Why Romney Can't Say Anything

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by Paul Krugman  September 11, 2012, 11:58 am5 Comments

No Details Forthcoming

Hmm. So even on the right, people are complaining that Romney isn’t providing enough details about his plans. And I’ve spoken to journalists who are sure that Romney will be forced to say more before Election Day.

No he won’t. He might lose for lack of detail, but no detail will be provided, for a very simple reason: his proposals don’t add up. He literally can’t do what he says he would do, namely cut tax rates on the rich without raising the tax burden on the middle class or making the deficit surge; nor can he propose spending cuts as large as he claims without cutting deeply into programs people depend on.

Another way of saying this, of course, is that his alleged budget plan is actually a fraud.

Why would be do such a thing, and expose himself to the criticism he now faces? Well, why should he have expected this scrutiny? Paul Ryan has been running around for years with a supposed fiscal plan constructed largely out of magic asterisks, and got hailed as a Bold Truthteller. Romney must be asking why the rules have changed.

Apparently, though, they have. And because Romney went with the assumption that he would never be asked to put up, he is now in a position where he can’t.