The Washington Monthly has two interesting articles on how to reduce the cost of health care- and at the same time, expand coverage and improve quality. Proof once again that there are humane and just ways to deal with the long-term fiscal gap. Jason Furman, of the Brookings Institution's Hamilton Project, testified to Congress on the real "dynamic" affect of the regressive Bush tax cuts- they'll be a net loss for three-quarters of all taxpayers, who'll be burdened with paying them off in taxes and benefit cuts over the long haul. In other words, tax cuts don't pay for themselves- people do. Prof. Larry Bartels's book on political and economic inequality- definitely worth a reading/skimming for anyone interested in the subject (on the off chance that people care, I've continued the blog series on inequality and public opinion in this week's Watcher, coming out later today. This doesn't rule out the possibility of more posting, but I'm pretty spent on the subject).