Will Washington get serious about deficit reduction?

The monumental debate raging in Washington over budgets and deficits is having at least one salutary effect in Utah — it has bumped HB477 off the front pages.

As the budget battle lines are drawn, Utah's congressional delegation will be in the thick of the fight. A number of questions deserve discussion.

Utahns purport to be conservative and frugal, yet a Deseret News poll shows most Utahns don't want a balanced budget amendment at the expense of entitlement program cuts. Are Utahns summer soldiers and sunshine patriots when it comes to the tough decisions?

Pignanelli: "The mystery of government is not how Washington works but how to make it stop." — P. J. O'Rourke We Utahns are hardy folk, accustomed to unique challenges. Other than those who share my ethnic heritage in New Jersey, no people and state have suffered as much derision through cable TV series, theme movies, bad reality shows and cynical Broadway productions. We are not fools and will not surrender the returns on payments made for many years to the entitled systems simply on the promises of politicians. If true reform is proposed, and everyone has skin in the game … Utahns will participate.

Webb: The survey results nicely illustrate just how difficult it is to cut government spending. Everyone wants to cut budgets, except for the services important to them. Political leaders, fearing voter anger at the polls, are thus reluctant to make real cuts, and we get ever closer to deficit disaster. Every government program has some constituency that will scream and yell. And it's 10 times as hard to cut when political opponents, in this case the Democrats and President Barack Obama, demagogue the issue, accusing Republicans of wanting to throw old ladies into the street while helping fat cats get richer.

We need elected officials who are willing to stand tall and say: "This nation's spending and debt are poised to destroy our country. I'm going vote for real cuts and real frugality, even if I lose the next election." Otherwise, we end up like Greece, unable to pay our debts and fund basic programs. However, unlike Greece, other nations are not going to step up and bail out the United States of America.

Wisconsin GOP Congressman Paul Ryan's bold proposal started the debate over the heavy lifting on controlling deficits. Was it politically smart or dumb for Republicans to jump out ahead of Democrats in making substantive proposals on entitlement reform?