[what's up]

and the law more generally, could prove more effective at restraining spending than estimated by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office — if only because of the nation’s bleak fiscal future...

...“I’m modestly optimistic because the fiscal environment which we will be in, in three or four years, will be so desperate that the Congress and the administration will be looking for any mechanism or device that can hold down the growth of spending,”said Robert Reischauer, an economist, health policy expert and former director of the Congressional Budget Office.

My...how very encouraging.

[SmartInsight]

"administration will be looking for any mechanism or device that can hold down the growth of spending"

Justifying death panels...