Dynamic scoring
by digby
The first order of business in the new congress was to rig the numbers (aka “dynamic scoring”) so Republicans could reward their rich friends with tax cuts and it wouldn’t look like they are exploding the deficit which they purport to care so much about. This charts shows how it stacks up when reality bites:
As the article accompanying that chart points out, there are reasons other than numbers rigging that made those projections so wrong — wars and economic crises. But that works in their favor as well. The same people who care so much about deficits will back any war no matter how expensive or daft. And when the economy inevitably tanks, often due to policies designed by both parties to make rich people richer, they can use the new deficit projections to keep the government from helping average people.
Oh, and then when the economy eventually turns around, despite their best efforts at thwarting any policies that might have helped make the crisis less severe or shorter, they will take credit for the recovery.
Just saying.