Not that you aren't well aware but this needs to be emphasized: Everyone in our American way of life is saying that we (meaning, "the government") needs to cut spending and move towards a balanced budget. No one is willing to say what they'll cut beyond some minor suggestions of things that don't matter to them. In fact, a lot of them seem to think that they've done the hard, perceptive part by saying "We have to cut" and then someone else can easily figure out what…and oh, yes: All the big categories are off the table. As meaningless gestures go, saying we need to be fiscally responsible — and then not moving on to actual, specific proposals — is pretty meaningless. And no, I don't have any specific proposals either but I'm not pretending I've done anything to solve the problem.
The folks at Esquire have taken a stab at it. They convened a group of former legislators…and it's not insignificant that these are folks who are not running for public office. No one who was would dare try to actually solve the problem but these men did. Read here how they approached the problem and how they haggled and compromised…and these weren't the current kind of Washington "compromises" where you give up nothing and expect the other side to capitulate. These men actually tried to meet in the middle and here's their proposal that would, they say, erase the annual budget deficit by 2020 and maybe even leave us with a surplus.
Would it work? I don't know. It sure wouldn't help any of them win election in today's political climate and maybe that's the depressing part; that the people we send to Washington to do this kind of stuff don't do this kind of stuff.