The one thing we know is that health care reform will require some start up dollars, and that savings that would bring that cost down through better prevention, Health IT, reduction of hospital re-admissions, etc. will take a few years to kick in, if they do at all.

We also know you can’t raise that revenue without someone getting mad.  And when someone gets mad, they call their members of Congress.  And when members of Congress hear from constituents who are mad, they tend to issue statements saying such-a-one financing option is unacceptable, and they’re opposed to it.  And if you get enough of Congress opposing enough provisions for financing health care and drawing lines in the sand, pretty soon you reach an impasse where representatives either have to break their promise to oppose such-a-one financing option, or there’s just no money to get it done.

Well, that’s just nuts.  We all need to chill out.

Write Congress today -- ask them to stop taking options off the table until we have a clearer sense of what we'll need.