Lies?

Now that the image of the fantasy Obama has been obliterated in the first presidential debate, the Obama campaign and its supporters/surrogates in the media have decided that Romney's "lies" are fertile ground for the next phase of their demonization efforts. The core of their argument goes to a supposed middle class tax hike proposed by Romney. After all, President Obama really "cares" about the middle class and the rapacious capitalist Mitt Romney doesn't, right?

In a recent email the Obama campaign states:

"Even the studies that Romney has cited to claim his plan adds up still show he would need to raise middle-class taxes ... In fact, Harvard economist Martin Feldstein and Princeton economist Harvey Rosen both concede that paying for Romney’s tax cuts would require large tax increases on families making between $100,000 and $200,000."

Princeton economist Harvey Rosen responded to this mendacious claim in an email:

I can’t tell exactly how the Obama campaign reached that characterization of my work. It might be that they assume that Governor Romney wants to keep the taxes from the Affordable Care Act in place, despite the fact that the Governor has called for its complete repeal. The main conclusion of my study is that under plausible assumptions, a proposal along the lines suggested by Governor Romney can both be revenue neutral and keep the net tax burden on taxpayers with incomes above $200,000 about the same. That is, an increase in the tax burden on lower and middle income individuals is not required in order to make the overall plan revenue neutral.

Lies? Really?

Isn't it about time for the Obama campaign to begin talking about the President's major domestic accomplishments over the past four years, about the way he has rebuilt the economy, reduced the deficit and lowered our debt. About the way fewer and fewer people are dependent on government (e.g., food stamps, disability), and about the constructive recommendations he has made to save entitlements from coming bankruptcy.

Oops, can't do any of that, can they? So ... demonizing Mitt Romney is all they've got. It worked for a while, but it's not going to work going "forward."

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Update (10/9/12):

A comment by Rich Lowry is worth noting:

Democrats have convinced themselves that all the president needs to do to come roaring back in the next debate is rebut Romney’s dishonesties, which will expose his indefensible agenda and shallow reinvention. The president’s team evidently underestimated Romney once already. If it believes this “lying liar” interpretation of the debate — rather than pushing it in the media for lack of anything else to say — it will underestimate him yet again.

Mitt Romney bested President Obama on the merits in Denver. Anyone insisting otherwise simply can’t handle the truth.