Fiscal Cliff 2013: Show Washington How To Balance the Budget With the Deficit Puzzle Challenge

Did you ever want a shot at balancing our Federal budget? Well, consider taking three minutes to link into the online you-fix-the-deficit puzzle and find out just how smart you really are.

As Congress and the White House continue their "game of chicken” concerning the pending fiscal cliff, in three minutes you can garner a basic understanding of the big picture under debate.

The deficit puzzle will allow you to decide what domestic programs and foreign aid your tax dollars should continue to be spent on while showing you the savings per year. You can click in on subjects from earmarks to farm subsidies, picking how large and how much our civilian federal workforce should be paid.

You want a chance to prove whether you are a dove or a hawk? You can decide where spending should occur concerning our nuclear arsenal, fleet sizes for the navy, air force, as well as how much we spend on weapons systems.

Next up comes a chance to weigh in on entitlement reform. Should tort reform be part of saving Medicare? Is it time to raise eligibility ages? Does are fiscal crisis justify means testing to determine who will receive benefits? All those questions and more await your consideration.

Where do your views fall regarding taxation? Do you support President Obama’s plan? Do you wish to go back to the Clinton rates? What is your preference for estate tax and capital gains rate changes? You can watch the deficit shrink as you tackle each of these critical issues.

This deficit puzzle has been available online, published and supported by the New York Times since November 2, 2010. It has been viewed over 1,000,000 times and its popularity continues to grow to this day. While the projections are slightly dated, the overall worth of the puzzle remains. Take the challenge of participating in the deficit puzzle exercise, if for no other reason than to make yourself a more informed voter.

The more you know, the greater the chance America might be able to someday convince our representatives in Washington to actually do their jobs.

The deficit puzzle’s results might surprise you. America appears ready to make the tough choices to balance our budget even if Washington does not.