Beyond a Shutdown

Our partisan federal malaise
May collapse for a couple of days,
But weightier yet
Is our national debt -
How to shrink it, what's cut and who pays?  


As the clock wound down to a Friday midnight deadline before a US federal government shutdown, many were caught up in the short-term drama.  Congressional agreement was needed on a plan to keep the government operating for the rest of the year.   However, the long-term - and more important - question of arresting the growth of the federal debt remains wide open.  This will take a combination of spending cuts and tax increases that no major federal officer-holder has yet proposed.