The salient question, now that the federal government is back at work and debt default has been diverted, is whether anything meaningful has changed in Congress or if in a couple of months the country will once again face the prospects of fiscal and economic calamity as a consequence of another legislative stalemate.

One hopes that, if recent events haven’t made it clear to the tea party minority that its scorched-earth playbook won’t succeed, that at least moderate members of the Republican Party have been emboldened to take a more active role in forging bipartisan solutions. It will be incumbent upon Democrats as well to accept alterations to some of their pet programs.

President Barack Obama hinted he is willing to do that. When signing the budget/debt extension legislation on Wednesday, Obama said Democrats are open to talking about anything. For the good of the nation, we hope he’s not just blowing smoke.

That being said, one thing the president isn’t willing to talk about is defunding the Affordable Healthcare Act. That was, after all, how the whole shutdown debacle got started, thanks to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who often appears more concerned with setting himself up for a run at the 2016 Republican presidential nomination than pursuing reasonable solutions to the nation’s fiscal and economic woes. Don’t forget, Cruz was among those few who blissfully argued the ludicrous notion that a debt default wouldn’t be a big deal for the country.

Thankfully, wise and rational Republicans – Sens. Kelly Ayotte, of New Hampshire, and Susan Collins, of Maine, stand out as pillars of responsibility – stepped forward to inject some much-needed common sense into the discussion, They were instrumental in pulling health care reform off the negotiating table – somewhere it should never have been.

Because House Republicans, with speaker John Boehner in tow, staked their claim to fame on shutting down Obamacare, the decision to back off was viewed by many as a giant capitulation. However, it may end up turning out to be a first step in resurrecting the party’s sullied reputation. Republicans will not go there again.

Americans have every right to be cynical about the prospects that Congress and the president can reach reasonable solutions before the next set of deadlines – Jan. 15 for the budget and Feb. 7 for extending the national debt. We all remember the “fiscal cliff” that was averted, only to lead us to where we are now.

At week’s end it appeared there will be no “grand bargain” offering a long-term spending and taxing blueprint to cut trillions from in the deficit and debt over the next decade or so. House and Senate negotiators agreed Thursday that significant changes to the tax code as well as large-scale changes to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security won’t be on the negotiating agenda.

Instead, lawmakers will focus on more modest and achievable goals such as ending the oft-criticized automatic, across-the-board sequestration spending cuts. That’s Congress needing to learn how to crawl before it can walk.

The danger is that the more humble the reforms, the more likely tea party members will be energized to shut government down again.

If that occurs, Republican voices of reason like Ayotte and Collins will be more important than ever.

Newsletter