Did you catch Robert Kuttner's article the other day?

Obama to blink first on Social Security

The tax deal negotiated by President Barack Obama and  Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is just the first  part of a multistage drama that is likely to further divide and weaken  Democrats.The second part, now being teed up by the White House and key  Senate Democrats, is a scheme for the president to embrace much of the  Bowles-Simpson plan -- including cuts in Social Security. This is to be  unveiled, according to well-placed sources, in the president's State of  the Union address.The idea is to pre-empt an even more draconian set of  budget cuts likely to be proposed by the incoming House Budget Committee  chairman, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), as a condition of extending the debt  ceiling. This is expected to hit in April.White House strategists  believe this can also give Obama "credit" for getting serious about  deficit reduction -- now more urgent with the nearly $900 billion  increase in the deficit via the tax cut deal.

Obama has been telegraphing his intent on going after Social Security  back even to the primaries and the presidential campaign. And his  establishment of his deficit commission after congress refused to  establish it for him was a huge tell, especially when you look at the  cast of characters he appointed and the man who underwrote the cost.  This cast of characters is not new. If you followed the FDL book salon  back in May with Dr. Steve Gillon, author of "The Pact", you'd have come across this:

How Monica Lewinsky Saved Social Security: Clinton, Gingrich, Bowles and "The Pact"

I thought it would be instructive to have Dr. Gillon on to talk about  Bowles's history of shuttle diplomacy in