I've heard so many versions of this story that I was relieved to see a WaPo tick-tock trying to make sense of it. It gets very complex at times and I had to read it twice to get the gist. Mike Allen puts this piece in media context – of future ticktocks coming from Matt Bai and Bob Woodward, that will more likely give the Obama point of view more play. This one was set up by the Boehner team – and Mickey homes in on the critical bad play:
According to the Post, the two sides (Obama and Boehner) were close to a deal. Then Obama foolishly trumpeted a "Gang of Six" proposal that had a much higher tax number, which had the effect of making the deal look small. ** He then demanded a 50% increase ($400 billion) in new revenues. When the talks then blew up, he tried to get his old deal back, but it was too late.
It's more complicated than that – a function of bad timing, very delicate balancing, and the intervention of the Gang of Six that made the Obama-Boehner deal look rather paltry in comparison. But better paltry than nothing. And one gets the sense here of Obama's deep resistance to using tax reform to lower tax rates – and his increased comfort with taking on the GOP on the issue of fairness.
As I say, this is a complicated play-by-play and the whole piece is worth reading closely. It'll be worth keeping note of it to see what differences emerge in future accounts.
The Dish 