The Note's Must-Reads for Tuesday, September 25, 2012

The Note's Must-Reads are a round-up of today's political headlines and stories from ABC News and the top U.S. newspapers. Posted Monday through Friday right here at www.abcnews.com

Compiled by ABC News' Jayce Henderson, Amanda VanAllen and Carrie Halperin

OBAMA/ROMNEY ABC News' Mary Bruce: " Obama Hits Romney for His 'Fair' Tax Rate" President Obama today pounced on rival Mitt Romney's comment that it's fair for him to pay a lower tax rate than middle class Americans, arguing his opponent's remarks embody the different visions at stake in this election. "He said yes, I think it's fair, and I also think that's the way you get economic growth," Obama said in an appearance on ABC's "The View." "The notion being, if people at the top have more income, they'll invest and they'll create jobs." LINK

USA Today's Aamer S Madhani: " Obama heads to U.N. as Romney criticizes foreign policy" President Obama will deliver a wide-ranging foreign-policy address Tuesday to the 67th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, including a renewed warning to Iran to suspend its suspected nuclear program and will reflect on the recent violence in the Middle East, White House aides say. LINK

The Wall Street Journal's Carole E. Lee, Patrick O'Connor and Jay Solomon: " Race Focuses on Foreign Policy" Foreign policy is taking on new urgency in the presidential campaign as President Barack Obama prepares to address the United Nations amid a resurgence of unrest in the Muslim world and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, intensifies his criticism of the White House's approach to the region. LINK

PAUL RYAN The Los Angeles Times' Michael Finnegan: " Ryan, campaigning at Ohio tank plant, slams Obama defense cuts" Republican vice presidential hopeful Paul D. Ryan opened an Ohio campaign swing on Monday by hammering President Obama over the Pentagon's proposed suspension of tank production at a plant that has long provided high-paying jobs in this struggling region of the Rust Belt. The Wisconsin congressman told hundreds of Republicans at a veterans hall that Obama's "only eagerness to cut spending" was on national defense. LINK

MITT ROMNEY The Hills' Justin Sink: " Romney counterattacks over Obama's 'bumps in the road'" Mitt Romney seized on President Obama's comparison of violence in the Middle East to "bumps in the road" on Monday in delivering a forceful rebuke of the commander in chief's global leadership. Romney blasted Obama's remarks as both insensitive and inaccurate, arguing they understated a negative turn the post-Arab Spring Middle East has taken under Obama's watch. LINK

The Washington Times: Ralph Z. Hallow: " Romney campaign takes friendly fire from within GOP" Republican officials in key states have two contradictory opinions about this year's presidential campaign: The Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan ticket is the worst-run ever, but despite that, they're doing fine in their own states. In some cases, local party leaders have decided to work around the Romney campaign - for example, going out and buying their own yard signs after weeks of unfulfilled Romney campaign promises to send some. LINK

Bloomberg's Julie Bykowicz: " Obama-Brown Bipartisan Ties Touted in Romney Aide's Ads" One of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's senior strategists also guides the campaign of an outspoken critic within the party, Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown. Eric Fehrnstrom crafts advertisements that show Brown and President Barack Obama in an amiable, bipartisan relationship. In commercials Fehrnstrom helped develop for Romney, Obama is portrayed as an uncooperative Democratic partisan. LINK

PRESIDENT OBAMA The Hills' Amie Parnes and Julian Pecquet: " Obama to answer foreign policy criticism in UN speech" President Obama will use his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday to argue his administration will have a muscular and active policy in the Middle East, an effort to counter recent criticism from Mitt Romney. When he takes the stage, Obama will "send a clear message that the United States will never retreat from the world," White House press secretary Jay Carney said on Monday. LINK

The New York Daily News' Kristen A. Lee: " Obama admits sometimes his campaign goes 'overboard' in making the case against Romney during '60 Minutes' interview"President Obama acknowledged in a "60 Minutes" interview that sometimes his own campaign has gone "overboard" in making its case against Mitt Romney - taking some responsibility for a presidential race marked by accusations of inaccuracies on both sides."Do we see sometimes us going overboard in our campaign - are there mistakes that are made or areas where there's no doubt that somebody could dispute how we are presenting things? LINK The New York Times' Helene Cooper and Robert Worth: " In Arab Spring, Obama Finds a Sharp Test" President Hosni Mubarak did not even wait for President Obama's words to be translated before he shot back. "You don't understand this part of the world," the Egyptian leader broke in. "You're young." Mr. Obama, during a tense telephone call the evening of Feb. 1, 2011, had just told Mr. Mubarak that his speech, broadcast to hundreds of thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square in Cairo, had not gone far enough. Mr. Mubarak had to step down, the president said. LINK

The Washington Post's Joby Warrick: " Obama's policy on Iran bears some fruit, but nuclear program still advances" Barack Obama's presidency was only hours old when a fierce debate erupted among top Iranian officials over the new U.S. leader and his offer to "extend a hand" to the Islamic republic. Hard-liners suspected a trick, convinced that Obama was no different from his predecessor, but others saw potential for a long-sought diplomatic thaw. LINK

Politico's Darren Samuelsohn: " Veterans retreating from Barack Obama" President Barack Obama is trying hard to win veterans, but it looks like they'd prefer a new commander in chief. The Obama campaign had been hoping that veterans and their families - especially among the post-Sept. 11 generation that served in Iraq and Afghanistan - would be part of their path to victory: They're a high turn-out demographic and concentrated in battleground states, with nearly 1 million each in North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia, and 1.6 million in Florida. LINK

ABC NEWS VIDEOS " The 47 Percent: Are You Part of the Club?" LINK " Romney Slams Obama's 'Bumps in the Road'" LINK

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