To make government trustworthy again, voters must demand that Congress and the president shoulder responsibility for both the popular and unpopular results of their actions. This could be done through a statute, which we call the Honest Deal Act.

The Honest Deal Act would require Washington to put in every mail box estimates of the annual cost to the average family of the future tax increases or spending cuts needed to keep government solvent over the long run and how much that cost will mount with delay. Only by bringing home to voters the consequences of its current fiscal irresponsibility can Washington hope to mend its ways.

In addition, the Honest Deal Act would force members of Congress to cast roll call votes on a) the most controversial statutory mandates on state and local governments, b) major decisions to regulate or deregulate, c) subsidies for too-big-to-fail financial institutions, and d) decisions to go to war.