Cutting What You Hold Dear

Jon Henke writes that politicians are not serious about the deficit:

If Democrats cannot make serious sacrifices (actual, significant cuts) in the spending their coalition groups want, then you can be pretty certain that politicians are unwilling to share in the sacrifices they say we all need to make. This is a very measurable thing.  They need to be held accountable, both by the media and by voters.

The same thing goes for Republicans, too. 

We can't dig our way out of this fiscal hole by "cutting waste".   We certainly can't afford any significant tax cuts at this point.  Proposals that are not politically viable are not "serious"; they are grandstanding for the base.  If Republicans want to be taken seriously, they need to start talking much more seriously about the trade-offs and innovative approaches necessary to address the long term deficit and tax system.  For starters, that probably involves means-testing entitlements.