A couple of items worth noting:

• The Hill [1] says the "Blue Dog Democrats [2]" are "hopeful on the deficit" even if the federal budget barely registers as an issue for the Democratic presidential candidates [3]. The Blue Dogs say they'll push for more attention on this.
• The CBO releases testimony on the pros and cons of writing "pay-go" [4] into law as it was in the 1990s, instead of just into House and Senate rules. One big point to consider: "Although PAYGO may help to prevent a deterioration in the fiscal picture, it only applies to new policy changes rather than the effects of existing policy. Consequently, PAYGO by itself does not address the nation’s long-term fiscal imbalance, which is driven mostly by growth in the cost of health care." In other words, pay-go doesn't change the fact that entitlements are still running on autopilot [5], and Washington will still have to make specific choices about how to change their direction.