This is an example of political cowardice, which is a major cause for the fiscal mess this country finds itself in.

In a letter sent Friday to the White House, the 64 senators urge Obama "to support a broad approach to solving our current budget problems" along the lines of recommendations issued last year by a presidentially appointed commission. That plan calls for sharp cuts in government spending, elimination or reduction of dozens of popular tax breaks and an overhaul of Social Security that would include raising the retirement age to 69 for today's toddlers.

Chances are, it wouldn't take me too long to go through the signatories and identify individuals who, back when Obama was taking a more heavy-handed approach to pressing his agenda in Congress, complained that various bills were being "shoved down their throats." That was then, however, and this is now: 64 senators with mouths agape, looking to get stuffed.

It wasn't too long before Matt Yglesias made the obvious observation:

The first thing that's ridiculous about this, is that if 64 Senators want to vote for the Simpson-Bowles Commission's recommendations, then there's nothing stopping them from voting for the Simpson-Bowles Commission's recommendations. They don't need support from Barack Obama to do so. If anything, Barack Obama endorsing Simpson-Bowles would make it more difficult for Republicans to endorse it.