Who could have seen this coming?
House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) abandoned efforts Saturday night to reach a comprehesive debt-reduction deal worth more than $4 trillion in savings, telling President Obama that a mid-size package was the only politically possible alternative to avoid a first-ever default on the nation’s mounting national debt.
Oh, wait -- I did!
(Sorry for the obnoxious self-back-patting -- I don't really have any commentary on this other than to refer to my previous item explaining why the demise of the Grand Bargain was inevitable. If you want an explanation as to how the medium-sized bill could pass, read it here.)
The other thing to add is that this demonstrates a fact that media centrists have failed to grasp for months: the impediment to a balanced (or even heavily rightward-tilting) deficit plan isn't "both parties." It's Republicans. Democrats may not like the idea of cutting entitlements, but their objections don't come close to matching the GOP's theological opposition to tax increases.