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The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor is the principal Federal agency responsible for measuring labor market activity, working conditions, and price changes in the economy. Its mission is to collect, analyze, and disseminate essential economic information to support public and private decision-making. As an independent statistical agency, BLS serves its diverse user communities by providing products and services that are objective, timely, accurate, and relevant.
When they call out Republicans, like when they said their "healthcare" plan wouldn't help the inflation rate, Democrats love them, Republicans hate them. Republicans claim "well its partisan" and Democrats say "No they aren't.
Then when a story comes out that says that the budget that Obama put out isn't all that, its a vice versa reaction.
Political football really.
In all actuality its a tool used to make informed decisions. The problem comes in when people read headlines about what they have said and ignore 98% of the whole story.
Like this "unemployment rate". Yes, is the actual unemployment rate higher then is being reported? Yes. But the whole story is that Bush II, Clinton, Bush I, and Reagan used the exact same unemployment formula that our current President does. And no one was complaining about them cooking the books, if they were in your party anyway.
Influence comes in many forms. It could be as simple as a smile and a firm handshake from a congressional staffer as he/she drops of data to be analyzed. It could also come from the political leanings of the staff at the CBO. No matter what anyone says, keeping politics out of the discussion in Washington DC is a futile effort. Nothing is untouched, unscathed, unaffected, or apolitical in Washington DC. NOTHING.
Like this "unemployment rate". Yes, is the actual unemployment rate higher then is being reported? Yes. But the whole story is that Bush II, Clinton, Bush I, and Reagan used the exact same unemployment formula that our current President does. And no one was complaining about them cooking the books, if they were in your party anyway.
There are different types of unemployment. The problem is that there are many unintelligent lazy people who didn't pay attention in school when they learned about unemployment rates. They then hear about this and magically think it's some sort of conspiracy. The real problem is that people who don't know much about anything think that their uninformed, poorly justified opinions are valid when they really make no sense at all.
That, and the figures they are given to analyze.
Garbage in - garbage out.
i'm not saying the inputs are necessarily good. i'm saying that most people in both parties, and independents, seem somewhat satisfied with CBO analysis.
the problem comes with being honest and thorough. when you produce honest and thorough analysis, someone can misrepresent it rather easily by cherrypicking a few data points that support their view of the big picture, while ignoring maybe 90% of the report, and saying "Well the CBO says..."
D@mnit noexcuseforignorance .. Something is 'terribly' wrong when we agree on something!
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