As a few people have mentioned, some of it is a pay now vs pay later debate, which I believe is part of the reason we are in this mess to begin with.
Infrastructure was ignored for so long, it got impossible to deal with smartly. As well, we ended up paying for it at a time when it costs were higher, so really did we save any money by not paying interest? Probably not, or at least, not enough to really make a difference. We just wasted time.
As others have mentioned, sometimes you NEED to run a deficit.
As for the spending on health care, well I am happy that there is money headed in that direction, I am also concerned about the way it's spent. However I do admit I don't know much about the subject, so I have no way of knowing if my concerns are founded. I just feel like the system is not good right now, and we seem to be paying a lot into it. IE, we're not getting bang for our buck so to speak.
I do believe we need to look at new ways of managing and paying for health care. As mentioned, there are systems in Europe that seem to make more sense and should be able to be adopted here. I read an article last year published by one of the federal Liberals making examples on this very point.
I think we need a top down (bottom up?) change. Not just restructuring, but in philosophy. Not just the administration, but the whole system. How we look at it, how we use it, how we pay for it, and how we prioritize it (and us into it).
Course, as I mentioned, I am not that knowledgable on the subject, and am short on ideas right now. I've read a few articles that had me nodding, but not much stuck with me I'm afraid.
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