"Statistics are like women; mirrors of purest virtue and truth, or like whores to use as one pleases." ~Theodor Billroth The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) and the Center Against Government Waste (CAGW) released today the 2006 Piglet Report detailing areas of government waste. In response, the Alliance for Oklahoma's Future blasted the groups for "finding another opportunity to distort facts to denigrate our public servants, programs, and expenditures." Alliance Spokesperson Robb Gray says, "The report fails to produce a meaningful assessment of government spending and jumps to the faulty conclusion that government waste in Oklahoma is rampant. It is irresponsible to characterize spending for programs that contribute to the public good such as funding for research, quality education, access to healthcare, public safety, and programs that fuel our state's economy as wasteful." According to Gray, the CAGW data actually shows that Oklahoma is not rampant with overspending: "It is clear that Oklahoma is not a case study in rampant over- spending. Oklahoma currently ranks 48th lowest in the country in terms of the amount of "pork per capita". CAGW's data also reveals that Oklahoma has made the most significant change of any state in the country to curb the amount of "wasteful" money spent." Whom Should you believe? Posted at 10/19/2006 02:35:00 PM