South Pol: The CBO (This is Rachel)
…You don’t have to be a libertarian to know that this is exactly right, and that’s exactly wrong. The CBO is a great resource for good budgetary information, but politicians don’t want good budgetary information—they want soundbites and validation. I don’t have a thing against…
Budget estimates are created by gathering historical data, analyzing it, and using it to tell us something about what the future could look like given a certain set of assumptions. The numbers the CBO put out for the health care plan were correct given their set of assumptions. Budget analysts try to outline and account for all of their assumptions, but we live in a dynamic world where circumstances constantly change.
People are claiming that as soon as Obama signs any health care bill he and his fellow party members will change everything. Lots of people are dragging around this underlying assumption that they are being lied to. This assumption negates all analysis that has been or can be done on any given issue. The CBO did not include this assumption in their projections because it is not valid. There is no way of making budgetary projections, or really to just get through life, with the underlying assumption of everything we have been told is a lie!
The assumption that everything being said by Obama about health care is a lie kills deliberation at all levels. And it mainly serves as a way for those who lack information to think they are clever.
