policy priorities, a number of analysts in the private sector, like henry aaron and bill gale and alan auerbach did similar calculations and came up with similar conclusions. when i played around with these projections, back in 2007, i concluded as others had, that if through some miracle we could hold down federal health care spending growth, to half a percentage point faster than gdp, we could extend all of the tax cuts that were enacted since 2000, index the alternative minimum tax, and allow discretionary spending to grow along with both inflation and -- and population, and have a balanced budget for at least the next 40 years. so, this gives you an indication of what role rapid health care spending plays in the projected unsustainability of our fiscal situation. without some restraint on health care spending, the choices that faced us were quite unpleasa. sharp lie higher taxes and deep cuts in programs and budget deficits that would begin to balloon and at some point explode and no one paid much attention to these dire warnings, is not surprising. we have a president who had no real inter