CBO Is Not Just Easy To Spell

There ought to be a law that prevents representatives of our two political parties from ever quoting any statistics from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

This tactic, which is used with equal dexterity (a congressional word for “obfuscation”) by both parties, has us concerned citizens very confused.

Before I get into explaining how they keep us in the dark, allow me to make a few points about the CBO…

• Have you ever seen an actual live person who is part of the CBO being interviewed?
• These CBO people are always talked about but never talked to.
• The CBO is the absolute final authority on how much it will cost to pay for whatever our 9% approval rated congress is doing for (or to) us.

Once the CBO has spoken (or a Congressman or a Senator has spoken for them … remember the CBO never actually speaks to us) all further discussion or analysis is considered unnecessary.

What I am about to relate to you I saw on TV today. I used my TiVo to get it exactly right. Since you are not as keen about such things as I am, you may find yourself skeptical. Don’t allow yourself to go there. Remember I am the one who does not kid you. That having been said, allow me to set the scene…

A high level Democrat and a high level Republican were guests on a political talk show. The pending legislative bill they were discussing is not important to this Foolishness…Or Is It?. The tactic they used is tried and true.  I have seen it a hundred times…

• One side goes first (it makes no difference which side goes first).
• “My party is diametrically opposed to this ill conceived legislation. The non-partisan CBO has stated that it will cost the American Tax Payer $4,375,776.33.”
• The other party’s representative is not phased by this startling amount of money (actually the only part of the opposition's statement he paid any attention to is the amount of money quoted).
• The other side counters, “My party is absolutely in favor of this ground-breaking legislation. The non-partisan CBO has stated that it will save the American Tax Payer $3,566,432.68.”
• The reason why they only pay attention to the dollar amount is that their Congressional Obfuscation Handbook teaches them to not use the exact same number because it may damage their credibility and credibility is something they jealously guard.

The icing on this awful cake is the Media Representative who is moderating the exchange of ideas never calls attention to the fact that they both quote the CBO but state that the CBO has drawn opposite positions that favor their opposite positions. The moderator just goes on to the next question on his teleprompter.

In America there were always only two sources of information and knowledge that were accepted as final the authority on anything and everything. Now that Oprah has retired, all we are left with is the CBO.

Would I kid u?

NOTE: Don’t blame me… BlogSpot (Google) is responsible for those ads at the bottom of my Foolishness.