"We don't estimate speeches"

Krauthammer on Obama's speech in Iowa about American manufacturing:

Well, this is another speech from Obama in another state that’ll be important next year that he’s done entirely to boost himself politically. And the reason he’s making speeches is that he’s run out of ideas on what to do about unemployment. He’s had his trillion-dollar stimulus, he’s had the bailouts, he’s had the “cash for clunkers” program, he’s had two binges of the Fed printing a lot of money. It hasn’t worked.

A few weeks ago, Paul Ryan asked the head of the CBO to score – to give the numbers for, the debt numbers for – the Obama alternate [budget] framework, which he offered in the speech [on] April 13. And Elmendorf responded immortally, “We don’t estimate speeches.”

And that’ll be the epitaph of the Obama administration. “We don’t estimate speeches,” meaning, “We don’t put numbers on, [we don't] even try to score, we don’t take seriously — speeches that are all about effect, not about substance; [speeches that are] all about generalities with no reality, economic reality, underneath; speeches that are essentially done to attack the Republicans; and, in the end, speeches intended to get Obama reelected next year so he can make more speeches on the economy in his second term.”