Paul Ryan's speech at the Republican convention on Wednesday will likely center on his controversial budget plan. But, as Ezra Klein pointed out tonight, most of the conventional wisdom about Ryan's plan is incorrect.

One main point of contention is that Ryan's plan makes big cuts to Medicare. In fact, the deepest cuts actually come from government programs for low-income Americans, not seniors. A total of $2.9 trillion of the cuts in the Ryan plan come from those programs, compared with the rest of the cuts, totaling $1.6 trillion, that come from other federal programs.

More important, you probably think Ryan's plan balances the budget. But that's only true if you take his word for it on how he'd pay for his massive tax cuts. Looking only at what he's offered details on, his plan actually widens the deficit.

Read more about the misinformation surrounding Ryan's plan here. 

Though Mitt Romney has said he supports allowing abortions in the cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is in danger, Republicans drafting the party platform approved language this week that opposes all abortions, with no exceptions. And the one-time top Republican country thinks that's a big mistake.

On The Ed Show, former RNC chair Michael Steele called the plank "a breakaway from what the Republican platform has traditionally said with respect to abortion."

"A vast majority of Republicans across the country, very strong, pro-life Republicans, as well as pro-choice Republicans, have always accepted the idea of the exception with respect to the life of the mother, rape, or incest," added Steele, who has failed to toe the party line numerous times since his tenure as RNC chief ended in 2010.

"The timing, in my estimation, could not be worse for the Romney campaign, and for the RNC going into this convention," Steele added, saying that it creates a "noise level" that distracts from economic issues.

The Republican platform, if adopted, would say that “the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed," without carving out exceptions for rape, incest, and when the life of the mother is threatened. Romney has said he supports rape, incest, and life-of-the-mother exceptions, but he backed the party's 2004 and 2008 platforms, which, like this year's, contained no exceptions.

Steele also criticized current RNC chair Reince Priebus for saying that, with regard to abortion, "this is the platform of the Republican Party; it's not the platform of Mitt Romney."

"What the chairman said really doesn't make sense in light of the reality and the facts," Steele said, adding that Romney is "the nominee of our party. You're telling me that he's going to walk into that convention and snub his nose at the planks?" 

"This platform, you're not held by chains and irons on it. It is a working document, it is a living document for a lot of activists around the country. They expect their nominee to adhere to as much of it as possible, and I think you've put Mitt Romney in a very difficult position," Steele said.

If Ohio keeps in place its new restrictions on early voting in counties that lean Democratic, one state lawmaker says it will be as if "Jim Crow has been resurrected in this country."

In Cleveland, Columbus, and Akron, all predominantly Democratic, early voting hours on weekdays will be limited to 8am to 5pm after Republican election commissioners and GOP Secretary of State Jon Husted teamed up to block Democratic efforts to expand the hours. By contrast, GOP commissioners in Republican counties, along with their Democratic counterparts, supported extended hours—meaning voting hours will be extended in only those counties.

This comes on top of a successful GOP effort to scrap the last three days of early voting statewide, a period when almost 100,000 people voted last time around.

Ohio State Sen. Nina Turner (D) said on The Ed Show Thursday that "people are outraged," adding that "no one should have to beg to vote, and that is exactly what is happening in Ohio in the predominantly urban areas."

"It is absolutely shameful that Jim Crow has been resurrected in this country," Turner continued, "particularly in the state of Ohio. He has packed his bags and he has moved north. He is in Ohio, he's in Pennsylvania, he's making repeat performances in Florida."

The restrictions are expected to disproportionately affect African-American voters, who tend to turn out in high numbers for early voting, as well as working class voters in general, who can find it difficult to get to the polls on Election Day.

Republicans in the state have said that they cut the hours to save money. But Ari Berman of The Nation said that line doesn't hold up.

"It's funny that the Republicans are saying they don't have the money to extend early voting, when they spent millions and millions and millions of dollars on unnecessary and costly voter ID laws."

"The Democrats were willing to pick up the tab in these counties to pay for early voting," Berman added, "and Republicans didn't even give them the option to have early voting."

Minutes later on The Rachel Maddow Show, the Washington Post's E.J. Dionne put what Republicans are doing in perspective.

"This is much bigger than a partisan story," Dionne said. "We passed a great law in our country in 1965 called the Voting Rights Act. And the Voting Rights Act was designed to tear down illegitimate barriers to voting in our country, particularly for African-Americans. What's happening this election year—Ohio is an excellent example—is, I think, the most fundamental attack on the right to vote in the country since the Voting Rights Act was passed."

Editor's Note, 10:21 pm: This post originally reported that Republican county commissioners supported the cuts to voting hours. In fact, it was Republican election commissioners.

Rush Limbaugh said Wednesday he deserves a "finder's fee" for raising the profile of women's health activist Sandra Fluke. On The Ed Show, Fluke responded: "I really think it's an interesting request to take credit for the voice of a woman you tried to silence," she said. "I don't think that's going to work out well."

Fluke, a Lean Forward contributor, campaigned Wednesday with President Obama in Colorado, touting the benefits for women of the Affordable Care Act. As she told Ed Schultz, the ACA "has economic consequences for women, and is so vital to both our health security and our economic security as well."

Fluke continued: "The women of America are speaking out about these policies not because of anything that Mr. Limbaugh has done but because they really care about access to the health care that they need, and they care about all of us having that health care."

Earlier this year, Limbaugh called Fluke a "prostitute" and a "slut" after she testified in support of access to birth control for women. He later apologized, sort of.