In The Red

Jonathan Bernstein eyes the deficit:

If it's true that long-term deficits are mostly driven by health care costs (and I tend to believe that), then the same logic that drove the ACA could easily appear again in a (Democratic-majority) future, with the Dems simply shifting their interest group alliances and hitting one of the groups (doctors, hospitals, drug manufacturers) that they cut a deal with this time around.  The logic, that is, would be that Democrats and groups allied with the Democrats actually want health care (and for that matter the government) to work, and therefore are willing to take short-term political hits to make that happen.

Yeah, right. But I guess we should hope.