Fixing debt problem not an easy task for anyone

If you look at the various studies conducted on our fiscal problems - Simpson-Bowles plan, Heritage Foundation (no silver bullet) and Pew Trust (“Saving the American dream”) - they all conclude that we must have a balanced policy that will affect taxes, entitlements and expenditures in general.

These solutions will not comply with the demands of our two parties, particularly as they are divided within the Congress and at the White House. We must insist on a rational solution based on the principal of equal participation (i.e., hurt) and not get enamored of ideologies such as no tax increases or save our grandma or protect our soil. The solutions to our problems have been proposed and the answer is to get them enacted, evaluated and modified as required. Otherwise, the Standard & Poor's U.S. credit rating adjustment is only the harbinger of things to come.

Gordon Taylor

Anamosa