To tame the deficit, America needs a national sales tax

Amid the chaos of another Republican meltdown in Washington, the party’s deficit hawks correctly point to a serious underlying issue: the federal debt. Total debt is now more than $33 trillion, the deficit is over 7 percent of gross domestic product, and this year’s net interest payment on the debt will probably be over $650 billion — which is not far off from defense spending. For almost a generation, policymakers have been able to avoid seriously confronting deficits because interest rates were so low and financing debt was easy. But with interest rates where they are now, the...