Reports out of Washington, D.C., indicate that there may be hope of ending the stalemate over the government shutdown. It’s about time.

Representatives of both parties were said to be hinting at allowing a short-term increase in the national debt to give members of Congress more time for budget negotiations. In fact, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, a Republican, urged members to find some common ground.

“We need to open the federal government. We need to pay our bills today – and make sure we can pay our bills tomorrow. So let’s negotiate an agreement to make modest reforms to entitlement programs and the tax code,” Ryan said.

Ryan’s words echo what most Americans are saying, only his don’t come with various expletives that you hear from people on the street.

The danger to the country goes far beyond the annoyance or inconvenience of having our national parks closed. Carried on long enough – Oct. 17 is considered the critical date – we as a nation won’t be able to pay our bills. We hope that no one in Congress sees this as a win.

Unfortunately, Sen. Ryan can’t make this happen alone. While Ryan’s message was being read in the Wall Street Journal, negotiations between Democrat House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Republican Speaker of the House John A. Boehner failed to get sanity restored to the shutdown situation. As a sign of how bad things may be, neither side could even agree on who actually called a meeting between the two.

We understand many Republicans don’t like the Affordable Care Act and Democrats don’t like being blackmailed into putting the act up for negotiation.

But hobbling the federal government and damaging the country’s credit are not the way to make a point. Where are the leaders in Congress when we need them?

– Craig Groshart, Bellevue Reporter