A first crack at dynamic scoring
Foes of dynamic scoring are at it again
Thick haze of economic misunderstanding
Bush Will Fight for Smaller Tax Cut
Bush aide sees 'give-and-take' shaping tax cuts
President Seeks To Revive Plan For Tax Cuts
Signs Suggest Bush, Hill GOP May Accept Smaller Proposal
The status of the tax cut plans, as well as how they are measured, are both still important issues. As I have to constantly remind everyone, the numbers that are used to describe the "cost" of tax cuts are completely bogus on several levels. Most important is their use of static analysis or scoring methods, which do not allow any consideration of changes in behavior due to changes in tax rates and rules. Second is the fact that nobody has an accurate crystal ball that can predict the future. Even changing from static to dynamic scoring moves the figures from being mere WAGs (wild ass guesses) to SWAGs (scientific wild ass guesses). It always fries me to hear anyone discuss tax legislation figures as if they were gospel, when they are anything but.