An unlikely ally for those who worry that Washington policy wonks make it impossible for ordinary people to understand politics: John Kasich, the chairman of Wonk Central — i.e., the House budget committee. Kasich fears that the argot he calls “Washington-ese” turns important political battles into an incomprehensible swamp. He has even come up with what he considers the ultimate Washington-ese sentence: “When the CBO disagrees with the OMB over the BLS estimate of CPI and GDP, then we’ll be forced to pass a TA after the reconciliation bill affecting FY “96 by UC.” CBO = Congressional Budget Office. OMB = Office of Management and Budget. BLS = Bureau of Labor Statistics. TA = targeted appropriation. UC = unanimous consent. This is the way Bob Dole talks when he tries to describe what’s going on with the budget. He should stop. Now.
