Kevin Drum at Mother Jones: "Bottom line: this document isn't really aimed at deficit reduction. It's aimed at keeping government small. There's nothing wrong with that if you're a conservative think tank and that's what you're dedicated to selling. But it should be called by its right name. This document is a paean to cutting the federal government, not cutting the federal deficit." http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2010/11/deficit-commission-serious (HT: TPM)I suppose some of this is for policy wonks but you can be sure the spinning heads will be on it for the next couple of weeks, when they should be asking why the Bush tax cuts are about to be extended, hence making the deficit even highter.UPDATE: Here's Robert Reich on the commission's trial balloon: "The first draft of the President's deficit commission, written by its co-chairmen Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, is a pastiche of ideas - some good, some dumb, some intriguing, some wacky. The only unifying principle behind their effort seems to be to throw enough at the wall that something's bound to stick...." http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/11/12/why_we_should_be_aware_of_the_budget-deficit_mania/#more