Response to David Brooks. "The President has faltered"

The president keeps saying that cuts only without revenue will too harshly harm the entitlements we all care about.  The fact is that the republicans don't care about them and never did.  They have always thought the social safety net was a mistake. It has never been about the arithmetic of the deficit. It has always been about that view of America that says everyone takes care of themselves and themselves only and the government should never ask for taxes to assume a social responsibility.  David Brooks defends this view to the end.
He is correct that the president has faltered, but not from any battle with the republicans. Rather he has joined the republicans in offering massive cuts to the social safety net.  The only question for the president and David Brooks is whether there will be some revenue enhancement. And David Brooks only wants it so a deal will be made and he can "think big" and write about it.  And what about Harry Reid, who sounded like a whipped puppy today as he completely surrendered to the republicans, offering trillions of dollars in cuts and no revenue enhancement whatsoever. The republicans are going to cut the social safety net out of their original malice and the democrats are cutting  it out of continuing fecklessness. What is the difference.  For the first time in my life, I am hoping for an independent candidate.  Obviously the fix is in. I suppose we will hear from David Brooks some rationale from Edmund Burke soon enough.