For EPA air pollution junk science aficionados only.
The Wall Street Journal editorialized today about Obama Labor Secretary nominee Thomas Perez:
Memories are short in politics, and none so short as in the Senate, where we hear Labor Secretary nominee Thomas Perez now has the 60 votes necessary for confirmation, including support from several Republicans. So allow us to refresh the record.
As the Justice Department’s civil-rights chief, Mr. Perez struck a legal quid pro quo last year to have the City of St. Paul, Minnesota withdraw an antidiscrimination case from the Supreme Court. That case, Magner v. Gallagher, would have clarified the law surrounding “disparate impact” theory, which uses statistics to prove discrimination without intent or specific cases. Mr. Perez has used the legal theory to extort multimillion dollar settlements from banks.
The House Oversight Committee subsequently conducted a year-long investigation and interviewed the senior Administration officials involved in the deal, including Mr. Perez. Documents and testimony from other witnesses are at odds with the account Mr. Perez gave to the committee, including who came up with the idea of the quid pro quo, who supported it, and whether or not it was properly vetted. Mr. Perez has not explained these inconsistencies.
The highlighted text above describing the “disparate impact theory” can be used to explain EPA air pollution junk science, i.e.,:
uses statistics to prove harm from air pollution without science or medical evidence from actual bodies.
Ever since “How to Lie with Statistics” was published by Darrell Huff in 1954, fools who think they understand statistics are as numerous as cockroaches. The lying by people who understand ‘how to lie with statistics’, and who use it to control others en masse, continues undiminished, even though they do not understand the very statistics they misuse.
Disparate impact theory is the ultimate use of mathematics to lie. It purports to use statistical measures to read the minds and hearts of people who have had little or nothing to do with the matter at hand.
In that, it has much in common with AGM fans.