Campaigning in Mansfield, Ohio today, President Obama touted a new study authored by Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Adam Looney purporting to show that Mitt Romney’s tax plan will raise taxes on millions of Americans. “You do not have to take my word for it,” Obama said. “Just today, an independent, non-partisan organization ran all the numbers on Governor Romney’s plan. This wasn’t my staff. This wasn’t something we did. Independent group, ran the numbers.”
There is just one problem. As Looney’s bio at the Brookings Institution website shows, Looney was on Obama’s staff from 2009 through 2010. He was a Senior Economist for Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers.
This is not the first time Obama has passed off blatantly partisan propaganda as “non-partisan” or “independent.” Earlier this month, Obama cited a study by Reed College professor Kimberly Clausing purporting to show that Romney’s jobs plan would create jobs overseas. But Clausing is no non-partisan. Records show he donated money to Obama’s political campaign in 2011 and 2012.
