Saturday,  September 22, 2012 • Vol. 13--No. 067 • 36 of 42 •  Other Editions

(Continued from page 35)

• Romney has opened a new line of attack against Obama, saying the president has failed to deliver on his promise of change. Obama is hitting back by portraying the former Massachusetts governor as an insider beholden to partisan and corporate interests.
• Romney on Friday tried to put an end to an old sticking point by releasing his 2011 tax returns and his past tax rates. The disclosures reinforced his status as one of the wealthiest candidates ever to seek the presidency. Obama tried to gain an edge with older voters and near-retirement baby boomers by renewing his criticism of Romney's Medicare proposals.
• ___

Democrats accuse Romney of applying a political strategy in filing his 2011 tax returns

• WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats say Mitt Romney manipulated his deductions to keep his overall 2011 federal income tax rate below a certain level for political purposes. The Republican presidential nominee is certain to face new questions about his finances.
• Romney and his wife, Ann, donated roughly $4 million to charities last year, but they only claimed a deduction of $2.25 million on their tax return, filed with the Internal Revenue Service on Friday.
• Romney made $13.7 million last year and paid $1.94 million in federal income taxes, giving him an effective tax rate of 14.1 percent. That was a bit above the 13.9

percent rate paid on 2010 income.
• More precisely, the returns showed that the couple paid $
1,935,708 in taxes on income of $13,696,951.
• Democrats quickly leaped on the documents, saying Romney had claimed fewer deductions than he was entitled to just to keep his rate at such a level. Romney told reporters in August he had never paid below 13 percent in taxes in any given year over the past 20. Had he taken the full charitable deduction, it would have pushed his tax liability below 13 percent.
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Unpopular Congress exits Washington to hit campaign trail, leaving lots of work undone

• WASHINGTON (AP) -- The most partisan, least productive Congress in memory has skipped out of Washington for the campaign trail.
• The Senate shuttered the Capitol soon after sending President Barak Obama

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