How (Maybe) to Reach Elusive Big Deal

As Laurel and Hardy might say, this is another fine mess Washington has gotten us into.

The country remains in great need of a "big deal," a comprehensive budget fix that starts to curb spending on the entitlement programs that are poised to really drive up the deficit, while also overhauling the nation's tax code to make it more economically efficient and internationally competitive. That's what all the energy and political drama of the past two years should have produced.