The Republicans in Congress have unintentionally put us on a path to balance the Federal budget with tax increases, large cuts in military spending, and no cuts to Medicare or Social Security. Only President Obama stands in the way of that happening.
The "Supercongress" is going to fail. That is a near certainty. The result will be, barring legislative action, $1.2 trillion in spending cuts starting at the exact same time the extended Bush era tax cuts expire. In order to nullify the trigger, or extend the Bush tax cuts beyond 2012, Obama would need to sign legislation. If such legislation reaches his desk, all he need do is veto it and we'll have a balanced budget or something close to that in the long run, tax increases that predominantly affect the rich, with no cuts to Social Security or Medicare which are exempt from the spending cuts required by the trigger.
It's not a perfect solution. In fact it's not a very good one, but it may be better than all the other options. Tax increases on the middle class combined with painful cuts to other important programs that benefit the poor and middle class will be hard to swallow. But all things considered, given the other options, which all seem to include cuts to Medicare, this might be the best path to balance the budget while minimizing the economic effects of budget cuts.
If there are better options that are viable, given a Republican majority in the House and filibuster power in the Senate, I'd love to hear them.
I question whether or not Obama would go along with deep defense cuts and a tax increase on the middle class. I suspect, given the opportunity, he would favor cuts in Medicare over defense, and would not pass on an opportunity to sign such legislation into law.