Senator Tom Coburn, who has withdrawn from the "Gang of 6" which was trying to forge a solution to our terrible fiscal crisis, writes:

I understand the disappointment, and real danger, associated with our impasse. The question, though, is not how we tried and failed but why the Senate has not even tried. Commissions and “gangs” form when members lose confidence in the institutions in which they serve. Working groups have their place — but they should support, not replace, the open work of the full Senate. The truth is that we already have a permanent standing debt commission. It’s called Congress.

We are facing what Democrat Erskine Bowles calls the most predictable economic crisis in history. There is no excuse for not having bills on the Senate floor with an open amendment process that allows the American people to fully comprehend not only the magnitude of our problems but the possible solutions.

Meanwhile, Harry Reid digs in his heels and waits for the Republicans to cave in on new taxes, or the extension of Bush's tax cuts to run out.