Peter Suderman’s article on why we cannot trust CBO estimates concerning the value of the stimulus is a must-read:
Here’s what the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) most recent report on the matter estimates the stimulus’ effects were in the fourth quarter of 2009: Thanks to the stimulus, America is somewhere between 1 and 2.1 million jobs richer than it would have been with no government intervention. Federal dollars have fattened up our GDP as well, adding somewhere between 1.5 and 3.5 percent to the GDP.
Naturally, the Obama administration is keen to take credit. And in touting the CBO’s stimulus figures, the White House repeatedly employed the phrase “created or saved.” After widespread eye-rolling at such an obvious rhetorical gimmick—not to mention significant evidence that many of the jobs it was claiming credit for were not, in fact, created or saved—the administration altered its lingo and started referring to jobs “funded.” But this too is not as accurate as it could be, at least in the context of the CBO’s reports; a better phrase might have been “created or saved or estimated or assumed.”
February 22, 2010 – 5:22 pm
Doug Elmendorf of the Congressional Budget Office reports that the CBO did not receive President Obama’s plan in advance, and still doesn’t have the actual legislative language. He writes:
We had not previously received the proposal, and we have just begun the process of reviewing it—a process that will take some time, given the complexity of the issues involved. Although the proposal reflects many elements that were included in the health care bills passed by the House and the Senate last year, it modifies many of those elements and also includes new ones. Moreover, preparing a cost estimate requires very detailed specifications of numerous provisions, and the materials that were released this morning do not provide sufficient detail on all of the provisions. Therefore, CBO cannot provide a cost estimate for the proposal without additional detail, and, even if such detail were provided, analyzing the proposal would be a time-consuming process that could not be completed this week.
But of course he can’t — because the White House didn’t want him to.
November 19, 2009 – 9:56 am
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has finally brought out the health care bill he’s fashioned behind closed doors over the past several weeks, and it ain’t pretty. It’s a massive piece of legislation, but will it actually solve any of America’s health care problems?
August 26, 2009 – 8:38 am
Today’s Coffee and Markets podcast focuses on the incredible nine trillion dollar deficit predictions of the OMB and the CBO released yesterday, and what they say about how the government has remade the American economy so significantly in the space of a year.
August 25, 2009 – 10:35 am
Our latest podcast concerns the renomination of Ben Bernanke as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve.
TNL Senior Editor Francis Cianfrocca joins Ben Domenech for the Tuesday, July 28th edition of Coffee & Markets, a series of brief morning podcasts on politics and the marketplace.
I didn’t see the President’s press conference, so I cannot testify as to whether the critiques of the President’s emotional presentation, as offered by Ben Smith were accurate. However, we can look to the transcript to examine the President’s arguments.
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
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Posted in Blogs, Chequer-Board
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Also tagged Barack Obama, Ben Smith, Blue Dog Democrats, Bush Administration, Congress, Democrats, Economic Ignorance, economy, George W. Bush, health care, Health Care Policy, Health Care Reform, Higher Taxes, Iraq, Massachusetts, Mayo Clinic, Medicare, Nancy Pelosi, Obama Administration, Rationing, Status Of Forces Agreement, tax policy, taxes
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If we can, and we do, we may well have the CBO to thank.
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
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Posted in Blogs, Chequer-Board
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Also tagged Barack Obama, Doug Elmendorf, Ezra Klein, Harry Reid, health care, Health Care Policy, Health Care Reform, Obama Administration, Obamacare, Peter Orszag
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Health care reform advocates may try bluff and bluster to overcome public concerns. But with any luck, they will be forced instead to go back to the drawing board, and return with a better plan.
Buried in this story is the following, very interesting nugget:
By Pejman Yousefzadeh
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Posted in Blogs, Chequer-Board
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Also tagged Barack Obama, Congress, Democrats, Douglas Elmendorf, Economic Ignorance, economy, health care, Health Care Costs, Health Care Policy, Health Care Reform, Kent Conrad, Obama Administration, Peter Orszag
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