The $250,000 plan they approved was not Liddy’s first proposal. In fact, it represented a significant concession on his part from two earlier proposals, of immense proportions. The first of these plans, made two months earlier in a meeting with Mitchell, Magruder, and John Dean, described a $1 million program that included (in addition to the bugging of the Watergate) a specially equipped communications “chase plane,” break-ins, kidnapping and mugging squads, and a yacht featuring “high-class call girls” to blackmail Democratic politicians.
Think... If someone has been trying to convince you of a larger proposal for months and you work it down to a smaller proposal you will likely assumed that you all worked to somewhere or come to a mutual agreement, but in actuality you could have played into their plan all along.
It’s just as going lower than expected on a car sales, hoping that the car sales men jumps the price up moderately, to arrive at the price you initially wanted.
It’s also just as if someone is working towards something and gets no where for a while then moves minimally and think it’s a big breakthrough, such as in working out, running a business, or interrogation.
The contrast principle could be a fundamental reason for why this is effective but what could be another reason?
