Now those trade-offs are getting starker.
The union-membership figures are stark and getting starker.
Now, however, the choices are getting starker and have been highlighted by the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
The imbalance between slashed social spending and taxation has got starker since – cuts are now doing 85% of the work.
On this point, at least, the difference between the parties is stark and getting starker, and I have a hunch that it's the Democrats who have history on their side.
There are fears that competition could get starker if Scots vote yes.
Over three years ago the Conservatives began to roll out personal independence payments (PIP) – in essence, the mandatory, mass re-testing of disabled and chronically ill people – and the answer is getting stark.
The data get stark if the users do not compartmentalize the project and divide it into small chunks, which can be created by tiny teams working in isolation.
"Oh my God, that sounds like the worst drink ever," Kunis said as the producers behind the scenes were trying to get Stark to "move on".
"I'm not sure it gets any starker than that," said Chuck Marr, director of federal tax policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
