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Comment by taurath | Hacker News Reader

It sounds pretty great, but I'm very worried about what actually comes out of it given the media landscape. People will use the data in ways that benefit them - even the CBO's reports are highly politicized.

If we can't start taking "real, true" data at face value and using it to drive actual policy again, this is just another drop in the bucket.

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> but I'm very worried about what actually comes out of it given the media landscape

We've seen recently that some people believe what they want to believe, regardless of facts. This doesn't mean the rest of us should be deprived of facts, or that we should throw our hands up and give up on seeking the truth.

Not saying we should give up, but only saying that the truth doesn't matter unless the conditions for it to be useful exist. A Russian bureaucrat kicks your dog? It doesn't matter what the truth is if nothing can come of it.

Access to the truth is perhaps the most basic prerequisite condition for it being useful. Once access is cut off, no other conditions matter.

> even the CBO's reports are highly politicized

I'm pretty sure I've read about many CBO reports that disagreed with the party in power. What basis is there for saying they are highly politicized?

Not the reports themselves, the results from them. Its good data but doesn't "matter".

> even the CBO's reports are highly politicized

Can you source that?

I took it to mean "third parties politicize CBO reports" rather than "CBO reports are created with ideological slants," because, well, that's the truth of the matter. You can't criticize a CBO forecast for being slightly inaccurate when politicians decide to change the parameters after the fact.

I think you're correct, but it was poorly worded

Sorry about that, GP is correct with regard to my intent.

CBO reports are done within the confines of the request, opening them up to a garbage in, garbage out scenario. The reports are supposed to be non-partisan, but a report request can be crafted in such a way that it's essentially weaponized non-partisanship.

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