(UPDATE BELOW)

I am still searching for the WaPo story that Politico is referring to.  It appears the White House realizes that even if Scott Brown loses, they actually have an Apollo 13 sized problem.  America has woken up and the movement to toss out incumbents and progressives is growing exponentially.

From Politico 44:

BREAKING — The Washington Post reports: “The White House and congressional Democrats have reached a tentative agreement to create an independent budget commission. They have also agreed to put the commission’s recommendations on digging the nation out of debt up for a vote in Congress.”

EARLIER — QUICK HUDDLE:

A group of Democratic lawmakers met with Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday to discuss creating a bipartisan debt commission that will tackle the nation’s growing fiscal troubles.Attendees included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Rep. John Spratt (D-SC), Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii).

The meeting started at 5 p.m. at the White House. — Kendra Marr

A message for Bob Beckel; the Tea Party Movement is making the difference as much as you would like to spin it another way.

White House, Democratic lawmakers cut deal on deficit commission

Faced with growing alarm over the nation’s soaring debt, the White House and congressional Democrats tentatively agreed Tuesday to create an independent budget commission and to put its recommendations for fiscal solvency to a vote in Congress by the end of this year.

Under the agreement, President Obama would issue an executive order to create an 18-member panel that would be granted broad authority to propose changes in the tax code and in the massive federal entitlement programs — including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security — that threaten to drive the nation’s debt to levels not seen since World War II.

The accord comes a week before Obama is scheduled to deliver his first State of the Union address to a nation increasingly concerned about his stewardship of the economy and the federal budget. After a year in which he advocated spending hundreds of billions of dollars on a huge economic stimulus package and a far-reaching overhaul of the health-care system, Obama has pledged to redouble his effort to rein in record budget deficits even as he has come under withering Republican attack.

The commission would deliver its recommendations after this fall’s congressional elections, postponing potentially painful decisions about the nation’s fiscal future until after Democrats face the voters. But if the commission approves a deficit-reduction plan, Congress would have to act on it quickly under the agreement, forged late Tuesday in a meeting with Vice President Biden, White House budget director Peter R. Orszag, and Democratic lawmakers led by Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (Md.).

Some Democrats, particularly in the House, where leaders have long resisted relinquishing their authority over taxes and spending, are also less than optimistic. Under the agreement, the commission would have 18 members, including six lawmakers appointed by congressional Democrats and six lawmakers appointed by congressional Republicans. Obama would appoint six others, only four of whom could be Democrats.

Fourteen commission members would have to agree on any deficit-reduction plan, a prospect that skeptics called a recipe for gridlock because action would depend on the support of at least two Republicans for a plan that is sure to include tax increases. Meanwhile, many influential interest groups — including some unions and AARP — have lined up in opposition to giving an outside commission power to cut federal spending and are likely to pressure Democrats to resist sharp budget cuts.

This should be interesting….