The dustup over "dynamic scoring" is a small indicator of the routine irrelevancy of Washington's budget debate. Instead of facing the real issues — how much we should spend, on what, who should be taxed and how much — Republicans and Democrats find it easier to argue over technical questions that, in the end, won't much affect the budget.
Only policy wonks can love the controversy over dynamic scoring. It refers to how Congress estimates the budgetary impact of spending and tax proposals. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) make these estimates.
They examine how individuals and businesses will respond to proposed legislation — and translate that into changes in the deficit, outlays or taxes. But in their estimates, the CBO and the JCT assume that the economy's overall growth remains the same.
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