And there you have it. No grand deal, because Barack Obama did not cave. QED.
Look, I understand that the greatest fear is the fear of the unknown. People have been frightening themselves with what they imagine might be happening, because they don't have any better information and they're trying to find patterns in vague, shifting and contradictory rumors. But that does not excuse those who predicate hysterical characterizations of "fact" on news reports based on rumors passed along by unnamed "sources" in a fluid and confidential negotiating environment. I have heard so much conclusory nonsense about "what Obama is doing" over the past week, it's absurd.
It does not in any way justify jumping to the worst possible conclusion and trashing the character of a man who is obviously--OBVIOUSLY--public-minded and intending the best for the common people of the United States of America.
As of right now, everything has played out as well as Democrats could possibly hope. Boehner has quit the table, Obama is talking about a "grand deal" in the past tense and laying the blame squarely on the Republicans and we're pretty much guaranteed nothing but a clean or near-clean bill...or a default which will be the Republicans' fault.
...And what does this tell us? It tells us that the people who have been shrieking "OBAMA'S CAVING!!!!!!!" for a week were full of it from the beginning.