by the way, installing Advanced TinyMCE solves it. there is an option to NOT strip the <p> and br break tags.
So apparently this is not only a known issue, but now looks like it is a by design feature that you have to suppress.
I found the answer: Install advanced TinyMCE.
it has an option to NOT strip the <p> and
apparently stripping them is a design feature you ahve to suppress.
Wild
Bump. Anyone tell me how to activate this feature?