AFL-CIO, AFL-CIO Latino, Working America and other groups live tweeted reactions to last night's vice presidential debate. Read the responses below. 

Text DEBATE to AFLCIO (235246) to join our text action team. (Standard messaging and data rates may apply.)

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

Click on the image below to join the presidential debate chat:

This election has mostly been about the candidates talking at you, so wouldn't you like an opportunity to talk back? Join AFL-CIO economic policy experts during the presidential debate Wednesday evening from 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. EDT on the AFL-CIO NOW blog for an interactive discussion. 

While President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney debate, our policy team will provide analysis and commentary on important things to look for. You also can submit your own questions and comments directly into the live blog. Please remember, all comments will be moderated before they're posted to the live blog, so please refrain from profanity, personal attacks and commentary that detract from the discussion. 

Enter your email address below so you can get a reminder to check in with us Wednesday night. We hope to see you there!

Text DEBATE to AFLCIO (235246) to join our text action team. (Standard messaging and data rates may apply.)

In addition to a live, interactive discussion with AFL-CIO policy experts during Wednesday night's presidential debate we'll host on the AFL-CIO Now blog (details to come later today), we're encouraging young workers to tune into our live Twitter chat Oct. 3 from 9 p.m.-10:30 p.m. to join the conversation. AFL-CIO's NextUp Twitter account will moderate the discussion on jobs, student loans and investing in America's future. 

Damon Silvers is the policy director and special counsel of the AFL-CIO. 

Mitt Romney’s 2011 tax return is an education in injustice, just like his 2010 return was.  The peculiar letter he released from his tax accountant Pricewaterhouse Coopers concerning his taxes before 2010, simply adds to the mystery—why won’t he follow his father’s and President Obama’s example and release ten years of tax returns?

Damon Silvers is the policy director and special counsel of the AFL-CIO. 

The psychology of Mitt Romney's apparent attack on 47 percent of Americans is fascinating. It’s all about the excuses the very rich make up to cover for their refusal to bear their fair share of the costs of maintaining civilization. Because, of course, the poor actually pay a higher share of their income in taxes than people like Romney do, it's just they don’t pay it in federal income tax. The poorest 20 percent of America pays 23 percent of their income in state and federal taxes—in payroll taxes, sales taxes and other excise taxes and state income taxes. As we know, in the one year Romney has disclosed, he paid just under 14 percent in federal taxes, almost all of his income was not subject to payroll tax, and his state income tax bill was likely far less than 8 percent of his income.  By the way, in 2011, 13,000 families in the top 1 percent of income paid no federal income tax.

Many people told President Barack Obama saving the auto industry was too bold, too risky, Vice President Joe Biden told the delegates at the Democratic National Convention tonight. President Obama met with policy and economic experts, members of Congress and other advisers to decide how to handle the imminent bankruptcy of Chrysler and General Motors in 2009. Despite the opposition, the president knew what a bankruptcy would mean to the auto industry workers and the American people. "He understood something they didn’t. He understood that this wasn’t just about cars. It was about the Americans who built those cars and the America they built."

America needs good jobs and shared prosperity, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told delegates at the Democratic National Convention tonight. It’s abundantly clear the Romney-Ryan ticket is only offering prosperity for the rich and an economic nightmare for everyone else, whether it's cutting Medicare and Social Security, giving the rich more tax breaks or outsourcing America's jobs. “Prosperity requires democracy—starting with the essential right of everyone in this great country to a voice, both in the ballot box and in the workplace.” 

Prosperity requires economic security. Working Americans will stand with leaders who protect and strengthen Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid—not those who plan cuts to benefits working people have paid for, earned and are counting on. 

Last week, while Clint Eastwood argued with a chair and Mitt Romney officially became his party’s presidential nominee, working families in the West made sure that the spectacle of the Republican National Convention didn’t drown out their own voices and concerns.