At least one consensus was reached over the debt ceiling debate that was resolved this week: Lawmakers disappointed voters across the country.

According to national poll released Monday by the Pew Research Center, only 2 percent of people polled described the negotiations as positive. Seventy-two percent of respondents described the recent negotiations in negative terms, and there was broad public consensus that the recent showdown could be summed up in words such as “ridiculous,” “disgusting” and “stupid.”

We agree.

While our leaders in Washington did make the decision to keep the country from defaulting on its debt in the eleventh hour, they largely failed us by stalling for months and stone-walling rather than coming to a consensus on budget cuts as a Congress.

In an report published by the Associated Press, Brad Parker, of Waverly, Neb. put it best when he said he was fed up with lawmakers who seemed unwilling to compromise:

“They’ve been saying they were hired to do this. No. No. The voters did not hire you to be morons.”

Many lawmakers released statements with similar sentiment ”“ minus the “morons” ”“ but those are of no consequence to Americans, who said, “Stop the finger-pointing and make a deal.”

Legislators commented that it was regrettable a deal was not reached sooner, while acknowledging Tuesday’s bill passage as necessary ”“ all without taking responsibility for being part of the problem.

Now, the showdown is likely to continue with a committee of 12 congressional leaders ”“ six Democrats and six Republicans ”“ who will be charged with finding additional savings in the coming years. If additional spending reductions and tax reform cannot be agreed upon and passed, an automatic legislative trigger would result in cuts across the federal budget.

Hopefully, this “trigger” will be enough incentive for lawmakers to work together on a solution.

Now that the crisis has been averted another year ”“ as the debt ceiling was raised through expected 2012 levels ”“ this special committee will have the tough decision to make on cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and defense, as well as tax reforms.

While members of Congress on the left and the right have called for tax reform, no one has agreed on any changes to date.

It is important, however, to reduce the deficit to make cuts while increasing revenues ”“ which comes from either broadening the tax base or raising tax cuts. For example, allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire for people and businesses making more than $250,000 a year is expected to generate a lot of revenue. Back when the Bush tax cuts were being debated, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that extending the tax cuts for the country’s top earners would cost more than $700 billion over 10 years.

While those cuts were extended for another two years in December, Congress now has another chance to level the playing field and create a simpler tax code that does not favor corporations and the wealthy.

A proposal from the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform included closing tax loopholes, also called tax expenditures, which amount to $1.1 trillion of spending each year in the tax code. Their plan would also broaden the tax base while lowering rates across the board.

These kinds of proposal need to be seriously considered. The only way to move this country toward a healthy future is to compromise on spending cuts and tax reforms.

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Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via e-mail at kristenm@journaltribune.com.