Elections with their non-specific slogans always make me think about what real solutions might look like.
Social Security - fix with raising cap on payroll tax coupled with small reduction in benefits.
Medicare - This will suck, but more HMO-like managed care. Allow government to negotiate drug prices. Make sure that people who don't want extraordinary end of life measures don't get it them. Reinsurance for medical malpractice insurers to help mitigate costs. This really would require more research it's a tough, tough issue.
Medicaid - Similar measures to Medicare. Again, very tough.
I think single payer would help too since everyone would be in one pool. Good for small businesses as well since it would take employers out of the health insurance racket.
Defense spending - start winding down spending to perhaps 70% of current (in adjusted dollars). It's not super high right now compared to GDP, but gotta find places to cut.
Education - reduce federal role in education to reduce spending. Sucks.
Taxes - Target deductions to eliminate. Increase top bracket a little, add new top bracket with even higher rate at 1 million (good psychological place to do it).
Infrastructure - reclassify internet service as communications instead of content provider to enhance competition and let the private sector create better electronic communication. Spend some money on energy infrastructure to allow better transmission of electricity so renewable-rich areas can provide power to larger regions. Invest in nuclear or perhaps clean coal (I'm dubious of that) for baseline power. Prepare for a post-fossil fuel world.
Science - Fund a few big projects to place the U.S. back in a leadership role. Some of these projects are expensive (not so much relative to federal budget though), but bringing those brains here is a good thing. Having the LHC and ITER in Europe is a travesty for U.S. science.
Not sure this would do it in terms of the deficit and a lot of it sucks. But I like to think about these things after hearing so many platitudes (we'll cut taxes and balance the budget, Washington needs to stop spending, Washington needs to get back in touch, etc...)