Historic

One can't know for sure what is theater and what is speculation and what is just bullshit, but this really is frightening.

The White House, by contrast, is pushing hard for a compromise. And Democrats are worried that in his zeal to accomplish something historic, Obama will agree to a debt plan that omits, or complicates, a key Democratic demand: new, concrete sources of tax revenue.

I have not seen any proposal which would any way be "historic." Some would be horrible, some less horrible. All could be changed by a vote of the next Congress, or by the next vote of this Congress. No plans for 5 years from now can be expected to stick that long. Voters don't give a shit about the deficit.