Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are understandably reluctant to explain the specifics their tax plan, because then they’d have to admit that it is mathematically impossible for them to institute their proposed cuts for the rich without raising the middle-class’s tax burden. Unfortunately for the Republican candidates, people (especially those employed by the Obama campaign) continue to press for details, forcing them to offer up increasingly unsatisfying evasions. Today’s non-explanation — which took place during Ryan’s appearance on Fox News Sunday — was particularly silly-sounding.
Ryan reiterated … that the plan would drop taxpayers’ bills by 20 percent without costing a dime, due to closed tax loopholes, but he was short on specifics when pressed by host Chris Wallace.
“You haven’t given me the math,” Wallace said in one exchange.
“I don’t have the … It would take me too long to go through all of the math,” Ryan responded.
Instead of wasting valuable airtime with boring arithmetic, Ryan chose instead to talk about the trouble he and Romney have had with mainstream news outlets (this was Fox, after all.) “It goes without saying that there is definitely media bias,” he said. Ryan went on to explain that the aforementioned bias was one of the reasons the ticket has been criticized for coming off as “insufficiently bold” in their messaging. However, when it came to the campaign’s most straightforward message to date — the 47 percent video — Ryan backed away. Once again, he described his running mate’s comments as “inarticulate.” He added: “We’ve had some missteps, but at the end of the day the choice is really clear.” Especially to those who value clarity when it comes to things like taxes.
