It generally doesn’t make sense to talk about budgets until the actual spending and revenues have been recorded and verified, let alone before the budget has even been passed. But it sounds to me like we are about to get $1 trillion in new taxes without univeral health insurance. Just a “downpayment” for universal health insurance. Today’s seniors will get plenty of Medicare, although tomorrow’s seniors — today’s young and middle aged — probalby will not. Public employees get unlimited coverage, for free in NYC. But everyone else gets a downpayment. Kind of like all those “downpayments” on the Second Avenue Subway, used as an excuse to borrow more money the generations in charge wouldn’t be around to pay back.
That’s not good enough.