It took years to get this broken. It'll take work to fix.

But we have to take that first step.

We have serious problems. Our middle class is sacrificing daily needs to pay for health care. Below that, many can't pay at all. For too many, affordable housing is out of reach, and a comfortable retirement is increasingly uncertain. Social Security recipients are facing a sharp reduction in a handful of years, and our debt is at a new high and still growing. And all the while, Congress appears helpless to turn things around.

But we've overcome equally challenging problems before. We had the same level of debt after World War II, and brought it down sharply. In 1983, changes to Social Security rescued the program for almost 50 years. We have done this before, and we can do it now — but only if we put party politics aside.

Everyone will tell you Idaho's already decided. We disagree.