Twelve members of Congress have been asked to come up with a way to reduce the federal budget deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next decade, an average of $150 billion per year. How much is this, and how can it be done? The federal budget deficit was $1.3 trillion in the last fiscal year, down 8 percent from 2009 but still a greater share of our economy than anytime since WWII. That share was a hefty 37 percent of total outlays of $3.5 trillion. The Great Recession was a major factor: From 2002 to 2008, the average deficit was …