OBAMA AGENDA: BRING IT ON!

The Hill writes, "President Obama on Tuesday took full ownership of the struggling U.S. economy even as he warned that unemployment numbers will likely continue 'to tick up for several months.'" 

The AP's lead: "With four simple words -- 'Give it to me!' -- President Barack Obama took possession of the economy. For months, the White House and Obama's economic team have laid the economic crisis at the feet of President George W. Bush. But there comes a point in a presidency when inheritance becomes ownership. Obama made that pivot Tuesday in Michigan, the state suffering the worst unemployment in the nation."

Video: NBC's Chuck Todd discusses President Obama's Tuesday speech in Michigan, where he directly addressed criticism of Obama's economy.

More: "It was a defiant moment, reminiscent of Bush's own "Bring 'em on!" taunt in 2003 to militants in Iraq. Like Bush's brash challenge, Obama's could haunt him, too. It's a calculated risk that confronts his critics head-on and casts him as an activist, on-the-job president. ‘My job is to solve problems, not to stand on the sidelines and harp and gripe,’ he said Tuesday, his sleeves rolled up, barely disguising his targets as congressional Republicans.”

It's been hinted at for weeks, but White House senior adviser David Axelrod said they are focused more on results than bipartisanship. “‘We’d like to do it with the votes of members of both parties,’ Axelrod said. ‘But the worst result would be to not get health-care reform done.’ And White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel added: “That’s a test of bipartisanship -- whether you took ideas from both parties,” Emanuel said. “At the end of the day, the test isn’t whether they voted for it,” he said, referring to Republicans. “The test is whether the final product represented some of their ideas. And I think it will.”

"Obama aides said they are perplexed by criticism from Capitol Hill and elsewhere that the president isn’t doing enough lobbying on the health care legislation, pointing to a string of private and public sessions the president has had with lawmakers to solicit support for his top priority," Roll Call reports.

The New York Post's lead on Obama throwing out the first pitch last night: "He delivered a changeup we can believe in."

Video: Enjoying the action and meeting President Obama made the All-Star Game a special experience for players.

"The Obama administration is firing back at Sen. Jon Kyl for calling for an end to economic stimulus spending, and it's aiming where it hurts the most - at home in Arizona," the AP says. "The White House on Tuesday released letters from four cabinet secretaries to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, citing Kyl's comments and outlining transportation, housing, Indian education and other projects in his home state they said would be eliminated if the senator has his way." There have been other prominent Republicans who have tried -- and failed -- to reject stimulus money.

The AP previews Secretary of State Clinton’s speech today. "'She's not trying to announce a grand doctrine,' said Anne-Marie Slaughter, Clinton's director of policy planning. 'That is not the point. The point is to provide a coherent strategic framework' that explains the administration's foreign policy approach thus far and sets the stage for future policy decisions. Though they deny any rivalries within the administration's foreign policy team and reject suggestions she has been forced into a backseat role, Clinton aides say she is eager to get back to what had been a busy pace of travel and events."

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