Hopes, says NYTimes, were dashed

Deficit Deal Fell Apart After Seeming Agreement - NYTimes.com

Members of the panel, the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, spent most of September and early October getting to know one another, and putting together staff. Meetings were largely friendly, with one member bringing beef jerky, another salads from a fancy take-out place near Capitol Hill. On Senator Murray’s birthday, there were frosted cupcakes.

Murray wanted a pony and didn't get one.