Never mind that the catfood commission failed in its official duties, neither securing an adequate vote for making its recommendations official or completing its work on time, and that it was roundly criticized by economists and activists who see the real crisis in America as a jobs crisis. The catfood commission is being treated in the traditional media, and unfortunately by the administration and Congress, as though it actually succeeded. For example:
Amid wrangling over an expensive tax measure, the co-chairmen of President Obama's bipartisan fiscal commission called on the White House and lawmakers to begin seriously tackling the nation's deficit challenge in the new year.
Former Republican Sen. Alan Simpson and ex-Clinton Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, who led the 18-member Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, met Thursday morning with Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to discuss the panel's final report, issued last week.
The recommendations of the group were not formally adopted – 11 of 18 members endorsed the plan, three shy of the supermajority required. But even members who rejected the specific blueprint said it was time for serious action on the deficit.
It really is the perfect set up for next year's budget slashing, which is going to be made "necessary" by what's going to be known as the Obama Deficit, should this tax cut deal pass. And it could be the beginning of the end of Social Security.