Common Cause

Related Link » Garbage In — Garbage Out
“The CBO (Congressional Budget Office) is essentially a computation committee. […] The bill's mark-up is the so-called ‘input’ to the CBO's computation process. A bill's mark-up by Congress is garbage, which is a family-friendly euphemism for complete and utter bullshit. This garbage is faithfully processed by the CBO using its prescribed accounting practices. […] It is treated by the wretched politicians in Congress as the holy grail with which to convince their ignorant lap-dog choir of their bill's worthiness. This charade mimics with incredible fidelity the way in which sausage is made. The product or ‘output’ is precisely analogous to the output produced by any dog who has gorged himself on sausage.”
— by TheBigHenry, MARCH 18, 2010 (Remembrance in Spacetime)

Related Link » An Off-Budget Office?
“The Congressional Budget Office does honest work. But it can only use the numbers that Congress supplies-- and Congress does dishonest work. It is not the CBO's job to give their opinion as to whether any of the marvelous things that Congress says it will do in the future are either likely or possible. The Congressional Budget Office is like a computer: Garbage in, garbage out. The numbers in the health care bill are especially smelly garbage.”
— by Thomas Sowell, March 24, 2010 (Townhall)

Imagine my delight in seeing my commentary of last week echoed in today's commentary of Thomas Sowell, whose commentary I myself admire greatly. It is gratifying to know that at least some of my thoughts on the important issues of our times find common cause with scholars of Thomas Sowell's caliber.

Post #1,172 Common Cause