Oh brother
Bench/Big Mal,
Let's stop playing pretend and amazed. In the criminal justice system, of course you can't go on assumptions. In politics, it's a whole other world. We just passed an enormous healthcare bill rife with assumptions.
It
assumes people's purchasing habits will coincide with the model. It
assumes we will realize savings in certain areas of healthcare. It
assumes we will realize certain tax revenues. It
assumes various members of the insurance and healthcare industries will react in a certain manner (most notably physicians), etc.
As a government employee I've seen them make some incredibly stupid assumptions and then base policy on it.
I'm not saying I agree with 33 and BB on this issue, but trying to act as though assumptions are not "real world" or finding it "amazing"....gimme a break.