With all of the coverage of the vice-presidential debate this week, you may have missed some of the controversial – some would say astonishing – statements made by actual Republican congressmen. Here are those various statements, in case you missed them the first time:

• Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) said that the Bible was the “manufacturer’s handbook” and that it “teaches us how to run all of public policy and everything in our society.”
• Rep. Loy Mauch (R-Ar.) said “nowhere in the Holy Bible have I found a word of condemnation for the operation of slavery, Old or New Testament. If slavery was so bad, why didn’t Jesus, Paul or the prophets say something?”
• Rep. Roger Rivard (R-Wisc.) recalled his father’s warning that young women may claim to be raped when they don’t want to admit responsibility after getting pregnant. “Some girls,” Rivard recalled his father saying, “they rape so easy.”
  
• Rep. Jon Hubbard (R. Ar.) wrote in his new book, Letters to the Editor: Confessions of a Frustrated Conservative, “the institution of slavery that the black race has long believed to be an abomination upon its people may actually have been a blessing in disguise.”
• Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) attacked his opponent Tammy Duckworth in a debate by showing a picture of her picking out a dress for the Democratic National Convention.

And who can forget the old classic by the godfather of Bat Crap Crazy Republicans everywhere:

• Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mis.) – “From what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare,” Mr. Akin said of pregnancies occurring from rape. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

As Lawrence O’Donnell said on The Last Word Tuesday night, “Republicans are busy pretending that bat crap crazy Todd “legitimate rape” Akin is not representative of the Republican brand but Republican politicians keep popping up all over to prove that bat crap crazy is the Republican brand.”

After appearing on The Last Word Wednesday night, author and comedian John Hodgman joined Lawrence O'Donnell to talk more about the upcoming vice presidential debate and his new book, That Is All.

Hodgman had one piece of advice for Joe Biden he didn't have time to mention on the show: "Since no one will get punished for saying a lie," Hodgman joked, "all Biden has to do is echo what he said about President Obama, and say, 'That Paul Ryan, a very clean cut young black man.' America will go insane because there is no truth or fiction anymore, and the right wing will dump Ryan right there."

Hodgman also told us Lawrence O'Donnell himself is mentioned in his book. In a section about super-elite credit cards, That Is All informs its readers that the most exclusive card of all is the "Diner's Club Five-times Diamond Card," and one of the perks of that card is being able to commission playwright David Lindsay Abaire ("Rabbit Hole," "Fuddy Meers") to write an original Broadway show that Lawrence O'Donnell has to star in.

Now, that's a credit card!

When Vice President Joe Biden and Paul Ryan face off Thursday night, they'll be the latest to take part in a long line of election debates on the national stage.

The first televised presidential debate was in 1960, when John F. Kennedy met Vice President Richard Nixon in front of an audience of 70 million viewers. Kennedy was smooth, tanned, and calm as ever. Nixon was sweaty, sick, and refusing makeup. Maybe you can guess who came across more agreeable to viewers at home.

At that early stage, it was perhaps hard to imagine how much of an impact televised debates would have on national elections. Actually seeing the candidates made not only what they said important, but how they looked while saying it. Can you imagine Joe Biden or Paul Ryan refusing makeup before stepping on stage tonight? Though this history of televised debates is a relatively short one, there is no shortage of gaffes, zingers and impressive performances. 

Looking back, one of the most common debate criticisms is when a candidate seems unaware or out of touch. In 1976, for example, Gerald Ford claimed, "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe." It was a declaration so inexplicable that moderator Max Frankel of The New York Times had to interrupt: "Did I understand you to say, sir, that the Russians are not using Eastern Europe as their own sphere of influence?"

This same criticism was leveled at George H.W. Bush in 1992, when he repeatedly checked his watch during a town hall debate with Bill Clinton and Ross Perot. It looked like Bush had other places to be, like the debate didn't warrant his time.

On the other hand, candidates should be careful of seeming too aggressive. Al Gore sighed several times during his debate with George W. Bush in 2000, and the sound was picked up by his microphone. It came across to some viewers as being arrogant, a feeling that was reinforced when Gore seemed to invade Bush's personal space in the following debate.

In 1980 and '84, Ronald Reagan landed a few memorable zingers on his opponents Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale. In response to a question about whether he was too old to perform the duties of president, Reagan said, "I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." Such wit and comedic timing Reagan no doubt learned during his years as an actor.

A strong performance can warm you to the electorate and a bad performance can do the opposite. Though, debate performances are not always decisive of who will win the election. Take, for example, John Kerry's strong showing in 2004; he might've "won" the debates, but he ultimately lost the election.

With an estimated 60 million people tuning in this time around, it's a unique chance to make an impression.

A recent CNN/ORC poll shows, among moderates in Ohio, President Obama has a 68 to 31 percent lead over Mitt Romney. On Tuesday's The Last Word, Vice President of MSNBC.com Richard Wolffe joined Lawrence O'Donnell to discuss the importance of Ohio's 18 electoral votes in the upcoming presidential election. 

"Democrats need a super-majority of moderates," Wolffe explained, "There aren't as many self-identified Democrats as there are Conservatives and Republicans out there."

After the show, I asked him why he thinks more Republicans self-identify with their party:

"I do think that Democrats identify with a moderate idea," he said. "There's something at the heart of the Democrats' view of themselves and the way the country should be that means they believe in a community of shared values and compromise. And there's an overlap there with moderates—actually, there's an overlap there with moderate Republicans too."

Wolffe went on to say that the reason why Democrats elect centrist presidents like Bill Clinton or John F. Kennedy is because they reflect the actual make-up of the country.

Reuters

President Obama opted to participate in the children's special this year and in 2008.

It's not only Big Bird getting the cold shoulder from Mitt Romney these days. It's also Big Bird's biggest fans.

Romney declined to participate in Nickelodeon's Kids Pick the President special, in which children get a chance ask the candidates questions about what matters most to them. According to Linda Ellerbee, the event's host and executive producer, the Romney campaign couldn't fit the special into their schedule. "He simply didn't have time," she said.

"That's several million kids who actually want to get involved in the democratic process," Ellerbee said in a press release, referring to the large number of children who submitted questions for President Obama and Gov. Romney. "They don't deserve to be dissed."

President Obama participated this year, as he did in 2008. This time he answered questions on a variety of topics, ranging from gun control to same-sex marriage to bullying. 

Beyond giving kids the chance to ask questions, 'Kids Pick the President' allows them to cast their vote in an online poll. An ad for the special has one child declaring, "The United States Constitution states that no one under the age of eighteen is permitted to vote, but Nickelodeon says we can!"

Since 1992, when Kids Pick the President began, the participating children have correctly chosen the outcome of the election five out of six times. This year's special is scheduled to air October 15. 

“By answering kids' questions directly, candidates show respect for kids," Ellerbee said.

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell talked to West Wing alum Richard Schiff about taking over The Last Word anchor chair during Monday's show.

"I think in terms of first-time anchormen," O'Donnell said, "it was the sharpest upward learning curve we've ever seen."

The two men also had a discussion about Twitter, and how it's new way to share political information. O'Donnell mentioned his Twitter followers inform him of things that he would not have heard of otherwise. "They've put things on [Twitter] that I've used in the show, that our staff didn't find, that I didn't find," he said.

Schiff's new web series, Chasing the Hill, revolves the re-election campaign of a Democratic representative from California, and in which he plays a political operative. Be on the lookout for O'Donnell, who will be making a cameo in a forthcoming episode of the series.

The latest video in our "Campaign Calculus" series reflects Nate Silver's daily election predictions before and after the first pivotal debate.

In the early part of the week, we saw Mitt Romney trailing in the polls of every battleground state. Republicans from Rush Limbaugh to Charles Krauthammer clamored for Romney to be more aggressive, to go large. Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan also grabbed headlines for brushing off a question about the arithmetic in Romney's tax plan.

"Well, I don't have the time," Ryan said. "It would take me too long to through all of the math."

At the first debate, Romney answered the conservative pundits' call for aggressiveness by prosecuting President Obama on a slow economic recovery. When prompted to explain his own plan, like how he would pay for a $5 trillion tax cut, Romney replied that his plan did not call for such a cut.

"We've been asking for months, how is Mitt Romney going to explain the deduction side of his $5 trillion tax cut," commented MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell. "Who among us anticipated that Mitt Romney's answer would be, 'There is no $5 million tax cut'?"

On the day after the debate, President Obama took to the stump to address this contradiction in Romney's rhetoric.

MSNBC's Lawrence O’Donnell spoke to Sen. Rob Portman, who played the role of President Obama during Mitt Romney's debate-prep sessions, to discuss the candidates' performances in Denver and what to expect in the next two debates.

"The dynamic of the race changes," Portman said following the big political event. "Gov. Romney did so well and was able to talk about the future in a way that was persuasive to undecided voters — but there are three debates." He suggested Obama was off his game in the first go-around.

"I thought he seemed a little uncomfortable, to be honest," he said. "As president, you're not used to getting asked questions, whether it's by Jim Lehrer, or Lawrence O’Donnell, or Mitt Romney."

Some Democrats, including Obama adviser David Axelrod, argued Romney's admission that he would, in fact, turn Medicare into a voucher program was a major victory for the president. But Portman didn't think so.

"Mitt Romney did a really good job pointing out that [his Medicare plan] doesn't affect seniors who are currently on Medicare, at all. In fact, it doesn't affect folks who are near Medicare. But for those who are younger than that, they’ll have a choice."

Portman said he plans to continue debate-prep sessions with Romney through the third debate. When asked about the second, town-hall style debate, Portman conceded "it was a good format for President Obama."

Which candidate stole the show with a better performance? Take our Last Word poll now.

Charlie Neibergall / AP

Tonight, Mitt Romney will challenge incumbent President Obama for 90 minutes on domestic policy issues at the first presidential debate. Jim Lehrer of the PBS NewsHour will be the official moderator, but it seems there are many pundits, journalists, and policy experts who would like to take his seat. Here's a compilation of some of the best "Jim Lehrer should ask this at the debate tonight" questions floating around the web:

Robert Reich, Fmr. Secretary of Labor:
You've said that you have used every legal method to reduce your tax liability. You've also said that as president you would close tax loopholes in order to help finance a major across-the-board tax cut. What specific tax loopholes have you used that you would close?

John Healey, LA Times:
Is there a conflict between trying to get the economy moving again and narrowing the federal budget deficit? If so, where should Washington's focus be -- on growth or the rising debt?

Doyle McManus, LA Times:
Is there anything your opponent has proposed in this campaign that you would support?

John Hudak, Brookings Institution:
Transportation systems and infrastructure in the U.S. support the economic lives of businesses and consumers. Lately, infighting in Congress has changed a formerly bipartisan issue into a highly partisan one, leaving transportation underfunded and in need of assistance. What role do you see for the federal government in the context of transportation and what specific plans do you have to fulfill that role?

Aviva Shen, ThinkProgress:
How will you reconcile the federal government’s War on Drugs with state-level legalization efforts?

David Callahan, Demos:
Do you think economic inequality in America is a problem and, if so, how would you address it?

If you have the urge to back-seat moderate, too, leave your own questions for Jim Lehrer in the comments below.

The temporary payroll tax holiday is likely to expire January 1 regardless of what happens with the looming fiscal cliff, the New York Times reported today.

This makes the coming of the New Year an even bigger day for millions of families across America. This year's payroll tax holiday took the rate from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent, saving the average family $1,000 a year. And for many, all or most of that money went right back into the marketplace, juicing the economy, which was the holiday’s original aim.

Last year, the White House pushed hard for an extension of the payroll tax cut, launching a campaign on their website in which Americans were asked to share what $40 more in every paycheck would do for them. One example they used came from Pamela living in Fairbanks, Alaska: "$40 is 10 gallons of heating oil when the temperatures in winter hover in the negative numbers for months."

This time around, the White House and congressional Democrats don't seem as eager to wage the fight. "I would hope that we would not extend it," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters last month.

Both Congress and the White House have bigger issues to deal with, namely, the fiscal cliff. As we've reported here at The Last Word, come New Years Day, across-the-board spending cuts are set to trigger precisely as the Bush-era tax cuts are set to expire. If nothing is done to prevent these austere events from occurring, the economy could be sent back into recession, according to the CBO.

The payroll tax holiday may seem like small potatoes next to the fiscal cliff, but Economic Policy Institute estimates it's expiration could kill 0.9 percent of economic output next year, precisely because it is among the most stimulative cuts with the money being quickly spent and injected back into the economy.

In second edition of our Campaign Calculus series, showing the arc of the campaign juxtaposed with Nate Silver's daily predictions, Obama gained a major lead. This past week, President Obama steadily rose in Silver's "Chance of Winning" category, reaching 83.9 percent by Thursday — the highest so far in this election cycle. Is the campaign almost a done deal? MSNBC's Joe Scarborough seems to have reached his limit.

At a recent campaign stop in Virginia, Mitt Romney discussed his eagerness to avoid the upcoming sequester on Defense funds. He warned under a Romney administration "we're going to have to eliminate" some programs in order to remain revenue neutral.

“I’m not going to send money to Amtrak. I'm not going to send money to PBS. Not going to send money to the National Endowment for Humanities and Arts," Romney told NBC affiliate station WRC on Thursday.

To be fair, this is not exactly news; Romney named these exact three cuts in an interview with Fortune Magazine last month. To get a sense of what they mean, Sam Stein over at The Huffington Post reported "the government spends $444 million a year on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (the parent organization of PBS); Amtrak received $1.56 billion in federal funding in 2010, with $1.3 billion in stimulus funds; while the National Endowment of the Arts lists the current level of federal funding at approximately $146 million."

As WRC's Julie Carey noted in the video, "That doesn't add up to much." Cutting a couple billion dollars will put only a small dent in our national debt, currently in the trillions.

Republicans have targeted these programs for years. Amtrak, for example, has long been a thorn in the GOP's side. Reagan halved its funding in the 1980s. Bush 43 attempted to privatize it, to no avail. And Romney seems to have the same impulse.

But with record ridership due to high unemployment and high gas prices, Amtrak has reason to fear a dramatic slash in funds. The House Appropriations Subcommittee proposed cuts last year that the National Association of Railroad Passengers called "tantamount to shutting down the entire Amtrak network, because the remaining routes could not cover the system's overhead costs."

So though they may only dent the deficit, Amtrak cuts could have serious consequences for commuters, especially those in the northeast corridor, like "Amtrak Joe Biden." And just when they began testing the Acela trains for travel at 160mph!