Utilizing data in order to establish standard and shared baselines of where we are and how we are doing will ensure that our elected representatives are doing their jobs. Politicians today compete in messaging and news cycles. They should compete on results. The only way to know how you are doing is if you agree on facts and if all parties can agree on one version of reality. We should be very concerned about political leaders who don’t accept that measurements of social and economic health have weight and that science is real. Spin must have limits. Parties can differ on what goals they would most like to pursue, but we need to share a baseline of where we are and how we are doing.

Do you agree?