Cutting with fingernail clippers

President Obama’s announcement Monday that he has frozen the salaries of most federal workers wasn’t exactly one of those difficult budget decisions that’s going to save the nation. It will save just more than $5 billion the first two years against an annual deficit of more than $1 trillion.
In other words, it will affect the deficit about as much as those stitches the president received after a basketball game last week will affect his overall health.

That doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. Every little bit helps, and federal workers shouldn’t be getting raises when many Americans are going without work. But the president’s deficit commission is the best barometer on how easy it will be to make the real decisions, and things aren’t looking good on that front.
Most presidential commissions are meant to be seen, at least at the start, and then not heard from again. The co-chairmen of this one, Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, broke that mold a bit by holding their own rogue press conference a few weeks back to explain how they would cut the deficit. As you remember, they offered tough medicine. While it was easy to take issue with the details of their proposal, it was hard to argue that any real solution wouldn’t have to be at least as tough.
Now it looks as if the commission is so mired in politics that it may not get a firm recommendation to Congress. As this story indicates, the commission canceled its last meeting to work on one-on-one sessions with the 18 members in an effort to hammer something out.
But even if it succeeds, does anyone believe Congress would approve real cuts and tax increases?
The Politico story says some people believe the commission never was a sincere effort. It was just a way for the president to gain some political cover.
It gives cover to more than just Obama, however. Neither party really wants to deal with what it would take to balance the budget. One side won’t raise taxes, and the other side won’t cut entitlements. Maybe Ben Bernanke can just keep printing more dollar bills.