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Has Obama Made the Job Situation Worse? (NYT)

Robert McElvaine notes that Paul Ryan claims the president inherited a tough situation and made it worse, which only makes sense if you believe that 417,000 God-fearing Republican job losses a month are better than 155,000 Kenyan socialist job gains.

For Some Women, Discrimination Prevents Return to Work (The Nation)

NND Editor Bryce Covert highlights a new study that shows laid off moms having a harder time finding new jobs, especially compared to married men. Maybe they all just need to stop showing up for interviews with their babies stuffed in their handbags.

Five Things Government Does Better Than You Do (TAP)

Monica Potts argues that the government is better at making financial decisions and allocating resources for things like retirement insurance because people are not always rational actors, which should be obvious to anyone who's ever interacted with them.

Mitt Romney's Tax Plan and the Middle Class (WSJ)

Austan Goolsbee notes that Mitt Romney continues to defend his tax plan as a variation of the Bowles-Simpson plan, which is really only true in the sense that they're both plans involving taxes and were written down on paper using words and numbers.

The rise of the 'drawbridge Republicans' (WaPo)

Matt Miller writes that Romney and Ryan represent a new breed of Republicans who don't hide the fact that they're out to comfort the comfortable. And when they're not pulling up the bridge behind them, they're asking us to lie down and form one for them.

Ryan Isn't an Entitlement Reformer, He's an Entitlement Destroyer (Robert Reich)

Reich argues that pundits should stop portraying Paul Ryan as a brave champion of entitlement reform, since his plans for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps would reform them the way dropping a bomb on a house would remodel it.

Education policy comes into sharper focus (Maddowblog)

Steve Benen writes that as both campaigns try to mobilize voters and prove they're in touch with Americans' concerns, Romney needs to come up with a better answer on affordable education than "tough luck, kid; try having richer parents next time."

Stopping the GOP assault on democracy (WaPo)

Katrina vanden Heuvel writes that a Pennsylvania judge's refusal to halt a new voter ID law that could disenfranchise many of the state's residents bolsters the GOP's ongoing campaign to define "democracy" as "when rich people vote Republican."

Obama's White Working Class Problem, and Ours (TNR)

Ruy Teixeira notes that Obama's weakness with white working class voters has been balanced out by their apathy toward Romney, but even if he doesn't need them to win, he does need them if he hopes to govern some time in the next four years.

Rich People Give a Smaller Share of Their Income to Charity Than Middle-Class Americans Do (HuffPo)

Bonnie Kavoussi flags a new study that finds rich folks are stingier with their giving than those who make $50,000-75,000. That's especially true if they live in wealthy communities where there's no one around to ruin their day by begging for change.