The following editorial appeared in Sunday's Washington Post: It is easy, and perhaps even justified, to be pessimistic about the prospects for the newly created Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. The panel is supposed to report to President Barack Obama and Congress by December with a plan for getting the federal deficit down to manageable levels; the rules require agreement from 14 of the 18 members. That means that two of the Republican congressional appointees would have to concur in the recommendations of the commission, which is conceivable but not likely. Look at it this way: What are the chances of achieving consensus in a group that includes liberal Democrat Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois and conservative Republican Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas? The other Republicans, for the record, are Sens. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, Michael Crapo of Idaho and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, along with Reps. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Dave Camp of Michigan. The chances aren't great, but then again, there's no opportunity cost in trying. Fiscal responsibility is unlikely to sweep Congress before the midterm election. And there are arguable benefits to the exercise even if it fails. First, there is a possibility that the commission could focus effectively on a more modest target, such as putting Social Security on a sustainable footing. The elements of a Social Security deal _ changes to reflect increased life expectancy, an increase in the amount of earnings subject to taxation and altering the indexation of benefits _ are obvious. Both sides have incentives to make a deal: the administration and Democrats to show their ability to tackle the deficit, Republicans to get the issue off the table during the Democrats' watch. Second, and more likely, even a splintered commission could come up with competing plans for addressing the fiscal problem. These could in turn be a framework for future discussions or for recommendations by the president, whose advisers insist that he is serious about tackling the fiscal situation. A timely reminder of the need for action came last week from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. 'To avoid large and unsustainable budget deficits, the nation will ultimately have to choose among higher taxes, modifications to entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare, less spending on everything else from education to defense, or some combination of the above,' Bernanke said. 'These choices are difficult, and it always seems easier to put them off _ until the day they cannot be put off any more. But unless we as a nation demonstrate a strong commitment to fiscal responsibility, in the longer run we will have neither financial stability nor healthy economic growth.' The only realistic solution is Bernanke's combination platter: The necessary savings can't be achieved on the tax or spending side alone. The fiscal responsibility commission could do the nation a service by acknowledging this difficult truth, or at the very least by offering a clear picture of how unappetizing the extreme recipes of both sides would be. 