Of Logical Fallacies, the CBO, and Obamacare

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/06/AR2011010606159.html

I have always envied how Congress runs it's finances. Spend everything you have, borrow all you can, and depend rely on others to pay it back. Spending, budgets, expected income and other projections are declared “optimistic” when in reality they are little more than convenient fantasies. This farce has been elevated to the level of tragedy by the the Congressional budget office(CBO). This “bipartisan” agency is used by the Congress to verify and justify their fraud. The article cited points out a rather blatant example of the abusive manner that Congress uses the CBO to manipulate public opinion.

The Post describes how the CBO has determined that repealing Obamacare will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, and how the democrats in Congress, and using this justification to oppose repeal. Clearly, if Obamacare actually saves money, repeal would be far harder to justify.

What the article, Congress, and almost every other commentator has not explained, is that the CBO makes these calculations based upon the assumptions given to them by Congress. In other words, the actuaries were told to not question the completely fictitious “savings” contained in the bill, and just pretend they are true. If Obamacare does not actually fulfill the chimerical assumptions and ridiculous projections contained in the bill, then the “savings” are just as bogus. I have previously explained the fallacies and outright prevarications contained in these cost projections, as well as the data demonstrating their errors.(June 29, July 3, July8, Sept 8, Sept 11, Sept 26, Oct 3, Oct 19, Nov 25)

The logical fallacy here is accepting the premise. If I was Superman, I could fly. The fact that I am not Superman puts my ability to fly in some jeopardy. The CBO accepting the financial assumptions Congress used to justify Obamacare belongs in the same comic book.

The real culprits here are the press. Their journalistic malfeasance is one of the reasons I began this blog. Congress has a vested interest in obfuscation and confusion, and their deception is at least understandable. I cannot comprehend why the press feels no responsibility here. The writers of these articles should at a minimum do enough homework to understand the genesis of these CBO reports, and the resultant implications. In a more fair world, journalists would also have standards and could be sued for journalistic malpractice. Wouldn't that be fun.