Senators in both parties today tried to seize the initiative and end the budget and debt limit impasse in the Congress, as a small group unveiled plans for $3.7 trillion in budget savings over the next 10 years.
The plan was spearheaded by the so-called Gang of Six, which has worked for months to come up with bipartisan budget plan that can get through the Congress.
Over half of the Senate - more than 50 Senators - showed up in the Capitol for a morning briefing by all of the members of the Gang of Six, as their gathering spurred optimism that maybe lawmakers were about to take charge and find a way to broker a deal.
"Some said, 'I want to help,' and others like myself said, 'Sign me up,'" said Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT).
"And I wasn't the only one," noted Lieberman, who said the Gang of Six probably weren't sure if their colleagues "would throw rocks at them or embrace them."
And indeed, with two weeks to go until a debt limit deadline, there was a sense of optimism as reporters mobbed Senators for comment just inside the Carriage Entrance to the Senate wing of the Capitol.
"This has taken a long time," said Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), "but the response was even more positive than I expected."
"This was big, bipartisan and balanced," Warner added.
"We were very pleased with the reaction, now we've got to figure out the way forward," said Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), who labeled it a "meaningful way forward" to address the size of the national debt.
While Senators weren't handing out too much in the way of details, the plan still is basically a 3:1 ratio of spending cuts to new tax revenues.
Chambliss argued that the $1 trillion in new tax revenues would be achieved mainly through lower personal and corporate income tax rates.
"We're going to see huge economic growth; that's where the revenue is going to come from," Chambliss argued.
But the mere inclusion of extra revenue immediately raised eyebrows, especially when House Republicans have been so direct that they will not back any plan that includes such a plan.
Despite the newly found optimism, the clock is still ticking towards that August 2 deadline on a debt limit deal.
Whether this plan - or something like it - gets included in that deal making remains an open question.
Still, there were both Democrats and Republicans vowing to get on board, a sign that maybe we are getting close to the time when lawmakers step up to reach an agreement.
