Earlier this year, our nation narrowly avoided a debt ceiling default and we are now staring down a deadline for a potential government shutdown. These repeated, self-inflicted crises and budget brinksmanship harm the economy and are not actually addressing the true drivers of our $33 trillion and rising national debt.

What we need is a serious, substantive and comprehensive approach to solving the long-term structural imbalances of our budget. A new bipartisan commission would enable an important national dialogue on this fundamental challenge to our nation’s fiscal and economic future.

We asked a group of respected policy experts to share their views on how a bipartisan fiscal commission could help break this cycle of fiscal governing-by-crisis and enable a more focused and productive discussion of our fiscal challenges. These nine new essays feature a range of insights on the best way to structure a commission for success, as well as recommendations for specific spending and revenue policies that would reduce the deficit and could be included in a bipartisan package.

The concept of a commission is gaining momentum among leaders in Washington, and American voters strongly agree. We hope that the ideas presented here in Expert Views: Fiscal Commission can help provide valuable recommendations toward fiscal solutions that are critical to America’s future.