Both parties are digging in deeper over the budget impasse, and the likelihood now is that the partial government shutdown elides into the debt-limit deadline later this month. Neither side may be listening at the moment, but there is a political exit from this mess that has the added advantage of helping the country.

The exit ramp is for both sides to pivot from the ObamaCare stalemate to negotiations over tax and entitlement reform. The Ted Cruz Republicans would have to give up their mission to defund the Affordable Care...