If you followed our Twitter feed over the weekend, you may have noticed Alex and the NOW team had a busy weekend working on our Education Nation special, "The Parent Teacher Association." This morning, we're back to our regular programming, and there's several items we're bringing to the table.
First: Governor Mitt Romney's 2011 tax return, which was released Friday afternoon after arguably one of the worst weeks of his presidential campaign. According to the documents, Governor Romney's tax rate in 2011 was 14%, up slightly from 2010. The Romney's tax payment was significantly higher this year due to their charitable giving, which totaled $1.75 million. Team Obama is hitting Team Romney on the tax release already. But is this issue pretty much over, or will it ramp up with new fodder? We'll discuss.
Plus: Skipping town. Congress left for recess in the earliest departure in decades, effectively kicking the can down the road on issues including taxes and the budget until the November election. It's the latest proof of a broken Washington and the absence of bipartisan leadership. We'll speak with Luke Russert and our panel, and bring some of Alex's signature "real talk" to the conversation when we join you at noon ET for NOW.
PANEL
Michael Steele, Fmr. RNC Chairman/msnbc Political Analyst (@steele_michael)
Sam Stein, The Huffington Post/msnbc Contributor (@samsteinhp)
Heather McGhee, Vice President, Demos (@hmcghee)
Eric Bates, Executive Editor, Rolling Stone
REPORTER
Luke Russert, NBC News (@lukerussert)