There are two unanswered questions that need answers before we can save ourselves.

1. What are our priorities?
2. How much of our lowest priorities do we need to cut to become fiscally responsible.

Any incumbent who cannot or will not answer question 1 is too incompetent or too dishonest to re-elect. The answer to question 2 once you have answered question 1 is mechanical, almost simple. You cut enough each year so that our creditors will keep on lending and you put us on a glide path to true prosperity where we actually fund our needs out of our own national income without borrowing. a 10% cut off the bottom yearly until we start retiring debt should do the trick nicely.

Set the whole thing up so that everybody has to have skin in the game by providing ratings and you’re going to have the basis to create a BRAC like process where the least important stuff gets cut and the most important stuff gets preserved. Mistakes in the ratings turn into fodder for challengers at the next elections.

It’s entirely obvious that this is the way out, that it’s workable, and that the current crop of politicians are not interested in doing it.