Later this week, a White House conference -- featuring interest groups (natch) and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle (for now) -- will get together to start talking health care. Might as well, since the president already threw out a $634 billion down payment.

(For the record, this is me not writing about the latest AIG bailout package.)

And since we don't have enough to worry about right now, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus threw down a (latex) gauntlet with his declaration yesterday that he wanted a health care reform package for Congress to look at come August.

(Am I the only one who feels like maybe we should reconsider this whole bailout business? And I mean across the board. Is there any way to return all these broken businesses we've bought? These things are in worse shape than some of the foreclosed houses out there.)

Now this summer, and the health care talk that will come out of it, will show us all just how serious the Obama administration is about bipartisan legislation. And how extreme its position on health care might be? Federal health plans and subsidies are one thing, but the last thing we need is another Medicare. We can't even fund the one we've got.

(And is it me or have American taxpayers handed out more loans than Money Tree, lately? At least they get a killer return on those payday loans.)

And while we definitely need to stay out in front of any health care overhaul talk, my own personal concern is outweighed by the federal government's track record of slow, shallow reform. I mean, from looking at Obama's own stimulus plan, it's clear that this administration's idea of reform is changing a rule (COBRA) but not telling anyone how it works (subsidies funded by payroll taxes?).

I honestly hope they know what they're doing, because the rest of us are still trying to figure it out.