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Comment by uuilly | Hacker News Reader

I wonder if Obama is going to like the result. I also wonder whether Tufte will visually tell the truth. It's heady stuff getting called in by the president and I could see him not wanting to make Obama look bad. Either way the result will be interesting.

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I would feel as if I were held to an even higher standard than usual if I were called in by the President to do something like this.

I can be reasonably assured that no such thing will happen to me, so all I can hope for is that Tufte holds himself to the same ideal.

I hope so too, and from what I know about Tufte, he will be true to the numbers. I would be less worried if the headline read, "Bi-partisan Commission Appoints Tufte etc..." From what I know about the stimulus, it's not something I'd want to brag about.

Did Obama just hire a very talented propagandist, or a guy who deftly presents the bill's inadequacies? I guess we'll find out. Either way, his presentation will certainly be the anchor point of the stimulus debate.

"... a very talented propagandist, or a guy who deftly presents the bill's inadequacies?..."

Why's it have to be either/or? My side/your side?

I'd hope, and I bet this is what Obama's hoping too, that the guy will produce some stuff that is very reflective of WHAT'S IN THE DAMN BILL. Obama stands to gain politically from public understanding of the bill because frankly, as long as the graphic doesn't consist of "$$$ -> (hammer&sickle)", it'll be better press than the thing's gotten so far. The truth is worth something.

You're right that it's not a binary thing. Those seem like the two most likely outcomes to me.

Well, come and join us in the gray world, here :)

The bill is a whole lot of things and none of them are black and white -- quantifying them in a way that's more educational than "they're gonna start death panels", "socialism", blah blah is difficult and Obama clearly feels he stands to gain from public education here.

For example, the stimulus was 40% tax cuts. Now, given that 99% of the republican party voted against it and called it socialism or whatever, you probably wouldn't think that. But it's true. Education helps, when you've made an honest effort at good policy. It's not just propaganda.

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