Why neither side is serious about deficit reduction and spending

My wife and I are working like mad to pay down our personal debt.  It takes hard work and for us to pay off debt we have to spend much less than we take in (a family budget surplus) and then take that surplus and use it to pay down debts that we have incurred and intend to pay off.  It takes discipline and sacrifice. 

Only in Washington, however, can a person run out to the press and say that he or she has a plan that will "save" the country billions or even trillions, when in reality the national debt increases.  This is what people on both sides of the political isle are saying.

When is someone in the Congress or the Oval Office (I'm not holding my breath in either case) going to go out and say, "We cannot even have a real conversation about deficit reduction until we agree to a budget that spends less than the revenues that the government takes in."

Wouldn't that be amazing?  But no. All we get from both sides is demagoguery, with both sides seemingly trying to blame the other for cutting whatever pet program their constituency supports.  This is why so many (74% of Americans in a very recent CNN poll) people want a balanced budget amendment.  They know that neither side can be trusted when it comes to spending and these children must be dragged kicking and screaming across the line to fiscal responsibility.   

Just a little fact about balanced budget statutes. 49 out of 50 states have some form of a balanced budget amendment in their state constitutions.  So what's good enough for the states is not good enough for the Federal Government?  

Seriously?