What a week by Stephanie Cutter

"Rape is rape." The fact that President Obama needed to
explain this to the Republican Party earlier this week says
so much about how extreme the other side has become.

It's only Wednesday, and we already have a lot to report
this week.

Take a look at the items below, and share them with your
friends and family:

#1 President Obama speaks on women's health decisions.
President Obama on Monday spoke out about the outrageous
comments of Rep. Todd Akin, the Republican nominee for U.S.
Senate in Missouri, who said that victims of "legitimate
rape" don't get pregnant because "the female body has ways
to try to shut that whole thing down." The President said
that Rep. Akin's comments show "why we shouldn't have a
bunch of politicians, a majority of whom are men, making
health care decisions on behalf of women." Watch the
President's entire response here, and share it with others:

http://my.barackobama.com/Tipsheet-August22b

#2 What the Romney-Ryan ticket would mean for women's health.
Akin's views aren't an aberration in Mitt Romney and Paul
Ryan's Republican Party, which is extreme on women's health
issues. Their official party platform -- written "at the direction
of the Romney campaign," according to the Los Angeles Times
-- supports outlawing all abortion, even in cases of rape and incest.
They want to defund Planned Parenthood. Ryan even
cosponsored a bill with Akin to change the definition of
rape. Take a look at our blog post about what a Romney-Ryan
administration would mean for women, and share it with
people you think need to see it:

http://my.barackobama.com/Tipsheet-August22c

And, check out this graphic that looks at just how extreme
the new GOP platform is, and share it with others:

http://my.barackobama.com/Tipsheet-August22d

#3 The choice on college affordability.
President Obama believes a skilled workforce is critical to
keeping America competitive and creating an economy built
to last -- and in order to make that happen, he's helping
millions of students pay for college. In contrast, Romney's
advice to parents and students trying to pay for college is
to "shop around" if they're worried about higher college
costs. Take a look at our new calculator that lets you
easily compute how each candidate's plan for student loan
reform could affect you, and share it with others so they can
do the same:

http://my.barackobama.com/Tipsheet-August22e

#4 The choice on education.
Romney and Ryan's terrible education plans aren't just
limited to student loans -- their proposals for K-12
education would roll back much of the progress we've made
under President Obama to improve our nation's education
system. We put together a blog post that looks at the
President's record on education compared to Romney's, and
what their proposals could mean for students and educators.
Take a look, and share with the parents and teachers in
your life:

http://my.barackobama.com/Tipsheet-August22f

#5 Fixing Romney's Medicare whiteboard.
Romney gave a speech last week where he used his factually
inaccurate talking points about the President's record on
Medicare -- and he even used a whiteboard to emphasize his
distortions. No matter what Romney draws on a whiteboard,
it won't change the facts: President Obama has already
extended the life of Medicare by nearly a decade and is
helping seniors save money. I recorded a video to respond
to Romney's attacks and fix some problems with his
whiteboard illustration. Take a look, and share with others:

http://my.barackobama.com/Tipsheet-August22g