A cynic, they say, is a disappointed idealist. After nearly 40 years in Washington, D.C., I've had enough disappointments to justify my cynicism. The most recent is “Behind the Veil: The AARP America Doesn't Know,” a highly promoted report about the lobby group for older Americans produced earlier this year by two Republican members of the House of Representatives.

I have nothing to say about the policy positions the authors take in the report. But I am disappointed to witness, once again, the willingness of smart, sophisticated, educated and professional people (including lawyers) to ignore a fact, base a policy position on it and then publicize their ignorance of it.

Playing fast and loose with the facts is not new in policy debates, but when it occurs in your area of interest you pay closer attention. Also paying attention was well-regarded non-profit lawyer Bob Boisture, who published a critique of the report in The Exempt Organization Tax Journal. He called the report a “new salvo” fired at the AARP by House Republicans and said its analysis was “fundamentally flawed.” I prefer the simpler characterization “wrong,” and here's why.