Unless, says Princeton's health care economist, Uwe Reinhardt, we focus on campaign finance -- campaign finance first, campaign finance before anything else -- we won't get health care or financial reform or anything else that's important to us. The situation has only become worse with the recent Supreme Court's Citizens United decision to lower the bar for corporate contributions to election campaigns.
Each time someone runs again for Congress, Reinhardt points out, the campaign chest needs twice as much money as the last time. Every two years (or every six years for senators) the amount doubles. Who's going to invest that much unless they get something predetermined for their investment? Huh?
That discussion with Reinhardt, by the way, is one of the most impressive (and disturbing on some ways) that I've heard about health care to date. Recommended.
