Double-Think: Kelly-Ann Conway calls Spicer lies "alternative facts"

[Likely Voter]

Obviously this is all about something that isn't important. But this and past statements show an instinct to say falsehoods. So what about things that really matter moving forward like official statistics coming from the government. Trump himself often accused the Obama admin of 'rigging' jobs numbers.

Should we be concerned that the Trump admin might try some of their own 'alternative facts' for stats on inflation, unemployment, the deficit, immigration, etc. One of the reasons he is so sure to paint the current world with such bleak tones is that in the future he can point to how great things are and how it was all him.

[Likely Voter]

Fascism is a word that gets thrown around too much. Trump isn't a fascist, but he is a 'showman' (or perhaps a 'con man') and I don't think he is above cooking the books to make himself look better. The government is full of bureaucracy and procedures and it is probably difficult to put out totally bogus stats, but you can be sure that they will push the envelope in this area. I only hope the media and others keep an eye on what gets released on various reports from agencies as they do what comes from the WH press room. That is the bright shiny object but the real work of the government is happening elsewhere.

[Likely Voter]

well most things the government releases is mandated by law anyway, but there is discretion of course. For example there were a number of gimmicks that the Bush Admin used that the Obama Admin stopped (see NYT article from 8 years ago). I suspect we may see those practices and other forms of creative accounting work their way in.

As for the GOP controlled congress, they have already changed rules for the CBO to use rosy scenarios and to hide the worst effects of repealing the ACA, so I'm not so sure they are the place to look right now.