The Hill News

President Obama isn’t the first to be struck with the malady that he finds himself in, but it seems to affect politicians more than any other group.

Part of the reason is that they are always beholden to their base and the interest groups that financially support them. This causes them to constantly overlook the ways policy harms the whole of society in favor of helping the small group.

Then there is the fact that politicians regularly get upset when the Congressional Budget Office and independent commissions call them on the detrimental consequences of the latest policy. The politicians then respond in one of two ways â€" they either tell the CBO/commissions that the findings are wrong and to come back with another answer more suited to that politician’s sensibilities, or they commit fraud and send inaccurate numbers (while hiding additional funding in other bills) in order to produce a more ... “pleasing” conclusion.