Now that the graybeards on the Baker-Hamilton commission have proposed consensus solutions for the Iraq war, they should be kept on to tackle entitlements, energy policy, health care and education – domestic issues more appropriate to bipartisan deal-making. Seriously.

The prestigious Iraq Study Group, headed by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., did a magnificent job of reaching unanimous agreement by splitting differences and finding middle-ground solutions.

A bipartisan panel of such distinguished elder statesmen could very well outline the “grand bargains” it will take to break domestic logjams.

For instance, to finance the retirement of the baby-boom generation and achieve long-term fiscal balance, we need a deal by which Democrats agree to shave promised Medicare and Social Security benefits and Republicans agree to increase revenues.

It’s just the sort of thing that former Democratic White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta and former GOP Sen. Alan Simpson (Wyo.) could put their minds to. The same goes for education. Democratic lawyer Vernon Jordan and retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor could fashion and sell the bargain under which teachers get more pay but have to accept being promoted, hired and fired on the basis of performance.

War is another matter. The Iraq Study Group – composed entirely of civilians – basically produced a plan designed to split the differences between America’s hostile political factions, not produce victory in Iraq.