It’s unsurprising that liberals feel this way, because the plan is a centrist approach developed under the supervision of Bill Clinton’s former domestic policy chief. It calls for a hard-to-swallow $2 or $3 in spending cuts (depending on whether you count interest payments) for every dollar of increased taxes…

Interestingly, though, the reaction from Republican lawmakers has been significantly more favorable than McConnell’s no-way, no-how view of compromise. Republican Reps. Paul Ryan (Wis.), Jeb Hensarling (Tex.) and Dave Camp (Mich.), all members of the commission, called it “a provocative proposal.” Another commissioner, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), said that “if we do the cuts, I’ll go for it.”…

The questions are whether Obama is willing to stand up to Pelosi and whether he can weather the consequences of triangulating against the liberals. So far, so good. “Before anybody starts shooting down proposals, I think we need to listen,” he said from Seoul, in an implicit rebuke of Pelosi. He also said that he’s “prepared to make some tough decisions” and that “we’re going to have to take actions that are difficult and we’re going to have to tell the truth to the American people.”

That’s exactly the right message.