Arkansas Business

The ol' fiscal cliff is at it again, and we don't mean postal carrier Clavin citing economics.

None other than Arkansas' own Mack McLarty opines in the Washington Post that we don't have to be careening off a fiscal cliff. (We did consider the almost obligatory Thelma & Louise reference there but figured one pop culture reference per post is enough.)

McLarty, of course, is the former advisor to Bill Clinton and a prominent Arkansas businessman. On Friday, he teamed with another former Clinton advisor, Nelson Cunningham, to suggest that only a serious bipartisan effort can put this "fiscal cliff" mess behind us.

In his gracious concession speech, Mitt Romney called on Washington to pull together. "We can’t risk partisan bickering and political posturing," he said. "And we look to Democrats and Republicans in government at all levels to put the people before the politics."

In his equally gracious victory speech, President Obama said, "Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual. You elected us to focus on your jobs, not ours." He pledged to reach out to Republicans to "meet the challenges that we can only solve together."

Both men should rise to the moment. President Obama should ask Romney to present the nation with a bipartisan plan to solve the deficit in the long term while promoting growth in the short term. And Romney should accept.

The two men call for a Clinton-Romney Commission modeled after Simpson-Bowles to work with both parties to get it done.

The plan must include serious entitlement reform, which Romney can craft and Clinton can sell, and revenue generation, which Clinton can craft and Romney can sell.

No problem, right? Assuming both Clinton and Romney are willing, is Congress?