priorities, a number of analysts in the private sector, like henry aaron, and bill gale, and allen hourerbackdid similar calculations and came up with similar conclusions. when i played around with these projections back in 2007, i concluded as others had that through some miracle we could hold down federal healthcare spending growth to half a percentage point faster than g.d.p., we could extend all of the tax cuts that were enacted since, index the alternative minimum tax, allow discretionary spending to grow along with both inflation and population and have a balanced budget for at least the next 40 years. so this gives you an indication of what role rapid healthcare spending plays in the projected unsustainability of our fiscal situation. without some restraint on healthcare spending, the choices that faced us were quite unpleasant. sharply higher taxes, deep cuts in nonhealth programs or budget deficits that would begin to balloon and at some point would explode. no one paid much attention to these dire warnings isn't surprising. we had a president who had no real interest in pushing for