Robert L. Borosage: The Etch-A-Sketch Debate »
“After last night’s tiresome presidential debate, President Obama’s supporters were offering up what Groucho Marx used to call “departee” — suggestions on what the president should have said. That’s a pretty good indicator about how the debate turned out. The evening featured a remarkable shifting of shape, a new Etch-A-Sketch, by Mitt Romney. Romney, filled with earnest intensity, simply walked away from much of his campaign to date. He ignore the centerpiece of his platform — his plan to cut tax rates by 20%, eliminate the estate and gift tax, sustain the carried interest and capital gains tax breaks, paid for by eliminating unspecified loopholes. Simple addition and subtraction shows that ends up handing the wealthy a huge tax break that must be paid by the middle class paying more, mostly by losing deductions for their home mortgages or their health care. Well forget about it. Last night, Romney announced that he wouldn’t let taxes go up on anyone — or apparently down on anyone either. His bold idea, as the president said, is… well “never mind.”“