kass / Chicago Tribune:

Obama's Solyndra scandal reeks of the Chicago Way — Those of us from Chicago know exactly what the Solyndra scandal smells like. And It doesn't smell fresh and green. — The Solyndra scandal cost at least a half-billion public dollars. It is plaguing President Barack Obama.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Michelle Malkin, The Crawdad Hole, JammieWearingFool and The Daily Caller

Matthew Daly / Associated Press:

Obama admin reworked Solyndra loan to favor donor — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration restructured a half-billion dollar federal loan to a troubled solar energy company in such a way that private investors — including a fundraiser for President Barack Obama — moved ahead of taxpayers …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Lonely Conservative, Washington Post, Campaign 2012 and The Other McCain

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

When the parts are more popular than the whole — The New York Times/CBS News poll, released in full last night, has plenty of results you'd probably expect to see. President Obama's support continues to slip; Congress' support has fallen off a cliff; Dems are slightly more popular than Republicans …

Discussion: Muddy Politics, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Caucus, American Power and Politisite

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Obama asks Americans to read, judge his jobs plan for themselves

Discussion: The Politico and The Other McCain

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Brutal: Obama's job approval — and favorable rating — hit new lows in NYT poll

Discussion: The Crawdad Hole, JustOneMinute, No More Mister Nice Blog, Scared Monkeys and Outside the Beltway

Kathleen Parker / Washington Post:

Smart money betting on stupid politicians — Are Republicans stupid? — This seems to be the question du jour. Chris Matthews entertained this idea with guests recently, pointing to several Republican presidential candidates as evidence. How else to explain why so many in the GOP seem proud …

Discussion: The Crawdad Hole, Booman Tribune, Prairie Weather and Daily Kos

Kate Zernike / New York Times:

Constitution Has Its Day Amid a Struggle for Its Spirit — In the 100 years since Constitution Day was first established, most Americans have lumped it with holidays like Grandparents' Day and Administrative Assistants' day — a noble cause, lightly observed.

Discussion: National Review and Outside the Beltway

msnbc.com:

US taxpayers could be on hook for Europe bailout — The U.S. is coming to Europe's financial rescue. — So far, America's role is fairly limited. But if the crisis continues to grow and the U.S. takes on a wider role, U.S. consumers and taxpayers could feel a bigger impact.

Discussion: Don Surber and Hot Air

Edward Harrison / Felix Salmon:
Why didn't the Fed release a statement on the dollar liquidity bailout?

Discussion: americanthinker.com, PRAGMATIC CAPITALISM, Pajamas Media, Credit Writedowns and Marginal Revolution

Jamie Klatell / The Hill:

Bachmann makes health claims about HPV vaccine not ‘speaking as a doctor’ — Asked about her stance against mandatory vaccinations against the human papillomavirus (HPV), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said Friday that “it's something that could have dangerous side effects.”

Discussion: CNN