We learned a lot of things about Mitt Romney during last night's debate. Not only does he want to continue the failed economic policies that brought on the recession in the first place, but he also wants to hand our feathered friend Big Bird the pink slip to continue tax breaks for the wealthiest people (the math doesn't add up). The candidates talked a lot about taxes, education and social insurance programs, but what we really enjoyed about the debates last night was listening to working people on Twitter and on our AFL-CIO Now blog's live chat. 

Read the entire live chat thread below and check out some of the top comments and insights from our readers:

Why does Romney keep saying what his plan isn't? 5 weeks out, we deserve specifics #LetsDebate

— Liz McElroy (@lizmcelroy) October 4, 2012

What’s the difference between corporations and teachers’ unions, according to Mitt Romney? Apparently corporations are “people”—at least in the Citizens United definition—and should be allowed to give unlimited campaign contributions and other political donations, while teachers' unions are evil influence peddlers who buy politicians’ favor and shouldn’t be allowed to give campaign contributions.

That’s what you’ve got to infer from his comments Tuesday to an education forum sponsored by NBC, where he told moderator Brian Williams:

Britain has long had a reputation as rigidly divided by class, with little opportunity for people to move higher up the socio-economic ladder.

No more. There is now more upward mobility for students at British schools than in the United States, according to a new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

While newspaper editorial boards, right-wing pundits and school privateers are criticizing Chicago’s 29,000 public school teachers and educational professionals who were forced out on strike, Chicagoans—especially parents—are backing the teachers. 

While contract talks between the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and the city continue today, the 29,000 teachers and education professionals who were forced out on strike to gain a contract that provides students with the education they deserve were on the picket lines early this morning and then gathered for three large rallies across the Windy City.

A 2007 Boston Globe report on college admissions data that has been making the rounds on Twitter lately reveals that “about 15 percent of freshmen enrolled at America's highly selective colleges are white teens who failed to meet their institutions' minimum admissions standards,” most of whom “are students who gained admission through their ties to people the institution wanted to keep happy, with alumni, donors, faculty members, administrators and politicians topping the list.”

Tonight, Paul Ryan painted a picture of his and Mitt Romney’s vision of America. It is a vision, he said, where he and Romney "will not duck the tough issues" and it is a vision where "Mitt Romney and I have made our" choices. 

It is a vision that chooses more tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations—paid for by cuts in Social Security, Medicaid and other programs that poor and working-class families rely upon. It’s paid for with cuts to investments in our future such as education and rebuilding a crumbling infrastructure, both vital to maintaining and growing a middle class.

Parents and educators share a "sense of urgency" when it comes to improving schools and providing the best education possible for children, says AFT President Randi Weingarten. But teachers and their unions are part of the solution, not the problem, despite what the soon-to-be-released film, “Won’t Back Down,” says.

Weingarten rebutted the portrayal of teachers and teachers’ unions in “Won’t Back Down.” She writes:

Many people who see this film will be moved by the story and will feel this same sense of urgency. But the film uses blatant stereotypes and caricatures to blame teachers and their unions for all of the problems facing our schools. These stereotypes and caricatures are even worse than those in “Waiting for ‘Superman.’”

Ninety-two years ago yesterday, U.S. women won the right to vote.

The Indiana State AFL-CIO mentioned in an e-mail yesterday, Rose Schneiderman, who headed the Women’s Trade Union League, explained in 1918:

We want to tell our Senators that the working women of our State demand the vote as an economic necessity. We need it because we are workers and because the workers are the ones that have to carry civilization on their backs.

The anniversary is a good time to reflect on how women would fare under a Romney-Ryan administration.

New Hampshire Labor News sends us this.  

What’s in New Hampshire Rep. Charlie Bass’s (R) "trash?"

Social Security, Medicare and affordable education, as it turns out. The contents of the New Hampshire congressman’s "garbage can" came to light yesterday as young workers and seniors from the Granite State questioned his commitment to his constituents after he voted for Paul Ryan’s extreme budget. Said Terri Lochhead, an organizer for the Alliance for Retired Americans: