The message behind the bipartisan deficit-reduction panel’s recent report was, “See, fiscal discipline isn’t all that tough!” But the back-and-forth that followed the report’s release last week has seriously called that assumption into question.

The reasons why were on full display yesterday, when the Bay State’s most popular politician, Sen. Scott Brown, unloaded an anti-tax stump speech at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce – and was promptly unloaded on by a Wayland state rep.

Brown lamented what he sees as a lack of focus on jobs in the Capitol. He said Congress should be focusing on cutting taxes, and drew a straight line between tax burdens on businesses and individuals and employment. Immediately afterward, Wayland state Rep. Thomas Conroy approached a State House News Service reporter and savaged Brown’s speech.

“He’s throwing fluff at us when he’s decrying what’s going on in Washington as mostly fluff,” Conroy said. “His equation basically is, you lower taxes, you’re creating jobs. That has not been proven economically. It flies in the face of his touted deficit hawkishness. Any economist will tell you that if you lower taxes, the first thing you’re going to do is raise deficits. He’s talking out of both sides of his mouth.”

The back and forth, as it were (Brown bolted before reporters could engage him) mirrors the wider reaction to the deficit panel’s recommendations. The panel called for shared sacrifice, but politicians and commentators have seized onto elements that square with their previously-held beliefs, while dismissing everything else out of hand. It’s less of a conversation than a group of people in a room talking past each other.

Thus, Republicans echo calls to cut tax rates but are silent about recommendations like jacking up the gas tax, and Democrats balk at touching entitlement spending and the mortgage interest deduction.  Along those lines, Senate Republicans are now talking a big game about banning earmarks. Except that it’s a voluntary ban that nobody’s going along with. So it isn’t really much of a ban, is it?

Debt is currently doing all sorts of nasty things to Europe, and to the folks Europe owes money to. Meanwhile, Tea Party-aligned members of Congress could very well precipitate an American debt crisis – and drain the government’s coffers – by the middle of next year. Which is almost tomorrow, given the pace Congress works at.

Mass. matters

Looking to recharge his administration’s batteries for a second term, Gov. Deval Patrick has asked all his cabinet secretaries to reapply for their posts, the Globe reports.

With Patrick and House Speaker Robert DeLeo backing off another round of gambling legislation battles, the Sun Chronicle reports casinos and racetracks have found a new crop of legislative backers – the House Republican caucus.

The Eagle-Tribune blasts  the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission for ruling, 3-2, that a janitor running an illegal gambling operation while at work is entitled to return to his job. The paper says the ruling means no public employee can ever be fired for any reason.

Lovett C. “Pete” Peters, the founder of the Pioneer Institute, has died at age 97, reports Pioneer. Red Mass Group posts the news as well, and anti-tax champion Barbara Anderson, among others, offers comment.  The Herald editorial page offers its tribute.

Health care

Methuen Mayor William Manzi said the municipality needs to borrow $1.9 million to cover employee health care costs, the Eagle-Tribune reports. Meanwhile, the ex-chief of the police union testified that Manzi threatened him three years ago when the union didn’t endorse him.

WBUR’s Radio Boston reports on the difficulties of running a safety net hospital without a safety net.

Boston Medical Center has created a space for grieving relatives of homicide victims.

Deals and no-deals

Developer John Rosenthal joined WGBH’s Greater Boston to discuss Fenway’s newest Green Monster, his proposed $450 million redevelopment project for the venerable neighborhood.

Out-of-work Americans may soon be even more out of luck, as deficit worries will likely sink the extension of unemployment benefits set to expire in two weeks.

New York sketches out the horrors of post-apocalyptic Wall Street, complete with Zombie Vikram Pandit, Radioactive Tim Geithner, and a terrifying crop of too-big-to-fail monsters.

Town talk

Trying to get wind turbines sited anywhere near or on Cape Cod raises gale-force opposition. The Cape Codder reports the latest wind storm brewing is in Brewster where residents turned out in droves to oppose two planned turbines in an industrial park that will pay the town $200,000 per year.

The Patriot Ledger reports Quincy city councilors are considering an ordinance that would tack on the cost of a posted police detail to the tax bills of landlords who own troubled properties with a history of problems requiring police response.

Fitchburg schools are facing a $5.6 million deficit, driven in part by falling enrollment.

DC doings

Scott Brown appeared before Boston business leaders yesterday and lamented Capitol Hill’s obsession with “fluff.” But Marjorie Arons-Barron says fluff was mostly all he offered in his speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

Political analysts Dan Payne and Todd Domke talk about the lame duck Congress with Jim Braude.

Philanthropists or subversives? The view of the Koch brothers would depend on where one stands on the political spectrum. The National Review takes the stance that Charles and David Koch selflessly tapped into their combined $35 billion in wealth to fund the Tea Party and advocate their minimalist government mantra.

The Washington Post declares that the GOP presidential nomination is up for grabs though Mitt Romney and soon-to-be job hunting Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty are the only sure bets to run. Bobby Jindal, for one, is out already. With primaries and caucuses starting in February, a month later than in 2008, decisions are likely to trickle in throughout the first quarter of 2011.

Four Loko not for long?

State officials are scrambling to curb the potent potion. Somerville recently banned the stuff, except that it forgot to tell booze merchants about it. The FDA isn’t far behind.