|
 Conservative groups have been calling for the replacement of CBO
Director Doug Elmendorf, who was appointed by Democrats in 2009 and
whose term expires next month. They argue that a Republican-leaning
economist would more readily adopt a cost analysis known as "dynamic
scoring" that incorporates expectations of higher economic growth
associated with legislation.
Analyses by the CBO, a non-partisan office, show how much a bill
would increase or decrease the federal budget deficit over a 10-year
period.
The budget math used under dynamic scoring has long been a goal for
Republican lawmakers, including the incoming chairman of the House
Budget Committee, Representative Tom Price, and the current
chairman, Paul Ryan, who next month will take over the tax-writing
House Ways and Means Committee.
Under current congressional analysis rules, if a bill cuts tax
rates, government revenues fall. Dynamic scoring assumes that lower
tax rates would boost growth and income, helping to offset at least
some of the lost revenues.
 Some economists say this approach could make it easier to sell tax
reforms or balance the budget while avoiding painful cuts in
military spending.
"What we're simply striving for is accuracy in score keeping," Ryan
told Reuters in a recent interview. "We know for a fact that it is
not accurate or prudent to ignore the effects of economic growth on
policies we make in Congress."
With a Republican-controlled Congress, Ryan and new Senate Finance
Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch will be able to impose similar
changes on calculating economic impact on staff at the Joint
Committee on Taxation, which analyzes tax bills.
Some scoring changes at the CBO may require revisions to the 1974
law that created the agency, Price said. He intends to pursue such a
revamp but said Republicans were still discussing their plans in
this area and whether to keep Elmendorf after his term expires in
January.
[to top of second column] |
"I've always said that Doug Elmendorf has done an extremely good job
at CBO," Price said. "My complaint, my concern about CBO is not
about the individual at the lead of CBO, my concern is the rules
under which they operate."
Several conservative political groups are calling for Elmendorf to
be replaced. Americans for Tax Reform, which is run by anti-tax
activist Grover Norquist, said the CBO under Elmendorf's watch
"pushes failed Keynesian economic analysis."
It also criticized CBO for failing to reject analyses of President
Barack Obama's healthcare reform law produced by controversial White
House consultant Jonathan Gruber, who has come under fire for
videotaped remarks saying the law was written to hide new taxes and
that voter "stupidity" aided its passage.
But several prominent conservative economists have backed Elmendorf,
arguing that Republicans would gain more credibility by keeping the
former Clinton administration economist.
They note that CBO's work under Elmendorf has been evenhanded, and
on some occasions where it has supplied dynamic scoring analysis for
informational purposes, Democrats have been hurt. For example, CBO
estimated that Obama's minimum-wage hike plan would eliminate around
500,000 jobs in the near term.
"If you're going to go with dynamic scoring, Elmendorf is a great
guy to implement that," said Michael Strain, deputy director of
economic policy studies at the conservative American Enterprise
Institute. "It would be harder to accuse Republicans of putting
their thumb on the scale" if he stays.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Leslie Adler)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
