In the nation’s capital, it’s called a grand bargain when all political sides come together and agree to take steps on revenue and spending to get the national debt under control.

Given the problems in the District of Columbia, maybe we could settle for a pretty good bargain. 

We voters must first drive a hard bargain. We need to get our candidate to commit to working with the other side. They must agree to keep all areas of the budget on the table and not attack an opponent’s plan without offering an alternative.

We should ask candidates for their plans to pay for any proposals and policy combinations they support to control the debt.

We need to send people to Washington who understand that there is no silver bullet. The final agreement will be a compromise that will leave all sides disappointed. The issue is solvable now with a series of modest steps. If Congress keeps putting this off, then it will have to make large adjustments, making compromise even harder.

Join me in being a bargain hunter. It’s a good deal for the country.