House Speaker John Boehner and President Obama are about to engage in some fiscal hand-to-hand combat — and Democrats may have the advantage.

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peaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Monday offered a deficit reduction proposal to avert the fiscal cliff at the end of the year, when a slate of damaging tax hikes and spending cuts are set to take effect. Boehner's proposal — consisting of $800 billion in tax revenue from closing unspecified tax loopholes and deductions, and $1.2 trillion in spending cuts — came in response to an offer that President Obama made last week, which included $1.6 trillion in tax revenue (with a tax rate increase for the wealthiest Americans), $400 billion in cuts to Medicare and other entitlement programs, and $50 billion in new stimulus spending. Boehner insisted that his proposal reflected his willingness to compromise, while Obama's plan was a "La-La-Land offer" that couldn't even pass the Democratic-controlled Senate.