Reining in the Budget (a truly serious approach)

A good article about discretionary spending, federal debt, and how health care costs factor into all this.

I think the graph below from the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) explains it rather clearly.

We cannot fix the government deficit without first fixing healthcare. And no, Social Security is not a big issue. So when politicians keep hammering away at being "fiscally responsible," what they usually want to cut doesn't actually make an inch of difference in the long run, and in some cases, can actually make things worse long-term. Tackling health care costs is the only way to do it. And single-payer is the best method.