Maintain the $1.7 trillion in spending cuts created by the 2011 Budget Control Act's spending caps; Maintain the more than $700 billion in revenues generated by the tax cliff deal at the end of the last Congress; Replace the nearly $1 trillion sequester with new revenue generated by closing loopholes and deductions; and Cut defense spending by nearly $300 billion, which would then be spent on creating jobs by investing in our infrastructure.

On Tuesday, House Progressives offered the first and only deficit reduction plan to come out of Congress so far in 2013 that would create jobs and avoid the budget sequester. It would:

Nobody has a better plan than this. Not House Republicans, not Senate Democrats, and not the president. It's sensible, responsible, and with $1.7 trillion in spending cuts and $1.7 trillion in new revenues, it's the definition of balanced. It would be good for Americans of all income levels. It would give businesses a boost and give the people who work at them more economic security. It's eminently reasonable, but this is Congress and Washington, DC we're talking about. So it's not going to happen, at least not in 2013. But that doesn't change the fact that these ideas represent the best way forward.