I suspect the Koch brothers are perfectly happy to have folks like me running around arguing about the correct deflator to use or the percent of the Ryan budget's spending cuts affecting low-income programs, while they continue to buy "research" that says otherwise and policies that exacerbate inequality. That doesn't mean we give up on factual analysis. It's what we do best and I will not be convinced that facts are irrelevant. But neither will I kid myself that facts matter anywhere near as much as they should, or that they will win the day anytime soon. Despite evidence to the contrary, we will be stuck with austerity economics and "Obamacare kills children" for the indeterminate future. More damagingly, we may well be unable to ban assault weapons or take actions against climate change, all due to... what? A missing movement? An inadequate theory of how change occurs? Lack of money? Votes?

Programs that incentivize healthful choices like Safeway's, if embraced at companies throughout the nation, might go a long way toward bringing health care expenditures down.

Heath care reform is tricky. On the one hand, providing access to affordable health care is of paramount importance. But spending on health care is putting enormous pressure on public purses all over the world, and it's only getting worse.