Barack Obama, Master of Zero-Dimensional Chess

The on-message line from the Obama administration is that every policy change must put the national deficit on a path to sustainability--no policy changes that do not include within themselves provisions to shrink the national debt relative to baseline ten years hence and thereafter.

That is not what we are getting:

Gibbs Says Obama ‘Open’ to Extending Upper-Income Tax Cuts By Roger Runningen

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration is “open”
to extending tax cuts for upper-income individuals in order to
win extensions for middle-income families, White House press
secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Gibbs reinforced remarks by President Barack Obama
yesterday that he is ready to negotiate with Republicans who are
pushing to extend Bush-era tax cuts that are set to expire at
the end of the year...