**President Obama
*On "Today," Obama "remained noncommital" on a surtax to pay for the health care overhaul, repeating his idea that wealthier Americans, "such as myself," should pitch in and help reinvent the system to spread coverage to those now without it, AP notes. On the August deadline, he said: "The deadline isn't being set by me. It's being set by the American people."

*Washington Post looks at the Republican pushback: "Lacking unity on an alternative agenda to Obama's health-care plans, Republicans have instead focused on a strategy of rallying public opposition and wooing the conservative Democrats in Congress, whose votes will ultimately determine the fate of any health-care bill. That plan depends in large part on Congress going on break before it votes on a bill. On Monday, though, Republicans made clear that they see an opportunity to derail the legislation now."

*The administration last night said "it preferred that detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, be tried in criminal courts, but that some suspected terrorists in less-prominent cases or in cases with weaker evidence could go before military tribunals," Wall Street Journal reports. The interim report from the administration "could rile civil liberties groups, which prefer all detainees be tried in criminal courts."

*Following up on yesterday's poll numbers showing Obama ranked third lowest at the six-month mark since WWII, USA Today reports: A president's standing after his first six months in office doesn't forecast whether he'll have a successful four-year term, but it does signal how much political juice he'll have for his second six months in office.

*"The U.S. Secret Service has cut corners in ways that may have jeopardized the safety of President Obama, according to a new book by a veteran Washington journalist and author, Ron Kessler," Politics Daily reports. "But neither the publisher nor Kessler himself, in an interview, would say what corners were cut or what the laxness entailed and how they endangered the president."

**Health Care
*Washington Post: "Emboldened by divided Democrats and polls that show rising public anxiety about President Obama's handling of health care and the economy, Republicans on Monday launched an aggressive effort to link the two, comparing the health-care bills moving through Congress to what they labeled as a failed economic stimulus bill."

*Politico: "But for all the fire pointed their way by the White House, Republicans are hardly Obama's biggest headache. His problems lately have come from within his own party, as divided House and Senate caucuses have shown a surprising willingness to buck Obama on his top domestic priority just six months into his presidency."

*New York Times: "House and Senate leaders had been pressing for floor votes in each chamber before lawmakers depart for the August summer recess. But Congressional aides said that it was increasingly clear the Senate would not be ready to vote on its bill before its recess begins on Aug. 8, and that House Democrats seemed unwilling to vote to raise taxes without knowing where the Senate stood."

**Congress
*F-22 Fight: "The argument over whether spending $1.75 billion on seven additional F-22 jets makes good economic sense is coming to a head between Congress and the Obama administration ... An amendment to strip the F-22 money from a $680 billion defense spending policy bill is scheduled for a vote in the Senate on Tuesday. President Barack Obama has threatened what would be the first veto of his presidency if the F-22 money remains in the bill presented for his signature," AP reports.

*Climate Change: "Climate change is the ticking political time bomb on the Senate's agenda this fall, and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has the timer set to go off in late September. With the debate on health care sucking up so much oxygen in the Senate these days, few are paying attention to the cavernous gulf among Democrats over how to tackle global warming and the lack -- so far -- of a way to bring Members together while also appealing to Republicans," Roll Call reports.

**Campaign Stuff
*GOP Hope in 2010?: "Unless you're a veteran from a rock-solid liberal district, it's a bit scary these days to be a Democrat in Congress. There's political risk in delivering the sweeping changes President Obama promised on health and energy policy, but there's also political risk in failing to deliver them," Politics Daily reports.

*CT Sen: "Dodd, the acting chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has branched out his fundraising operation by tapping healthcare-related companies for more than $112,000 in the second quarter of 2009. ... In addition, fundraising records reviewed by The Hill show that Dodd accepted contributions from 32 lobbyists representing healthcare interests."

*IL-10: "Now that Kirk is vacating the northside Chicago 10th district seat to run statewide, several Democrats and Republicans are interested in running -- and it's unlikely either party will escape a primary fight."

*PA Gov: Term-limited Gov. Ed Rendell (D)'s "job approval rating has shrunk to its lowest level ever, 39 - 53 percent negative, and voters see him as most responsible for the state's budget mess," according to a new Quinnipiac poll.

*Politico: "Tim Pawlenty will deliver a major speech at the Republican National Committee summer meeting later this month, part of a stepped-up effort by the Minnesota governor to introduce himself ahead of a potential 2012 White House bid."

*NY Daily News: "Rep. Carolyn Maloney's planned Senate bid isn't even officially off the ground and already she's scrambling to say sorry for using the N-word in an interview. 'I apologize for having repeated a word I find disgusting,' Maloney said in a statement Monday."

*Former Pres. Bill Clinton raised $300,000 for her last night.

*Hotline reports that North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall (D) is seriously considering a Senate bid. "Let's face it, it's hard to run a campaign in North Carolina," Marshall said. "You can't do it without some outside money. So these are the things I'm assessing."

**Ethics: "Among the five House lawmakers known to be under investigation by the House ethics committee, only Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) has reported payments to attorneys in the first half of this year, according to Federal Election Commission reports," Roll Call reports.

--Kyle Trygstad and Mike Memoli