"It seems politically unrealistic to think you could get to a balanced budget" in a decade, said Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a non-partisan organization devoted to deficit reduction.

That's particularly true, Bixby said, in view of the Republican vow to avoid further tax increases for deficit reduction.

"I don't see it," said Bixby, adding that "it'll be a very useful exercise to see how" Boehner might do it.