Back in March, we were excited to learn that Illinois' own Rep. Jan Schakowsky would serve as a member of President Obama's 18-member deficit commission, knowing she would add a progressive perspective to the discussion about the nation's long-term debt. Others, however, we're less sanguine about the commission's potential. Because recommendations for revenue increases and spending cuts could only be sent to Congress if 14 of the 18 members reached consensus, some feared that anti-tax conservatives would be unwilling to cooperate.

After just two meetings, that cynicism seems to have been warranted. In an interview with Think Progress yesterday, Schakowsky called the success of the commission “unlikely” because conservatives are refusing to consider any tax hikes, even though combined taxes are at their lowest levels in a half-century. "[Conservatives] give some lip service to ‘everything should be on the table,’" said Schakowsky. "Then, when it actually comes to what kind of revenue can we raise, [they] are closing that door and taking it off the table." Watch it: