Bypass Congressional gridlock.

The New York Times has made it easy for Americans like you and me to roll up our sleeves and make the tax increases and expense cuts required to get our Federal budget back in the black.

Go ahead, give it a try. When you’re done, compare your choices against the recommendations of the President’s Bipartisan Commission on Reducing the National Debt.

I’ll bet you did better.

Taking a personal cleaver to the US budget goes a long way to educating us

How sweeping the changes need to be.

How sacred cows like Social Security can’t be immune.

What interest groups are going to scream.

How America’s political climate today will permit scarcely any of this.

Now try to imagine how Americans’ lives will change in the areas where you changed Federal spending and taxes . . . or how things will change if you didn’t cut or raise enough.