Harmonizing the RR Lyrae and Clump Distance Scales - Stretching the   Short Distance Scale to Intermediate Ranges?
  I explore the consequences of making the RR Lyrae and clump giant distance scales consistent in the solar neighborhood, Galactic bulge and Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). I employ two major assumptions: 1) that the absolute magnitude - metallicity, M_V(RR) - [Fe/H], relation for RR Lyrae stars is universal, and 2) that absolute I-magnitudes of clump giants, M_I(RC), in Baade's Window are known (e.g., can be inferred from the local Hipparcos-based calibration or theoretical modeling). A comparison between the solar neighborhood and Baade's Window sets M_V(RR) at [Fe/H] = -1.6 in the range (0.59 +/- 0.05, 0.70 +/- 0.05), somewhat brighter than the statistical parallax solution. More luminous RR Lyrae stars imply younger ages of globular cluster, which would be in better agreement with the conclusions from the currently favored stellar evolution and cosmological models. A comparison between Baade's Window and the LMC sets the M_I^{LMC}(RC) in the range (-0.33 +/- 0.09, -0.53 +/- 0.09). The distance modulus to the LMC, mu^{LMC}, is between 18.24 +/- 0.08 and 18.44 +/- 0.07. Unlike M_I^{LMC}(RC), this range in mu^{LMC} does NOT depend on the adopted value of the dereddened LMC clump magnitude, I_0^{LMC}(RC). I argue that the currently available information is insufficient to select the correct distance scale with high confidence. 
Piotr Popowski (IGPP/LLNL)