Obviously our political system and our deficit problems are different. As Stephen Gordon wrote today, getting rid of the US deficit will be much harder than getting rid of ours was in the 1990s (though it is by no means impossible! For example, Congress could simply go home.)

Nevertheless, I think the basic dynamic of deficit-posturing is recognizable, particularly when it comes to healthcare:

But the explanation I find most convincing is also the most depressing: The deficit can be useful to everything else on your agenda in a way no other issue can match. Think about what Republicans are pushing under the guise of deficit reduction: Privatizing Medicare. Lowering tax rates. Block-granting Medicaid. Repealing the Affordable Care Act and most of financial regulation. Capping spending as a percentage of GDP. …

Which is not to say that there aren’t real deficit hawks, real consequences to unending deficits, and real policy proposals that specifically address deficits. It’s just to say that a lot of the focus on deficits is actually a focus on, say, stopping the policies of an incumbent president, or pushing to entrench an equilibrium in which spending is low and taxes are lower.