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The Left Column

"It's between 150 and 200 some odd million dollars"

Romney wants to help the 99%

Weekly Standard: After asking Mitt Romney twice whether the amount of taxes he paid was "fair," Univision host Jorge Ramos cut to the chase. "Governor, how much money do you have?"

"Well, you tell me and I'll tell you--I'm kidding," Romney replied, with a characteristic Romney chuckle. He said he'd already put that rough figure out in a financial disclosure forms, but Ramos wanted specifics. "Two hundred and fifty million?" he asked. "It's between 150 and 200 some odd million dollars," Romney finally replied. "I didn't inherit that money," he added.

During his appearrance at the candidates forum at Miami-Dade College, Romney deflected questions about his wealth by casting himself as the champion of average American workers. "I know what it takes to make America the most attractive place for jobs again," he said. "I want to do that not because I'm worried about the one percent. The 1 percent's doing fine. I want to help the 99 percent. I want to help middle-Americans get jobs that pay good wages."

39 | Romney: "I Want to Help the 99 Percent"

Smackdown!

Obama Schools Jan Brewer on the Tarmac

HuffPo: According to a White House official, Brewer handed Obama a letter and said she was inviting him to meet with her. Obama said he'd be glad to even though Brewer inaccurately described their last meeting in her book, "Scorpions for Breakfast."

The last time Obama met with Brewer was June 2010, when the Arizona governor visited the Oval Office for a private, 30-minute encounter the White House called a "good meeting." At the time, Brewer said the meeting was "very cordial," but in her book she said Obama had been "condescending."

27 | Jan Brewer, Obama Face Off Over Book, Immigration Issues

Economy

Obama Gets Credit For Improving Economy

MSNBC: Americans are growing more optimistic about the state of the economy and direction of the country, according to a new NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll out Wednesday evening, and President Obama is receiving better grades on his handling of the economy and job as a result.

5 | (NEW) NBC/WSJ Poll: Obama Benefits From Growing Economic Optimism

State of the Union

State of the Union a hit in Ohio

CS Monitor: Democratic pollster Geoff Garin conducted a focus group during last night’s State of the Union address with voters in Columbus, Ohio (a key swing state). The group was evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans/Independents - and, according to a memo by Garin, the overall reaction to the speech was extremely positive.

In a before-and-after test, the proportion of participants describing Obama as “a strong leader” rose from 39% to 71%. Fully 78% said after the speech that Obama “looks out for the middle class,” up from 59% before the speech. The share of participants who said Obama has good ideas for improving the economy rose from 39% before the speech to 79% after the speech.

8 | State of the Union gets high marks from Ohio voters, says poll

His lips were moving

Mitch Daniels: Full Of It

CNN Money: "The late Steve Jobs -- what a fitting name he had -- created more of them than all those stimulus dollars the President borrowed and blew," Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels proclaimed.

The only problem with that nice play on the Apple founder's name is that Daniels' math just doesn't add up, no matter how successful and valuable Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) has become.

5 | Obama created more jobs than Steve Jobs' Apple

Another reason to re-elect the president

Geithner Won't Stay On If Obama Wins Second Term

HuffPo: Barack Obama won't ask Timothy Geithner to stay on as Treasury Secretary if the president wins reelection, Geithner told Bloomberg TV's Trish Regan Wednesday.

65 | BREAKING - Tim Geithner Won't Stay On If Obama Wins Second Term: Report

Billionaires for Tax Justice

Bill Gates: I don't pay enough tax

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to the BBC: "Well the United States has a huge budget deficit, so taxes are going to have to go up. And I certainly agree that they should go up more on the rich than everyone else. That’s just justice."

52 | Bill Gates (Joins Buffet): I don't pay enough tax

Gingrich goes off message (again)

Newt: Romney Makes "$20 Million for no work"

Plum Line: When asked about Romney’s position on immigration, Gingrich said that deporting all undocumented immigrants is unrealistic. "You have to live in a world of Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Island accounts and making $20 million for no work, to have some fantasy this far from reality," Gingrich said.

22 | Newt slams Romney for living "in a world of Swiss bank accounts...making $20 million for no work."

Clown Car Update

Everybody Hates Mitt

TPM: On Tuesday a new survey from ABC News and the Washington Post showed a massive spike in Romney’s unfavorability. In short, the former governor went from a positive rating (plus 5 two weeks ago) to a starkly negative one (minus 18). The internals of past ABC/WaPo surveys showed that partisan voters were very steady — Republicans had remained at nearly 60 percent favorable while Democrats were in the low twenties. But when it came to independent voters, Romney went from a positive 41 - 34 split to a negative 23 - 51, showing themselves to be the culprit in the overall drop.

18 | TPM: Polls show independent voters rejecting Romney

SOTU

Obama cranks up populist pitch

The Hill: Cranking up the volume on the populist message that the wealthy should pay higher taxes, Obama said the goal of economic equality was a return to American values and "the defining issue of our time." In the address - dubbed a "Blueprint for an America Built to Last" - Obama used the power of the bully pulpit before a sharply divided joint session of Congress to take the offensive and pledge that while he would work with lawmakers, he also intended to "fight obstruction with action." The president said "no challenge is more urgent" than to support the middle class.

28 | Obama cranks up populist pitch (The Hill)