So the White House and Congress have an agreement to create a panel to recommend a plan to reduce the deficit:
President Barack Obama is likely to name a special commission to come up with a plan to curb the spiraling budget deficit under an agreement forged with top Capitol Hill Democrats.
I think, as process, this idea is completely misguided. The idea of creating even more supermajority requirements is utterly backwards. And the basic flaw in the plan is that it imagines it can use a commission to get around the fact that one party is utterly opposed to any possible solution to the problem, and doesn't even agree on the definition of the problem.
But as policy, I -- unlike many fellow liberals -- like the idea. A grand compromise to raise taxes and reduce spending would be a terrific thing. The Democrats are just delusional if they think this commission will produce it. Read the story again -- it's an agreement between Obama and Congressional Democrats. There's just no way the GOP, which is calling for more tax cuts and demanding that Obama preserve even the waste in Medicare, will buy in.