Kicking the can down the road. That's been the Obama administration's response on issues from Iran's nuclear weapons program to America's entitlement systems.

As I listened to House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan describe his latest budget plan in a speech at American Enterprise Institute on Tuesday, I couldn't help thinking how different things will be in Britain today when Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne steps out of Number 11 Downing Street with a battered red briefcase holding his budget for the forthcoming year.

Political dysfunction. Partisanship at record levels. Attack politics run amok. And public approval of Congress scraping the single digits (Sen. John McCain is fond of saying it's down to blood rlatives and paid staff).

At this event, Representatives Cooper and Wolf will outline SAFE's ability to improve America's finances.

In December 2010, the President's Fiscal Commission failed to garner the necessary supermajority to pass its plan to reduce the deficit. Now, with the super committee, starting work on its effort to propose $1.5 trillion in deficit reductions, some have speculated that history is about to repeat itself. However, a closer examination reveals a night-and-day difference.

A fiscal commission set to report after the next election with recommendations that are purely advisory seems designed to fail.

If Obama expects to seriously address the debt problem he will have to do better than simply patching some of the rough spots in the Affordable Care Act.

The agreement that extended the debt limit has been very controversial. Even Republicans have questioned whether it was responsible to go to the brink with the country's credit standing at stake. But given the severity of the county's debt position, "grand bargains" involving tax increases are not a viable option.