Washington these days is in a state of suspended animation: Everyone is watching and waiting to see if Congress's deficit "super committee" can defy huge odds and come up with a way – by Nov. 23 – to yank the federal balance sheet back from the abyss.

The panel has labored mostly behind closed doors, and the six Republicans and six Democrats serving on it have not divulged much – beyond lamenting how difficult the deficit-reduction task is and how slim their chances of success are.

But just when expectations could hardly get darker ... enter some glimmers of bipartisan hope.