Former RNC Chair Michael Steele threw a major wrench in the Romney campaign's efforts to dismiss as biased a study showing his plan would raise taxes on middle-class Americans. "I don't think necessarily they can" dismiss the study, Steele said on The Ed Show Wednesday night.

The study in question, released Wednesday by the Brookings Institution and the Tax Policy Center, found that under Romney's tax plan, 95% of Americans would see a $500 tax increase on average. 

President Obama was quick to jump on the study and attack Romney on the numbers today. The Romney campaign hit back, saying that "President Obama continues to tout liberal studies calling for more tax hikes and more government spending."

But, as guest host Michael Eric Dyson noted, during the primary Romney cited analysis from what he called the "objective" Tax Policy Center to slam a proposal by Rick Perry. Indeed, a Romney campaign press release at the time said, referring to the Tax Policy Center: "Objective, Third-Party Analysis Showed Governor Perry’s Plan Would Raise Taxes On Millions Of American Families – But He Doesn’t Seem Interested In The Discussion."

Steele, formerly the head of the Republican party, agreed.

Asked by Dyson whether the Romney campaign can so easily dismiss the study, Steele replied: "Well I don't think necessarily they can. I think they have to take it into account. Particularly if they referenced this organization in the past as legitimate and stand-up, with respect to analysis given about someone else's work."

In the wake of the shootings in Aurora, Colo., President Obama addressed the challenge of enacting stricter gun laws on Wednesday, saying that he "the majority of gun owners would agree" that "a mentally unbalanced individual should not be able to get his hands on a gun so easily."

"I, like most Americans believe that the 2nd Amendment guarantees an individual the right to bear arms," Obama told the National Urban League Convention in New Orleans. "But I also believe that a lot of gun owners would agree that AK-47s belong in the hands of soldiers, not in the hands of criminals. That they belong on the battlefield of war, not on the streets of our cities. I believe that the majority of gun owners would agree that we should do everything possible to prevent criminals and fugitives from purchasing weapons, that we should check someone's criminal record before they can check out a gun seller."

Obama added: "These steps shouldn't be controversial, they should be common sense."

The president acknowledged that after a mass shooting like the one in Aurora, or in Tucson, Ariz. last year, there's "always an outcry immediately after for action."

He continued: "Too often those efforts are defeated by politics and by lobbying, and eventually by the pull of our collective attention elsewhere."

But, he continued, though the White House has taken steps to combat gun violence on its own, "other steps to reduce violence have been met with opposition in Congress. This has been true for some time. Particularly when it touches on the issue of guns. And 

Evan Vucci / AP

Mitt Romney speaking to the NAACP

EXCLUSIVE

The Romney campaign Wednesday night denied to Lean Forward that it brought in supporters to cheer during the candidate's speech to the NAACP, as several attendees have claimed. But one prominent black Republican told us she was invited to the event by the Romney campaign, and another African-American conservative said he was urged to go by people connected to the campaign.

"I was invited by Governor Romney," Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll of Florida, a Republican, told Lean Forward in a phone interview Thursday afternoon.

Asked who paid Carroll's way, her office referred Lean Forward to the Romney campaign's press office, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

After the speech, Romney's campaign released a statement from Carroll asserting that "we can put a stop to [President Obama's] job-killing policies by electing Mitt Romney." 

Niger Innis, a conservative activist, told Lean Forward Thursday that he was encouraged to attend the Houston speech by friends in the NAACP, as well as "some folks that were aligned with the Romney campaign," declining to elaborate. Innis said he paid his own way.

Innis added that he wasn't surprised that Team Romney wanted some friendly faces in the crowd.

"Any political campaign," Innis said, "be it Republican, Democrat, Libertarian or the Green Party, if they're coming to an event, and it's an event that has challenges, they're going to want to surround themselves with allies. It's a no-brainer."

Romney was heartily booed during the speech for saying he'd repeal the Affordable Care Act, but also received cheers at times. 

The TV host Roland Martin, Hilary Shelton of the NAACP, and the radio host Mark Thompson all have claimed that the Romney campaign brought in supporters to the speech. Shelton said on MSNBC Wednesday that the goal was "to provide the cheering for [Romney]." Thompson said the supporters served as "applauders for his applause lines."

Andrea Saul, a Romney campaign spokeswoman, told Lean Forward Wednesday night that Shelton's claims were "not true." Asked Thursday about Carroll's statement that she attended the speech as a guest of the Romney campaign, and Innis's that he was urged to go by people connected to the campaign, Saul did not immediately respond. 

Carroll argued to Lean Forward that Romney received a warm reception from rank-and-file NAACP members. At one point, she noted, he was applauded by half the audience. "He didn't bring half of the audience," she said.

Both Carroll and Innis also said they were among a group of black conservative leaders who met with Romney after the speech. Romney said on Fox News Wednesday that these leaders told him:"A lot of folks do not want to say they will not vote for President Obama but they are disappointed in his lack of policies to improve the schools.” 

Did Mitt Romney's campaign plant African-American supporters in the audience to cheer for the speech the candidate gave Wednesday to the NAACP? That's what the NAACP's Hilary Shelton claimed on The Ed Show. (See Late Updates below).

Romney said today that after the speech, at which he was booed for saying he'd repeal the Affordable Health Care Act, he met with black leaders who told him they support his policies but are afraid to do so publicly. 

But on The Ed Show, Shelton said those were likely people brought in by the Romney camp "to actually provide the cheering for him."

"Quite frankly, the campaign actually gave me a list of African-American VIPs that they brought into the NAACP meeting," Shelton told Ed Schulz. "So we were aware that they had people brought in specifically for the campaign. So I'm sure those were the ones they sat down with, because quite frankly none of the rank-and-file NAACPers met with him."

Indeed, despite the boos, cheering can be heard at various points during the speech, including when Romney criticized President Obama over the economy and education.

Shelton said that none of the people Romney met with were active NAACP leaders, and that Romney's referring to African-American conservative politicians like Niger Innis who "was brought in from New York."

Pressed by Ed Schultz about whether Innis and the others were actually members of the NAACP, Shelton said: "They're bringing people in that they know will support his agenda from other places, that aren't active with the NAACP. These are people who are brought in to actually provide the cheering for him, so there will be some support along those lines."

We've reached out to the Romney campaign and to Innis, a conservative African-American activist, to ask about Shelton's claim, and will update if we hear back.

Romney told Fox News earlier: “I spoke with a number of African-American leaders after the event and they said, you know, a lot of folks do not want to say they will not vote for President Obama but they are disappointed in his lack of policies to improve the schools,” 

Late Update, 9:55pm: Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul tells Lean Forward via email, referring to Shelton's claims: "Not true." Asked who Romney was referring to in his Fox News remarks, Saul did not immediately respond.

Late Late Update, 10:12pm: Mark Thompson, a radio host who attended Romney's speech, is backing Shelton's claim.

Thompson told Lawrence O'Donnell, host of The Last Word, that Romney "brought about 20 black Republicans with him," who served as "applauders for his applause lines." Thompson called the move "bizarre," and added, again echoing Shelton, that these were the black leaders Romney was referring to in his comments on Fox. 

Even Later Update, 10:58pm: And Roland Martin of TV One's Washington Watch, tweeted earlier today: "Romney bussed in about 200 supporters, including a number of African Americans, including Fla Lt Gov Jennifer Carroll."

Sen. Dick Durbin continued to pound Mitt Romney for the secrecy over his finances, asking Ed Schultz Monday: "Why would we stand for a person running for the highest office in the land concealing important elements of their own investment decisions? He says he's a great businessman."

Durbin appeared on The Ed Show  to talk about Romney's solitary income tax disclosure. President Obama has released records going back to 2000, and Mitt Romney's own father, George Romney, released 12 years of records when he ran for president in 1968.

"It's the least amount of disclosure of any presidential candidate of either political party in the last 36 years," Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said.

A Vanity Fair article this week described Romney's Swiss bank account and other secretive holdings in off-shore tax havens. Durbin, who has proposed a bill to crack down on offshore tax havens, said he'd been asking around to understand the purpose of such arrangements.

"I have asked business leaders, I have asked Republicans, I asked Warren Buffet the following question," added Durbin. "Why would anybody need a Swiss Bank account? Warren Buffett said: 'I've never had one, I think we've got a lot of great banks in America.'" 

"There are two reasons to have a Swiss Bank account," Durbin continued. "To conceal your wealth and transactions involving your wealth from government scrutiny, number one. Or, number two, because you happen to think the Swiss Franc is a stronger currency than the United States dollar." 

Lt. Col. Tammy Duckworth said it was "irresponsible" for Rep. Joe Walsh to question her military service, telling MSNBC's Ed Schultz on Tuesday that "for Mr. Walsh to denigrate military service is very insulting, because he's using it for his own political gain."

Duckworth, who is running against Walsh (R-IL), lost both of her legs while serving in Iraq. Walsh evidently questioned whether Duckworth is a "true hero" because, he says, her twenty-plus years of military of service are "darn near all" she talks about. 

Speaking on Tuesday's The Ed Show, Duckworth that it was "irresponsible" of Walsh to talk that way about military service. "Our 23 million veterans have done more in one day in uniform than he's done for this country," she said.

"He's trying to muddy the waters," Duckworth continued. "He's just trying to shift the focus away from the fact that he's done nothing for the people of the district. He's irresponsbile in his words and he's irresponsile in his actions."

Duckworth added that Walsh has "done nothing in his two years in Congress other than be an extremist loudmouth for the Tea Party."