Mitt Romney’s Impossible Critics

Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Mitt Romney’s critics have had a lotof fun with the recent report from the Tax Policy Centerproclaiming the Republican presidential candidate’s tax proposal“mathematically impossible.” Romney’s supporters, meanwhile,have struck back, insisting that the report relies onassumptions that Romney’s plan doesn’t make.

I don’t want to get into the middle of that tussle. Morefascinating to me as a wordsmith is the report’s use of the term“mathematically impossible.” Because the claim is that Romney’snumbers don’t add up, many a lexicographer will immediatelyprotest that the proper qualifier is “arithmetically,” not“mathematically.”