Mitt Romney accuses President Obama of doing too little and also too much on college affordability

It's not a flip flop, it's just rank, amoral campaign opportunism: Mitt Romney is simultaneously attacking President Obama for not having prevented college tuition from rising and for his efforts to keep college affordable.

On the one hand, Romney's campaign would have us know that one of the ways the "Obama economy" is causing American families to struggle is that "Since President Obama Took Office, The Average Cost Of College Has Increased By 25% At Four-Year Public Schools Across The Country." On the other hand, at a campaign event on Monday, Romney characterized Obama's fight to, among other things, keep student loan interest rates low as "In an effort to try to get [young voters] engaged, he's going to promise to give a lot of free stuff to them. And to say, I'll pay for your education, or I'll get rid of the loans."

It's kind of an achievement, actually: Romney is making two attacks on the same subject that contradict each other and yet are both wildly inaccurate. Yes, tuition at public four-year colleges has increased by 25 percent'21.7 percent if you control for inflation. But Obama does not control state higher education budgets, which determine tuition levels. Romney, though, did control a state budget as governor of Massachusetts, and cut higher education funding and increased what students had to pay. So Romney is attacking Obama for something that isn't under Obama's control but that once was under Romney's control, with the exact results Romney is attacking Obama for.

Then to top it off, Romney is attacking Obama for his efforts to make college more affordable in the ways that are at the president's disposal. Obama, for instance, included a tax credit for tuition in the stimulus, has fought for Pell Grants, has done what he can to lower student loan payments without congressional action, and is pushing Congress to keep student loan interests from doubling on July 1. But though Obama has focused on this issue repeatedly throughout his presidency, Romney is attempting to brand these efforts as a late in the game attempt to essentially buy the votes of young people, to "give a lot of free stuff to them."

In other words, when it comes to college costs, Romney's got nothing'he's got a bad record and no plan to make things better. And rather than trying to develop a plan, he's just going to throw accusations at President Obama that are variously contradictory, irrelevant and false. Sounds like his entire campaign, actually.