With the manufactured “crises” of the fiscal cliff and the debt-ceiling showdown, it is easy to dismiss our federal budget-deficit and debt clashes as a passing fad, just a case of partisan politics. But there is, in fact, a very real problem here: us, the voters. We can’t make the tough choices. We want government spending, but we don’t want to pay the taxes that fund it. What kind of government and society do we really want? And what combination of taxes and spending will create the economic growth we need to ensure good lives for our children and their children? In this timely book, David Leonhardt, the Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times economic columnist and Washington bureau chief, explains lucidly and with calm authority the mess we are in—and how we can get ourselves out of it. As the Obama administration settles into its second term, and a Republican Congress grapples with what it hopes to accomplish in the next two years, Leonhardt draws on a deep understanding of the issues and the newest data, as he ranges across topics from education to Social Security, from our “investment-deficit” disorder to our wasteful medical system. What he offers is a radically sensible plan, one that Washington would do well to heed if it wants to close our deficit, shift spending to investing—especially in the young and innovative—and get us back to growth.PRAISE FOR "HERE'S THE DEAL""If we were electing a prime minister soon, I'd want the winner to read Leonhardt's book. And if you're not a member of Congress and just want to understand the budgetary landscape on the merits, this is a great place to start." —Matthew Yglesias, SlateABOUT THE AUTHOR David Leonhardt is the Washington bureau chief of The New York Times. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2011, for his columns on the economy, and the Gerald R. Loeb award for his 2009 New York Times Magazine story on “Obamanomics.” A New York native, he studied applied mathematics at Yale.