AP Photo/Mary Altaffer

An American Airlines employee works in the airlines control tower at JFK International airport in New York on Aug. 1, 2012.

One of the things that makes Mitt Romney’s 47 percent comment stand out is that it flies in the face of what we really know about most Americans and our work ethic. 

As you probably know, Romney was recently caught telling a group of wealthy donors back in May, "There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what.  All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it." 

Romney calls almost half of the American population "dependent," "victims" who "believe that they are entitled" to the basic necessities.  Keep that in mind as you read this next statistic: 

90 percent of wage and salary workers were offered paid or unpaid leave in 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Only 21 percent used that leave.  You can see the whole study here. 

These are working Americans who were offered some form of time off and didn't take it.  And it’s not because they didn’t get paid.  During an average week, 57 percent used only their paid leave.  40 percent used unpaid. 

Look at it this way, almost 70 percent of workers who had the option to stay home or go on vacation or run errands or whatever just didn’t take it. 

None of these statistics can tell us who will vote for President Obama or not.  But the numbers do give us some insight into just how misguided and frankly insulting Mitt Romney’s claim about 47 percent really is. 

Does a "dependent" "victim" go to work when they could take the day off?  How many Americans decide to work instead of calling in sick?  How many Americans put a vacation on hold, or switch shifts so they can attend a child’s school event?  Does Romney call them "entitled"? 

Picture this: while Romney complains about American laziness at a high-dollar fundraiser to fellow multi-millionaires in a vacation hot spot in Florida, a vast majority of American workers are on the job, refusing to take the time-off their bosses give them.

It kind of gives new meaning to Ed’s phrase, "Let’s get to work." 

-Jen Brockman, Segment Producer

This Halloween when the streets of your hometown look more like Sesame Street then suburbia, there is one person to thank: Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

During the first presidential debate in Denver on October 3, Mitt Romney decided to discuss his plan to cut what he considers non-essential items to the budget.  "I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS.  I’m going to stop other things," Romney said.  "I like PBS, I like Big Bird."

Social media immediately picked up on the "zinger" by Romney with Big Bird continuing as a trending topic even hours after the debate.   A week later, with the media's focus shifted towards the upcoming VP debate, new job numbers and information out of Libya, the backlash about Big Bird still continues to have a lasting impact.  Big Bird has inspired memes, Democratic campaign ads, and t-shirts.  The famous Bird even made his way onto Saturday Night Live. 

On October 31, the impact of Mitt Romney’s statement will be seen clearly.

According to ABC News, the “Sassy Big Bird” Halloween costume sold on costumecraze.com has been flying off the shelves.  Although Big Bird Halloween costumes were already a big seller prior to the presidential debate, sales have increased 500 percent.  Halloween Express has had hundreds of searches for their Big Bird costume since the debate.

Costume World’s CEO and founder, Marilynn Wick, told ABC News that this year’s couple costume winners were Big Bird paired with Obama and its counterpart, Big Bird and Mitt Romney, with one addition.  The Romney/Big Bird pairing also included “a machine gun doing Big Bird in.”

Who ever said Mitt Romney was bad for the economy?

Alaska Sea Life Center

Meet Mitik.

Mitik, a 15 week old orphaned baby walrus, was rescued off the coast of Alaska, and brought to his new home today, at the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn. 

Because walruses are social animals, Mitik's rescuers believe the Aquarium is a perfect fit for the 234-pound baby.  He'll join two other walruses--  Nuka and Kulu, already in residence.

Check out Chris Jansing's report on Mitik's incredible journey:

Bleacher Nation

Can the Nats do it without Stephen Strasburg?

The nation's capital is enjoying its first taste of playoff baseball in 79 years. But that could all come to a screeching halt now that the team faces a do-or-die elimination game against the St. Louis Cardinals tomorrow night.

Of course, the first question that comes up if you're a Nats fan is, "Would things be different if Stephen Strasburg was allowed to pitch?"

Strasburg, the 2009 #1 draft pick and the best Nats pitcher by a lot, was shut down in the regular season by team General Manager Mike Rizzo after pitching nearly 160 innings this year. The Nationals want to be very careful with their prized pitcher who is coming off major arm surgery.

As Rizzo said, "We'll be back, and doing this a couple more times.''

But will they? There are no guarantees in sports. Injuries happen. Overachievers regress. Opponents figure out your weaknesses. Why wouldn't the Nats put themselves in the best position to win when given the chance?

Many baseball fans say the Washington Nationals deliberately left their best stuff at home. It's not unlike the criticism President Obama received for not taking it to Mitt Romney (or talking up his own achievements) in their first debate meeting.

President Obama says it was a bad night and he's moving on to the next game. His supporters are hoping he's right.

The Washington Nationals are maintaining a similar mindset. They displayed a clear-headed focus tonight with a dramatic 9th inning victory. But win or lose tomorrow, the players and staff will always have to wonder if they would have been better off getting the job done by using their best weapon.

What do you think? Can the Nationals stay in the playoff hunt without their best pitcher?

-Brendan McDonald, Segment Producer

In another encouraging takeaway for Democrats, NBC/WSJ found that Democrats’ ground game may be paying dividends in early voting.

Obama is winning Ohioans who have already cast their ballot by a 63-37 percent margin, and they make up 1 in 5 of the poll’s respondents.

Early voting began the day before the first debate, giving Romney an opportunity to potentially bank some ballots ahead of Election Day with his strong performance, but it seems from NBC’s results that Obama still has the edge there.

Some 92 percent of voters also said their minds were made up before the debate, suggesting that Romney may have somewhat small — though still significant — base to court in the final weeks.

Meanwhile, if you really want to make your head spin with relevant but sometimes contradictory polling information but always brilliant analysis, check out Nate Silver’s column today.

What we can draw from both these pieces is that we are not yet in a situation where the tables have turned on President Obama and he is now the underdog.  He is certainly NOT yet the underdog.

President Obama is still ahead in the electoral vote math and probably about even in the national popular vote.

If Biden and Obama do well tonight and next Tuesday, respectively, we can expect the President to regain a modest lead in the popular vote and solidify a lead in the electoral projections.

-Carey Fox, Segment Producer

Michele Bachmann, Allen West, Steve King and Joe Walsh are all facing tough fights for re-election. Is "Tea Party Mt. Rushmore" crumbling? Ed Schultz asks MSNBC political analyst Karen Finney. 

Mitt Romney will no longer mention the story of Glen Doherty, a former Navy SEAL killed in the September 11th attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, after the SEAL's mother complained about her son's story being used on the campaign trail.

Ed Schultz takes Governor Romney to task for politicizing the death of an American hero. 

David Siegel, multi-millionaire founder and CEO of Westgate Resorts, sent a letter to his employees telling them that their job is at stake if Mitt Romney doesn't win.

Ed Schultz breaks down the letter and Siegel's history of using his employees to advance his own political agenda.

President George W. Bush's famous statement "you can't fool me again" should serve as a reminder to Americans for what's on the line this election season. Ed Schultz goes through Mitt Romney's lies from last week's debate and sets the record straight.

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced today he'll appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court last week's court ruling that restored full early voting rights for all Ohioans. 

Ohio Republicans had tried to pass a law blocking everyone but military personnel from voting 72 hours prior to election day.

However, this ruling still leaves it up to individual counties to decide if they want to implement the 72 hour voting ban.

Ohio State Sen. Nina Turner sounded off on the issue on last night's The Ed Show, including her reaction to a billboard in a predominately African-American neighborhood in Cleveland that warns: "Voter Fraud is a Felony."