TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Megan McArdle on healthcare reform gaming the CBO:

So what you get is a piece of legislation where the actual cost/deficit reducing provisions aren’t politically or even economically realistic (there’s reason to be somewhat skeptical that you can simply mandate an across-the-board reduction in the rate of cost growth for various providers, while expanding coverage, as this bill does).  They don’t have to be.  They get you the score that allows you to tell folks that you’re reducing the deficit, even though you know that many of them may have to be undone later.

That’s what I mean by gaming the system:  you pass politically unrealistic laws, which all the relevant interest groups expect to revisit before they take effect, solely in order to get a number.  And then you use the number to sell the bill.