Number two conjures up nothing but nastiness for me, and this is no exception.  The largest single funding driver of Hillary's healthcare plan  is the discontinuation of tax cuts for individuals making over $250,000 per year to help pay for reform.  This represents, according to the plan, about $52 billion in resources to fund her initiatives out of an estimated need of $110 billion.  Not to go on too much of a tangent here, but this is totally a political move for maximum impact amongst her constituents.  This one item of her plan gets as much air time as any other part of it and has gotten her votes, no doubt, through the primaries, although at this particular moment in time, the rising tide seems to be lifting Mr. Obama's boat.