His analysis seems accurate: once we repair the job market, we'll have a huge deficit from the fiscal stimulus, Bush and Obama tax cuts and the wasteful Bush years. Public sentiment for government action on health care reform will be weak and Congress, which is structured to resist large changes in government policy, will be more concerned with balancing the budget.
Of course, it will be much easier to balance that budget if we can get health care spending, public and private, under control, and if we can get affordable universal care for every American. Health care reform could end up saving the taxpayers a lot of money. But no matter. If it doesn't happen this year, it probably won't happen at all.
It's a good thing the upcoming administration has made it a priority. I don't even want to think about what we'll have to go through if it isn't passed.
Yeah, I'm supposed to be writing at the moment. I'm not. The outline for Man Bites World is at a place where it could go in any of a dozen directions, and I need to thinkerate on it a bit.
