With the 2011 budget battle seemingly resolved, the Medicare battle has begun. Medicare, more than any other program, including Social Security, threatens to wreck our federal finances.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has estimated that without the ambitious, projected Medicare spending cuts under the new health care law — cuts that are unlikely to win congressional approval, if history is a guide — Medicare expenditures as a percent of GDP would grow from 3.18 percent today to 8.17 percent in 2050, and to 10.70 percent in 2080.