Essay:Honesty is the best policy
It's going to be hard to find anyone in contemporary politics who (A) is pushing for a particular policy on deceitful grounds and (B) is willing to go on record saying that they lie and cheat. Who would believe them, if they admitted to deceit?
Deceit doesn't work, when it's exposed.
On the other hand, real science works rather well. When scientists expose their decisions about which data to collect and select, when they reveal their data analysis techniques - when they are open about what they are doing - then other scientists can replicate their work.
Engineering thrives on repeatable, reliable processes. People trust air bags and ABS because engineers are honest about what works and doesn't work. A good invention gets copied, and people are even willing to pay patent license fees when it's really good!
Truth works, when it's exposed.
Examples of deceit
Communists killed over 100 million people in the 20th Century, but have managed to cover this up. They make it seem like the only noteworthy mass murdererer was Hitler - and people usually only mention the 6 million Jews - ignoring the other 5 million civilians he massacred. No one wants to talk about Stalin's tens of millions or Mao's 60 million.
They make it seem like Cuba is a worker's paradise, with the hemisphere's best medical care. But the entire island is one huge Potemkin Village.