The problem with Obama's deficit plan is that it isn't progressive enough

This problem will be even worse if the Obama plan comes to be defined as the “left” pole in the negotiation. It’s not. A truly progressive budget would include more revenue raised in more progressive ways. And contrary to what you might hear on Fox News, the established media wisdom on budget issues is center-right, and Ryan’s extreme budget has pushed the perceived center still further right, aggravating the tendency to locate Obama’s plan far to the left of where it is.

There is also something fundamentally wrong about making the deficit the central issue in our politics. Here’s a little secret: The deficit is actually not a hard problem. Only the taxophobia that Republicans have created and Democrats cower before has made this so complicated. Yes, health-care costs are also a big deal. But they are a challenge for the whole economy, and too many conservatives demagogue all serious efforts to grapple with them (see: “death panels”).