By John Harwood

The New York Times

Jan. 31, 2011

"Indeed, Congressional Republicans have only begun to grapple with the limited deficit-reduction steps that they promised in 2010. Like Mr. Obama’s proposed freeze on domestic spending, their cuts would only scratch the surface of what is required to repair the nation’s long-term fiscal imbalance.

Which suggests that the quest for a durable budget fix is going nowhere fast.

'I’m pessimistic,' said Steve Bell, a longtime Senate Republican aide now at the Bipartisan Policy Center. 'We’re going to have two years of stagnation.'

...

That 'maturation process' for ideologically charged new lawmakers is what worries Mr. Bell, the Republican aide. He doubts his party can muster majorities for even the $50 billion in domestic cuts that they are expected to seek for the remainder of this fiscal year. 'Who’s going to sit down these new members and say, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, you’ve said all these nice things, but they can’t happen’?'"

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