David Obey: “the issue that the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Minge) raises tonight is a very simple one. It is one with which many…”

“the issue that the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Minge) raises tonight is a very simple one. It is one with which many Members on both sides of the aisle are familiar. It is an issue that dominated American politics for most of the last decade. The issue is phoney numbers. David Stockman, when he directed President Reagan's Office of Management and Budget, called it the ``magic asterisk.'' It involves the ability of budget analysts to show that virtually any spending proposal is budget neutral if they are willing to make the right assumptions. Now, the Congressional Budget Office is supposed to decide what proposals that are offered by various Members and various committees will actually cost or save. The game that is presently being played on the highway bill is to simply say that the Congressional Budget Office just does not understand that the savings that the Congress will get from disallowing certain veterans from receiving health benefits that they are now entitled to will be much greater than their analysts estimate.”