LA Times: Obama compromised early again on the deficit limit battle

According to this LA Times article

Deficit battle shaping up as GOP victory

President Obama began his bargaining about raising the deficit limit from a position that already gave Republicans most of what they want:   way more spending cuts than tax increases.

Even if Obama were to gain all the tax-law changes he wants, new revenue would make up only about 15 cents of each dollar in deficit reduction in the package….

Acquiescing to GOP demands would be the third major compromise for Democrats in the past year — a point of considerable frustration for the party’s liberal base. Despite Democratic opposition, Congress voted in December to extend the Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans and agreed this spring to steep budget reductions to avert a federal government shutdown.

Some Democrats believe Obama set the stage for the current situation by opening negotiations on deficit reduction this spring with a proposal that contained a 3-to-1 ratio between spending reductions and tax increases. Administration officials defend that move, saying the president began discussions at what one senior official called a “realistic starting point,” not one designed to maximize his bargaining position.

Hate to say it but: the situation is grim.

The Republican deficit plan enacts zero — zilch — cuts to the defense budget, and I, for one, have little confidence that the President will insist on more than token cuts either.