Related Articles
Perhaps one of the things most taken for granted about today's state revenue forecast is the fact that no one is fighting over the numbers. When the state's nonpartisan revenue forecast committee issues its projections you don't see dueling press releases from partisans claiming that the numbers are wrong and the state should instead base its projections on the source of a political party's choosing.
Unfortunately the same can't be said about the debate occurring in Washington D.C. concerning the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) projection on the cost of the health care reforms being considered. As noted by The Hill:
Democratic leaders have also grumbled about the CBO, which released an analysis Monday that may result in Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) delaying action on his panel. CBO has reportedly scored the Finance Committee’s proposals at $1.6 trillion, forcing Baucus to chop the package by $600 billion . . .
Growing frustrations with CBO have spurred some Democrats to consider shelving cost estimates from the agency and using projections from another source, such as the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which is part of the Obama administration . . .
Peter Orszag, the director of Office of Management and Budget, however, has downplayed the possibility of using projections from his agency instea! d of CBO.
'CBO scoring is going to be used in t! his process,' Orszag said late Wednesday."
The whole point of nonpartisan forecasts is to help remove politics from the process and provide accurate information to the public and lawmakers. If those numbers get in the way of speedy action and instead force more thoughtful debate, the only losers are politicians --- not the taxpayers they serve.
Here are additional details on the CBO cost projections.
