Why there's still no deficit deal

It's not so much the cuts themselves, says the Washington Post's Ezra Klein, it's the timing. The White House wants to do a single deal before the election, and the Republicans want to force a series of smaller deals, both before and after the election.

The Obama administration, which many people considered cool toward a deficit deal, has been willing to concede much more than anyone expected -- including raising the Medicare eligibility age and cutting Social Security. Republicans, who made the deficit their top priority in the last election, have been willing to concede much less. But the difference isn't really that the Obama administration wants a deal and Republicans don't. It's that the Obama administration wants to reach a big deal now, and the Republicans want a series of smaller deals dragged out over as long a period as is politically and economically feasible.