So negotiations about negotiations have started, and everybody is breathing a sigh of relief. Except I'm not, because the rainbow pony of compromise must be achieved, and Boehner and Cantor have to "Get Something." If Obama and Reed start the negotiations from the exact position where we were - that victory is defined as going back to the point where we were before the Tea Partiers started balking - there is nothing to give without it being a loss only for Democrats.
So I'll only know this can end well when I see the Democratic leadership saying, "You know how you say you'll come to the table with no preconditions? Then we'll be at that table, and we'll deal with the deficit that you say is so very important. Here's the list of loopholes that allow companies and high wealth individuals to avoid US taxes, and here's how we'll close them. And while we're at it, let's look at that Joint Strike Fighter contract for an aircraft the Air Force doesn't want, and hey, how about those cotton and sugar subsidies? And once we get this revenue problem fixed, we can get to how much of the sequester funding we restore - my starting bid is 100%. Now let's start talking about how much should be allocated to repair roads and bridges and get people working."
Maybe we won't get all those things, or most of them, or any of them - but we make the Republicans defend some unpopular causes and sink their ratings even further. Boehner can come out of such a meeting with a credible claim that restoring the status quo was a victory, not that anybody will believe him, but the game theory will be satisfied and he'll keep his job, which is all that matters to him. And we'll muddle along until we can elect a majority that really will aggressively pursue the closing of loopholes and elimination of corporate welfare, and the return of our country to greatness.
Or maybe, if everything works out right, we can start repairing the damage that years of underinvestment and pampering the billionaires have caused.