Since August of 2011, when a last-minute deal barely averted a default on our national debt, every policymaker has known exactly what would happen on Jan. 1, 2013 if the two political parties failed to reach agreement on long-term fiscal policy. Taxes would rise substantially for all Americans, and massive across-the-board spending cuts would go into effect. This is an outcome that hardly anyone wants. In fact, it was designed to be so unacceptable that both parties would have an incentive to negotiate seriously and resolve their differences.

This has not happened. After the deal on the debt ceiling, both parties abandoned the attempt to govern the country and instead attacked each other relentlessly for more than a year. The 2012 election, though hard fought, did more to obscure than to clarify the choices we face. And the outcome of the election didnt resolve those choices one way or the other. While President Obama won reelection and Senate Democrats expanded their majority by two seats, the voters left the House of Representative under Republican control, with a majority only modestly reduced from its huge gains of November 2010.