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Amid rising pre-election rhetoric over government red ink, the commission set up in February by President Barack Obama will hold another meeting on Wednesday. Its much-anticipated final report is due to come out on December 1.

Analysts are skeptical about the bipartisan group's ability to agree on a formula in an election year that would tilt Washington back into the black.

Under the order creating the panel, 14 of its 18 members must vote to approve "a final report containing a set of recommendations" to balance the budget, excluding interest payments on the national debt, by 2015 and to "meaningfully improve the long-run fiscal outlook."

Failure to meet this mandate could spook the bond markets, although some analysts believe such a credit event is unlikely as expectations for the panel have been low all along.

"They're looking at Social Security. Everyone has made that very clear," said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a think tank. "They have been looking at the tax code ... at the system for tax expenditures for healthcare, for the home mortgage interest deduction."

He added: "My guess is the final report is not going to be a concrete proposal ... that Congress can literally vote on. It's more likely to be recommendations that can be pursued."

That would be better than nothing, but nothing is also possible in the divisive political climate, analysts said.

"The commission is not likely to be able to agree on very much," said Brookings Institution fellow Isabel Sawhill.

"We need everything to be on the table and Republicans are not likely to agree to any new revenues, leading to a stalemate both on the commission and in Congress," Sawhill said.

VOTERS WORRIED

Dozens of U.S. lawmakers signed a letter released on Tuesday urging the panel not to tinker with Social Security.

The program "does not belong as part of" the panel's recommendations, said the letter addressed to Obama, adding to the challenges faced by the commission on Capitol Hill.

The budget deficit as of the end of the federal fiscal year on Thursday is estimated to be $1.3 trillion to $1.5 trillion -- figures that are hard to comprehend and that have voters scared as the economy struggles to recover from recession.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll last week showed that 57 percent of Americans see cutting the deficit as a better way to help recovery than raising government spending, although many economists warn spending cuts now could hurt the economy.