After nine long years, there may not have been a blue smoke, but there was plenty of denial. There was denial that we had a housing crisis. There was denial that kids were doing their homework in cars. There was denial that children in this country—an affluent country—did not have all that they needed to thrive. There was denial that we had an infrastructure deficit and that we were all suffering as a nation as a result. There was denial that our hospitals were broken. I don't say that lightly. Simple things like pipes being replaced, that elevators could work, or, worse still, sewage down walls were the ultimate manifestation. There was denial.