Why One GOP Lawmaker Dismisses Tax Bill Projections

Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) admitted to CNBC that he’s not “a deep economic thinker,” so he relies for advice on colleagues from the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.

“Though mainstream forecasters like the Joint Committee on Taxation and University of Pennsylvania have issued unflattering analyses of GOP proposals, Cole says his tax-committee colleagues tell him other models offer sunnier results in line with his core belief that lower taxes boost the economy. He doesn’t know what those models are, but doesn’t worry about that. He distrusts economic forecasts across the board because, he says, they’re so often wrong.”

Said Cole: “I don’t find any of that persuasive. There are about as many economists as there are opinions.”