tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881371404910558997.post1619512422050410691..comments2010-01-14T10:52:15.094-05:00Robert Osbornenoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6881371404910558997.post-18770640048830136002010-01-14T09:37:15.576-05:002010-01-14T09:37:15.576-05:00While I agree that the GAO could have done a better job of coming up with a substantive depiction of anticipated shortages (rather than the lazy man&#39;s path of simply asking water managers what they thought), how exactly is the statement in their report inaccurate or misleading? They don&#39;t say that the GAO predicts a shortage in 36 states, they&#39;re not saying that shortage will ONLY be limited to 36 states or that water managers in 36 out of 50 states predict shortages. They&#39;re saying clearly that water managers in 36 states expect shortages, which is correct.<br /><br />Yes, it&#39;s kind of a useless statistic that doesn&#39;t tell the whole story, and yes, GAO&#39;s report would have been much stronger if they had actually done some independent analysis, but it seems that the failing here is with the press, who apparently lacked either the basic reading comprehension skills to parse GAO&#39;s statement, or were just plain dumb enough to assume that if water managers say it&#39;s so, it must be true.shibakuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08866048000637315922noreply@blogger.com