The rest is just commentary...

From a blog post on the Economist:

"...neither party is prepared to make the basic compromises that are essential to a deal. Republicans refuse to accept that taxes will have to rise, Democrats that spending on “entitlements” such as health care and pensions must fall. No real progress is likely until after the 2012 presidential election."

This is the entire issue at hand here. The rest of the column is just commentary, which makes me wonder if the work of the Gang of Six can be so promising with the 2012 election hanging in the background:

"The popular culture tends to treat “politician” as a synonym for “craven.” But I think the Gang of Six is the kind of undertaking that should give politics a good name. After all, true believers are usually the ones who get us into wars; negotiators get us out of them. Revolutionaries are the people to see if you’re trying to overthrow a bad government; politicians are the folks to call if you’re building a better one.

In my experience, the great reformers tend to have three things in common. They are optimists, because reform begins with a sense that things can be better. They have the courage to stand up not only to their adversaries but also to their allies. And they can bend. People tend to remember Nelson Mandela as the moral champion who liberated South Africa by suffering in prison for 27 years. The fact is he liberated South Africa by sitting down and cutting a deal with the white leaders who put him in prison."