"Romney goes from Etch a Sketch to sketchy" by E.J. Dionne Jr at WP

[applegrove]

Romney goes from Etch a Sketch to sketchy

By E.J. Dionne Jr at WP

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ej-dionne-romney-goes-from-etch-a-sketch-to-sketchy/2012/10/17/ad4edc2e-187a-11e2-9855-71f2b202721b_story.html?hpid=z2

"SNIP..............................................

Romney also covertly disclosed that he, like George W. Bush before him, has every intention of cutting taxes on the rich. Like Bush, he used stealthy language to try to achieve a great fiscal coverup.

Here was Romney on Tuesday: “I will not, under any circumstances, reduce the share that’s being paid by the highest-income taxpayers.” Here was Bush in 2000: “After my plan is in place, the wealthiest Americans will pay a higher percentage of taxes [than] they do today.”

This really matters: Romney intends, as Bush did, to push for steep tax cuts for the wealthy. His only pledge is that he’ll keep the share of the total tax take paid by the wealthy unchanged, presumably by reducing other taxes too. And this is supposed to lead to lower deficits? How?

The most instructive contrast between Debate I and Debate II was the extent to which Romney’s ideas crumbled at the slightest contact with challenge. Romney and Paul Ryan are erecting a Potemkin village designed to survive only until the polls close on Nov. 6. They cannot say directly that they really believe in slashing taxes on the rich and backing away from so much of what government does because they know that neither idea will sell. So they offer soothing language to the middle class, photo ops at homeless programs to convey compassion and a steady stream of attacks on Obama, aimed at shifting all the attention his way.

...............................................SNIP"

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. Very revealing!

[enough]

2. k&r (nt)