On the Super Committtee, Rs negotiate while Ds begin with their bottom line

Roll Call:

The already delicate, against-the-odds talks hit a low Wednesday, just a day after Republicans made a revised $1.2 trillion offer that included $250 billion to $300 billion in tax revenues and $700 billion in cuts. A smaller group of seven super committee members who met Monday night — before the GOP leaked the plan — met again Tuesday night, according to sources familiar with the talks, but the session was marked by frustration and ended in doubt over whether the group would reconvene anytime soon. At the Monday meeting, Democrats offered a revised plan of their own: a $2.3 trillion package composed of $1 trillion in revenue, $1 trillion in cuts and $300 billion in interest savings.

Note how the Republicans are still skewing their proposals towards large budget cuts and little tax increases, whereas the Democrats are offering 50-50 budget cuts and tax increases. That means that if both parties make concessions as they move to the "middle" - which is highly unlikely, the Dems will cave while the Rs will stay put - the "middle" will be a point at which there are more budget cuts than tax increases. Why? Because the Democrats, as always, are making their final offer - half tax increases, half budget cuts - first, so there's nowhere to go but down.