First, Mr Obama is serious about comprehensive healthcare reform and hopes to make high-income households pay for it. This would be a bold project at any time, let alone when the public purse must contend with the demands of stimulus spending and financial stabilisation. Allowing for new bank bail-out money, the current year's deficit is expected to be $1,750bn, more than 12 per cent of GDP. Undaunted, Mr Obama wants to set aside more than $600bn in tax increases and spending cuts over 10 years as a down payment on healthcare reform.
首先,歐巴馬對於全面醫療改革是認真的,並指望高收入家庭承擔相關開銷。在任何時期,這都是一個大膽的工程,更不用說在公共財政必須對付經濟刺激支出和金融穩定需要的時候了。在計入新的銀行紓困資金後,當前年度的財政赤字預期將達到1.75兆美元,佔美國GDP逾12%。歐巴馬並未因此卻步,而是規劃在今年10年期間從增稅和支出削減中撥出6000億美元,用作醫療改革的首期投資。