Stay the course on debt negotiations

You best settle in, folks, because the ongoing debate surrounding the debt-ceiling talks between the White House and House Republicans is just starting to get good. Detect a sense of optimism in my writing? You should.

I’m not as optimistic about an impending deal as I am excited over this entire process — IF (and that’s a big “if”) this continues on a current path of both sides doing some real soul-searching on what they can and can’t live without.

We must stay the course. As someone said early yesterday morning, “In Washington, the obvious has become the impossible.” The federal government is no closer to avoiding default on its loans, which makes these negotiations all the more imperative.

We are getting a firsthand view of the difficult issues both parties face when it comes to compromise. Neither side will win on this issue. And perhaps the sooner both the president and Speaker Boehner realize that, the quicker we can reach a resolution.

Both parties will be able to go into the November elections claiming victory and the ability to criticize the other party for items and options they put on the table. That’s OK.

What a seminal moment in our nation’s history I feel we are watching here. No, it’s not pretty, but we are seeing the branches of government butting heads and fighting with each other for the good of the country. What would be the absolute worst thing at this time is if both sides felt they had a better option of just walking away from the process and taking their chances next November.

We’ve seen that movie too many times, Mr. and Mrs. America. We cannot afford to wait for another meaningless “mandate of the people” that invariably gets misinterpreted by either winning party.

No, now is the time to stay the course on these negotiations. Small setbacks and walking-away episodes are fine, so long as both return with clear minds and a fresh perspective on how to fix what has been broken for decades.

We are just in the beginning stages of what will be a long era of fiscal austerity. I applaud both parties in the House and Senate (less the White House, but that’s a topic for a future column) for seeing the legacy-setting moves they are making here today. Policymakers will not fix these ailments in one budget cycle. It’s refreshing to see some long-term thinking on the part of Washington.