Was the Deficit Commission doomed from the beginning?

One Democratic commission member said over the weekend that the past week of consultations “has made some good progress. I think we’re going to surprise some people.”…

Some wonder whether the president himself designed the commission to fail and thus rescue him from decisions that could alienate supporters. Some don’t even wonder.

“Given [Obama’s] record, it is hard to believe it was a sincere effort,” said commission member Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) in October. “I don’t know if that was an effort to sweep it under the carpet before a national election. It is kind of hard to take the whole effort seriously at this point,” he said.

“I believe that tells you everything you need to know about how the Republicans have behaved,” said the top aide to a Democratic lawmaker on the panel, who was read that statement last week.