Why the House GOP wants a new accountant MSNBC
The fear for months has been that Republicans would dump Elmendorf and choose a new CBO chief that would, quite simply, tell far-right lawmakers what they want to hear. If Weigel’s reporting is accurate, that’s apparently the direction the new Congress intends to go.
Why should anyone care? Because congressional Republicans want to make it easier for themselves to manipulate arithmetic for ideological ends. To borrow a Greg Mankiwanalogy, the CBO is supposed to be the referee in these Capitol Hill fights, and Republicans seem a little too eager to handpick their own ref who’ll make the “right” calls.
And once the referee is aligned with the congressional majority, Republicans will eagerly push their legislative agenda, boasting about their amazing CBO scores. “What do you mean we’re cooking the books?” they’ll ask. “We have a favorable score from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office right here.”
Suddenly, all the GOP's proposals will look endearing....on paper. Facts sometimes get in the way of their Agenda.
The fear for months has been that Republicans would dump Elmendorf and choose a new CBO chief that would, quite simply, tell far-right lawmakers what they want to hear. If Weigel’s reporting is accurate, that’s apparently the direction the new Congress intends to go.
Why should anyone care? Because congressional Republicans want to make it easier for themselves to manipulate arithmetic for ideological ends. To borrow a Greg Mankiwanalogy, the CBO is supposed to be the referee in these Capitol Hill fights, and Republicans seem a little too eager to handpick their own ref who’ll make the “right” calls.
And once the referee is aligned with the congressional majority, Republicans will eagerly push their legislative agenda, boasting about their amazing CBO scores. “What do you mean we’re cooking the books?” they’ll ask. “We have a favorable score from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office right here.”
Suddenly, all the GOP's proposals will look endearing....on paper. Facts sometimes get in the way of their Agenda.