He couldn't counter one of the biggest holes in Romney's ideology tonight:
Romney says he won't raise taxes because it will kill jobs. But he is perfectly willing to cut spending which will kill jobs. Cutting spending in the middle of a recession or weak recovery guarantees job losses. Massive job loss. It's more than inevitable. No way around it. Direct and indirect job losses will be huge.
(We've already seen nearly 700,000 public sector jobs disappeared via statewide cuts. No other president, when faced with a recession, let this happen. Republican or Democrat, they all made sure that public sector hiring -- the only hiring they have a say in -- went up. Until Obama.)
Given the fact that there is no evidence whatsoever that tiny tax increases on the rich result in job losses, ever, and no logical reason why it ever would, Obama should have blasted him on this. And, he should have added that America has actually always performed at more robust levels when taxes were double or triple what they are now. Which makes perfect sense, as the least efficient and effective generators of economic activity are the rich, because they spend the smallest amount of their income in this economy, and because high personal taxes lead to reinvestment in business. Low personal taxes incentivize hoarding and speculation.
And, of course, the more money is concentrated at the top, the weaker overall demand gets, resulting eventually in a collapse.
In fact, there is a direct correlation between eras with high taxation on the rich and wonderful economic performance. The only sustained middle class boom in our history occurred when the top rate was above 90% for most of that era (1947-1973). The counter to that is also true. Eras with low taxation on the rich have sluggish economies and tend to lead to recessions or depressions.
But Obama can't talk about that, because he cast his lot with the trickle-down lite crowd (center-right corporate Dems), extended the Bush taxes for everyone and now brags about dozens of other tax cuts. Even his incredibly modest increase keeps all the other tax cuts in place, and he frames his rationale just like a Republican.
Beyond that, Obama also brags about the trillion in spending he's cut already, and he started the catfood commission, which was easily one of the most irrational things he's done as president. It, too, bought into Republican frames, legitimized them and normalized them, when no sane economist thought deficits should be the focus in the middle of an unemployment crisis.
Again, cutting spending guarantees job loss. So bragging about spending cuts is like being proud of using leeches on anemics.
Obama couldn't blast Romney for being ridiculous, for advocating for job losses through spending cuts, because he favors them, too.
I hope I live long enough to see someone in office who completely rejects the right's moronic ideas without regret, reservation, fear or hesitation. I hope I live long enough to see a true leftist populist take the wheel with vigor, confidence, heart and passion.