“Congress used CBO to get the answer they wanted. I get that.”

Suderman: A lot of the PPACA’s defenders seem to be accusing critics like you of trying to have it both ways on the CBO. On the one hand, you use their estimates pretty frequently for things like job losses associated with the law or projected spending growth of the new entitlement programs. On the other hand, you’re saying that CBO’s deficit numbers are probably wrong. How do you respond to that?

Holtz-Eakin: I have nothing but the highest respect and admiration for the quality of the estimates that CBO produces. Period. I have nothing but a deep understanding of the rules by which they must use those estimates, and the way the law was written in order to get the deficit reduction bottom line—by reading out some costs, using budget gimmicks, putting in unrealistic estimates of future Medicare reductions. None of that has anything to do with CBO’s competence or professionalism. That’s a congressional problem. Congress used CBO to get the answer they wanted. I get that. I ran the CBO. They used me too. So, I don’t think it’s having it both ways. I’ve always defended CBO’s work. I’m complaining about the way that Congress wrote the law.