Is a 'grand bargain' on the budget deficit still possible?

After months of using his bully pulpit to pressure Republicans — a strategy that one White House ally has described as putting his opponents in between "Barack and a hard place" — President Obama has reportedly invited a handful of moderate GOP lawmakers to dinner on Wednesday night in a bid to reach a "grand bargain" to reduce the budget deficit. The olive branch comes less than a week after Congress failed to reach a deal to replace the so-called sequester, allowing $85 billion in painful, across-the-board spending cuts to begin taking effect. The administration still has hopes that it can enact a balanced deficit-reduction program that includes new tax revenues and cuts to entitlement programs — but will Republicans go along?

So far, some Republicans appear to be taking Obama's overtures seriously, according to Jackie Calmes and Jonathan Weisman at The New York Times:

Graham has publicly said he is open to raising $600 billion in revenue by closing tax loopholes, which is in line with the administration's proposals, as long as entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security, which make up the lion's share of the deficit, are on the table. That stands in stark contest to the position of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), both of whom have rejected any new tax revenue. According to Democratic analysts, some Senate Republicans are not only keen on reaching a policy goal of reducing entitlement spending, but reaping political rewards, says Politico:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

It's certainly true that Obama is handing Republicans a golden opportunity to cut entitlements, while providing them with political cover. "The key," writes Scott Galupo at The American Conservative, "will be how wisely Republicans use their leverage: Will they get something in return for it, or will they bludgeon themselves with the lever?"

However, many are understandably skeptical that the two sides can reach an agreement, since it would likely anger the Republican base. As Steve Benen at The Maddow Blog notes:

Indeed, some liberals think Obama is rewarding Republicans for their unwillingness to compromise. All Obama is doing, writes Brian Beutler at Talking Points Memo, "is acquiescing to the unchanging nature of the Republican Party."

At the very least, Obama's outreach could put to bed the idea that he hasn't offered any entitlement cuts, a common, erroneous theme of Republican complaints in the days running up to the sequester. That would help if Obama were ever to return to his "Barack and a hard place" strategy.