"As the parties fight over an elusive and politically charged five-year goal, the commission's valuable opportunity to focus on the long-term problem would suffer," wrote Robert Bixby, the executive director of budget watchdog group the Concord Coalition, on Monday. "Leave the short-term goal to the regular budget process and focus on the more important long-term goal."

Bixby argued that commission members could make recommendations including phasing in benefit reductions for Social Security and setting up spending triggers for the Medicare and Medicaid programs.