Yglesias makes an obvious point:
You need a combination of tax increases and overall spending cuts, with defense and Medicare on the table. This doesn’t happen because it’s politically impossible. But it’s politically impossible because it’s not really necessary. You can see the lines on the charts easily enough, but it’s just not the case right now that there’s a crisis in the market for US treasury bonds that’s forcing action. And the action that would be needed is the kind of unpopular action that nobody would undertake unless forced.
If your idea of what is politically possible is restricted to only those things that are absolutely essential or the system collapses, then it seems to me you have a very cramped idea of what politics can accomplish. If we got a bipartisan agreement to raise some taxes and cut entitlements and defense, say, five years from now, and bound that into the system, you'd see confidence in this economy rebound and growth strengthen.
A political system that cannot take steps to avert disaster until disaster strikes is not a political system. It's a kindergarten.
The Dish 