Next year's budget has already been derailed and the new fiscal year hasn't even begun,

After the Democrats' obstructionist approach to Social Security reform, it is more difficult for them to claim the mantle of fiscal responsibility.

The fact that the overall effect of reconciliation taken together was to enlarge rather than reduce the deficit undermines the credibility of anyone claiming that this was a deficit-reduction package.

To craft a full package of offsets, everything should be on the table.

What's somewhat surprising is that you hear people talking about holding off on spending cuts,

We have a very short window of opportunity to make real changes in advance of when the real fiscal storm hits, and we're continuing to make things worse instead of better.