The White House consensus is that domestic welfare programs should make sacrifices that hurt, that the Air Force does not need two jet engines for every jet fighter, that the nation must invest in the future and deal with deficits. This is an agenda any sensible person could agree on if the object was to actually reduce the deficit. Republicans have offered up a mere $32,000,000,000 compared to the president’s $1,000,000,000,000 deficit-reduction plan.

Once again, that’s

$32,000,000,000

$1,000,000,000,000

So now that we know who’s serious about deficits and who’s not, can we keep the lights on across America? Because as I said on that conference call, I’ve seen the total effort of 43 churches  and the Salvation Army be not enough to answer needs where I live. All eight appointments for heating assistance were filled in nine minutes when I visited last November.

But maybe the object is to make advocates squeal. David Roberts offered an 11-D chess angle yesterday:

The basic problem is that Obama is operating on the other side’s playing field. Decades of relentless conservative agit-prop have convinced the public that  taxing is bad, spending is bad, government is bad, and all sensible people agree government spending must be cut. Rather than pushing back against that myth directly — which admittedly would be a tough sell, given that half the Democratic Senate caucus buys it — Obama is trying to maneuver as best he can within its confines. He’s trying to get specific, so Republicans have to defend particular cuts, which are rarely popular. He’s trying to argue that cuts need to be balanced with investments. Given the constraints, he’s doing reasonably well.

I couldn’t agree more. He’s winning the center and it shows in head-to-head polling. But do we really need to go through 1937 and 1995 all at once? I do not relish reporting on poverty, either, and unemployment is projected to go up from 8.1 to 8.5%. Plus, there’s no guarantee of success. As yesterday’s blogger call launch straight into the need to make painful sacrifices on behalf of the debt left by eight years of imperial America, somewhere between references to Eisenhower and Reagan I realized it may just work, if only the numbers can become the narrative for the next 693 days.

According to the chronometer, there are 693 days left in the 112th Congress. Zero jobs have been created. There are a dozen abortion-related bills pending.