Halperin's Take

There are still thousands of ways the whole thing can fall apart, but we are back to the basic scenario where five men have to agree to a plan (Obama, Boehner, Cantor, Hoyer, and Reid), get a big bipartisan Senate vote, and then scramble to get a bipartisan House majority. If it happens, the president's tactical maneuvering (from his winter budget onward) will look pretty clever.