The answer is serious moves to cut federal deficits in the long term, say budget experts in both major parties. Entitlement and tax-system reforms are expected to be centerpieces of any solution, but progress could come in small steps as well as big ones. With or without help from the debt-ceiling debate, the question is whether the needed political statesmanship will arrive before a debt crisis – a spike in interest rates or a credit-rating downgrade – forces the issue.
Brendan McDermid/Reuters/File
