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NOTE FROM TRUSTEE BRAD MALT — This morning, Gov. and Mrs. Romney filed their 2011 tax return with the IRS. At 3:00pm today, the Romney for President campaign will be posting the 2011 return online. — The complete 2011 tax return, with full schedules, statements, and attachments …
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By Romney's Own Standard, His Tax Returns Would Disqualify Him From The Presidency — Mitt Romney will disclose his 2011 tax on Friday, along with a summary going back 20 years. The campaign has published the following summary: … Romney has previously defended his low tax rate …
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Washington Monthly, Hot Air, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Agonist, Daily Kos and Shakesville


Romney 2011 taxes: Mitt gives more to charity than President Obama, Joe Biden — Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was far more generous to charities than President Barack Obama or Vice President Joe Biden last year, both in dollar terms and as a percentage of income …
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Wake up America and Washington Free Beacon

Democrats, Media Get Punk'd: Romney Releases Tax Returns — It's official: The Romney campaign possesses a wicked sense of humor and an enviable degree of patience. After months of caterwauling, breathless innuendo and baseless slander, the Democrats and their media allies are being treated to a Friday feast of piping hot crow.
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Weekly Standard, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, The Caucus, Weasel Zippers, The New Republic, AEIdeas and Sister Toldjah


What Romney's Taxes Reveal — And What They Don't — Mitt Romney released his 2011 tax returns Friday, along with a brief summary of his 1990-2009 tax returns. — The Romney campaign is asking voters to take its word on the details of his previous returns, but the new information helps address …
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Ballot Box, Guardian, Swampland, Forbes, The Daily Dish, Capital New York and Brad DeLong

Castellanos on tax summary: Is this a joke? — Alex Castellanos, the former Mitt Romney strategist from 2008 who has alternately been critical and praising of the current campaign, left no doubt where he stands on the decision to release a summary of the candidate's tax rates over 20 years.
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Taylor Marsh and Daily Kos

Romney to release 20-year tax rate ‘summary,’ 2011 taxes today — In a Friday afternoon news dump, Mitt Romney's campaign is preparing to release his 2011 tax return, along with a 20-year summary of his tax rates from 1990 through 2009, his team just said. — The 20-year piece is a new plan …


Mitt Romney releases 2011 tax returns
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American Prospect and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Mitt Romney Releases 2011 Tax Return
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Wall Street Journal, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Althouse and Instapundit

Romney Releases 2011 Tax Returns
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msnbc.com, The Fix, Washington Post, Mother Jones, The Week, Prairie Weather and Joe. My. God.

Mitt Romney's Real Effective Tax Rate
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The Atlantic Online and Wonkette

Why Mitt Romney's Effective Tax Rate Is So Low And Why It Probably Should Be
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Firedoglake and The Daily Beast

Expert: Romney may have paid less in taxes over 20 years than it appears
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Mother Jones, Daily Kos, Mediaite and New York Magazine

Romney Campaign Says He Paid More Taxes Than He Had To
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The Caucus, Gawker and The Daily Beast

Chris Wallace doubts Noonan's conservatism — In an interview with POLITICO today, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace questioned Peggy Noonan's “conservative bona fides,” following her recent editorials criticizing of Mitt Romney's campaign. — “Peggy Noonan has bashed George W. Bush, based Mitt Romney, wasn't crazy about McCain.
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Mediaite, American Power, Outside the Beltway, Brad DeLong, Wonkette and Taylor Marsh
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Ryan Gets Booed At The AARP — On Friday afternoon, Paul Ryan addressed the AARP's National Annual Conference in New Orleans. The GOP vice presidential candidate attacked Obamacare for taking $716 billion out of Medicare — the very same cuts he included in his budget …
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Politico, The New Civil Rights Movement, Firedoglake and Towleroad News #gay
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Paul Ryan Booed Throughout AARP Speech (VIDEO)
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Hit & Run

U.S. Distrust in Media Hits New High — Fewer Americans closely following political news now than in previous election years — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' distrust in the media hit a new high this year, with 60% saying they have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly.
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The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, Examiner, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Poynter, The Lonely Conservative, Outside the Beltway, Taylor Marsh, Mediaite, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The PJ Tatler, Wake up America, Guardian, Questions and Observations, Weasel Zippers, TVNewser, GayPatriot, Washington Examiner, Business Insider, Reuters, National Review, Election 2012, Instapundit and CBS DC, more at Mediagazer »

Obama Leads Romney 52-45 In New Reason-Rupe Poll; In Three-Way Race Obama Leads Romney 49-42, Johnson Gets 6 Percent — A new national Reason-Rupe poll of likely voters finds President Barack Obama leading Republican Mitt Romney 48 percent to 43 percent in the presidential race.
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The Moderate Voice, National Review and American Power
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Heartland Monitor Poll: Obama Leads 50 Percent to 43 Percent
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The Daily Beast, The Daily Dish, The Fix and Connecting.the.Dots

Sept. 20: Obama's Convention Bounce May Not Be Receding
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The Monkey Cage, The Democratic Daily, The Week, The Reaction, Booman Tribune, The Daily Dish and GayPatriot


President Obama Falsely Claims Fast and Furious Program “Begun Under the Previous Administration” — Asked about the Fast and Furious program at the Univision forum on Thursday, President Obama falsely claimed that the program began under President George W. Bush.
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Power Line, Wake up America, “The Lid”, Riehl World News, National Review, Washington Examiner and The Daily Caller

Report: WH team members may have been involved with prostitutes — Two members of the White House team may have been involved with prostitutes during President Obama's April trip to Colombia, according to a report Friday from Fox News. — Fox said it was in possession of a letter …
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Politico
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Romney: What About Your Gaffes? — Mitt Romney's campaign has been notable for its reliance on President Obama's gaffes. It built its entire convention theme around Obama's slightly disjointed disquisition about infrastructure ("You didn't build that") and has, at other points …
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A plain blog about politics and Washington Post
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Toward an Iron Law of Gaffes
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Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, Taylor Marsh and Mediaite

Cash Low, Romney Striving to Find New Large Donors — Mitt Romney entered the final months of the presidential campaign with a cash balance of just $35 million, racing to find new large donors and rally low-dollar contributors in August even while he raised tens of millions of dollars for the Republican Party.
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RNC has big cash advantage over DNC
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Washington Free Beacon, Moe Lane, nation.foxnews.com, National Review and Jammie Wearing Fools


Until Republicans Fix This Problem, They Can't Fix Any Problems — The inability to judge arguments on their merits and separate fact from fantasy is what ails the conservative movement. — Reuters — After years spent reporting on the Bush Administration, Ron Suskind began to understand …
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Washington Monthly, Booman Tribune and Middle Earth Journal

Disdain for Workers — By now everyone knows how Mitt Romney, speaking to donors in Boca Raton, washed his hands of almost half the country — the 47 percent who don't pay income taxes — declaring, “My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them that they should take …
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Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, emptywheel, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice, Prairie Weather and Economist's View


Herman Cain: I'd be beating President Obama — Herman Cain says that if he were the Republican nominee, he would have a “substantial lead” over President Barack Obama right now. — “The reason is quite simple,” Cain told reporters on Thursday, according to the Gainesville Sun.
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CNN, The Rightnewz, Mediaite, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Daily Kos

The poll result that explains the election — Washington has been a bit perplexed by President Obama's small but persistent lead in the polls. His administration would seem to fail the “Are you better off than you were four years ago” text. And presidents who fail that test lose, right?
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway and Washington Monthly