Once the health care debate ends, President Obama faces another daunting challenge: curbing an unsustainable level of debt in the federal budget. This is more than next year’s problem because the two issues are also linked in a non-obvious way. Due to how Congress addresses deficit reduction, decisions on health care today will affect the White House’s fiscal policy options in the future.

Few have mentioned this critical connection: health reform puts the president in a box, and the always politically risky tactic of raising taxes may be the only way out. The ghosts of the current reform effort will haunt Obama’s ability to reduce red ink for the remainder of his tenure.