Jon Ward: Mitt Romney Economic Advisers Draft White Paper To Back Up Job Creation Predictions:
Mitt Romney's campaign released a paper by four of its top economic advisers on Thursday to back up its assertion that Romney's tax reform and fiscal plan would create "millions of jobs," as an adviser earlier in the day had stated…
The advisors HHMT have set themselves a difficult task. Since Romney has said that the "plan" cannot be scored, its effects cannot be estimated. If they estimate its effects, they must have a score as to the plan's budget impact--and a score as to the plan's pieces. What is this score? Inquiring minds want to know.
And the start of the white paper is not at all auspicious:
The Obama administration says that the economy’s awful performance reflects the reality of the aftermath of a financial crisis and that the administration’s policies generated what little recovery we have seen from the severe 2007-2009 recession – Americans should stay the course. But the historical record is clear: Our economy usually recovers quickly from recessions, and the more severe the recession, the faster the subsequent catch-up growth...
NONSEQUITUR: The argument that recovery is highly likely to be slow in the aftermath of a financial crisis is a powerful one--made by many who are not Obama administration flunkies, including the well-respected Reinhart and Rogoff (2010) and the IMF (2011).
HHMT's “But” sentence does not rebut this powerful argument--although HHMT mean for their readers to think that it does. HHMT's "But" sentence ignores this argument.
USE "BUT" TO OPEN A SENTENCE OR CLAUSE ONLY WHEN WHAT FOLLOWS THE "BUT" CONTRADICTS OR QUALIFIES WHAT COMES BEFORE!!
