EDITORIAL: Deficit panel is at least a start

President Barack Obama's deficit reduction commission is a baby step when what's needed is a forced march. But with the national debt surging and Congress ducking the politically unpopular actions needed to rein it in, baby steps are better than nothing.

Such commissions have often become academic exercises, providing cover for elected officials while producing reports destined for the dustbin. But some have helped Washington deal with intractable problems, like deciding which military bases to close, or shoring up Social Security in 1983.

When this one issues its report in December, it should at least educate voters about the depth of our fiscal woes and the sort of painful measures it will take to balance the budget by 2015. With the federal government $1.6 trillion in the red this year, and $12.4 trillion in debt, nothing can be off limits, including cutting defense spending, trimming Social Security and Medicare benefits - and even raising taxes.

Obama created the bipartisan commission by executive order after a bill to do it died in the Senate. The bill would have given the commission more teeth, by requiring Congress to vote to accept or reject its recommendations. But in a sorry example of what ails Washington, seven Republicans who co-sponsored the bill doomed it by voting no.

The unfortunate result is a deficit reduction effort irresponsibly handicapped at birth. hN